Roller press – gear drive design?

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Hi comadres,

 

Back again for more answers! Wonder any kind soul out there that owns a roller press whether an etching press or sheet roller press or lamination press or block print press…all of which share a similar feature. That’s the rollers of a fixed position and an adjustable roller. Both internal meshing gearings are always in contact whenever the rollers are apart in any height. How’s this possible? I know there’s another idle gear in its place but how this gear is postioned and able to swivel or perhaps using a chain drive with a tensioner gear? If only gears were used, I’m sure the gear teeth are rather longer than normal gears…how to cut these special gears?!

 

This issue has been bothering me for awhile now, wanted to make some nice fresh milk bread with a DIY dough press…stuck at this point!

 

Appreciates anyone to advise and will definately deliver my 1st successful loaf of fresh bread to you

 

Steve

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Roller press – gear drive design?

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

Steve – Roller presses have two (often rather coarse) gear wheels which mesh into each other. As the rolls are moved apart they mesh less perfectly but still mesh. If you have a look at a gear supplier’s catalogue, look at the ‘Addendum’ (which is half of The O/D minus the PCD). For a 6DP it is approx 0.167”. A little bit less than that is the maximum distance between the rollers.

On some machines they maker will make the gear teeth longer than they should be for perfect gearing.

On big machines there may be an idler gear mounted in a scissor arrangement, but this limits the minimum gap between the rollers.

Rgds

Dick

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Hi, this is how my GH thomas bending rolls are geared, the top roller has about 20mm of movement whilst remaining meshed with the idler gear

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Hi Dick and Burner

 

Many thanks! Will study your design but still I may need a movement between 20mm to 30mm at least…as I’m making a dough press not a sheet metal roller press.

 

Thought of using bicycle type spoke gears and chain with ample play adjustment inbetween. Yet to ponder upon…

 

Steve

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Maybe something along the lines of what Fowlers used on their traction engines to allow for springing of the rear axle while keeping drive to the axle. Works in a similar way to an Oldham coupling. Have a look at this and the next couple of photos.

 

J

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

Steve, unless you are going into large scale production (about 100-200 Kgs per day) I would not waste time with a complicated rolling machine. My local bakeress uses a wooden board and has a series of wooden rectangles of different lengths and thicknesses. She makes her dough, then picks a rectangle, slings it on her rolling board heaves in the dough and rolls it out to with a bit of old broom pole to the thickness determined by the depth of the rectangle. Job done
Rdgs

Dick

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Hi Dick

 

I smiled after reading your post! I did exactly the same way while I was in baking classes but my jigs were not in frame type. I used pairs of wooden strips of different height and placed inbetween doughs that I rolled over with a wooden roller, same concept right?

 

The dough roller press is just a thought.

Will think over whether this project is worth a try.

 

Thanks for your post

 

Steve

 

 

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

In the little village near me in Hungary the ‘bakeress’ has been at it for some 30 years. She followed on from her mother whose husband died/vanished in the 50s. Here bread is good, not like the woolly pap you buy in the supermarkets. I think the bread frames are designed to hold a certain weight of the dough. I will have to try and ask her. Difficult as these old ones are a bit secretive about their ‘mysteries’ but I did rebuild her No2 dough machine last spring. How Hungarians can break things!

She used to use a special knife to cut the dough but she broke that and the old man who made them has ‘retired’ (to the Kocsma – pub) when he has any money. So now she uses wires to cut the stuff (courtesy iof your humble).

Rdgs

Dick

[Steve WanParticipant @stevewan33894]

Hi Dick

 

Getting interesting here! Could you photograph the old dough machine you repaired?

Is the design simple? The internal belts, chain and gears? How many rollers are there?

 

Dough knife is just a thin sheet of stainless steel or plastic, possible to break it?! Normally wire is best for slicing cakes in layers to fill the in-betweens with cream and nuts.

 

I have not bake Hungarian breads before, only French Baguette, German and Turkey breads…able to get her recipe without making her mad?

 

Steve

 

p.s. Email me dough machine photos if too troublesome here: stewan@gmail.com

 

 

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