Thanks for the insight Mac. I'll use Excel. I was thinking of making a trip to Italy and buying one there, then shipping it back. That may still be a viable option as the cost of the machine can make the offset for the travel and shipping.
Your idea of steel rollers sounds as if it could be your best way forward. My hesitation about hammermilling, although it is done in some places, and ignoring the fineness of the product,
I have found some suppliers of the appropriate stainless steel rounds. I can probably find a remnant and purchase that although I suspect the cost will a very significant contribution to the overall expense of the design. If you PM me I'll send you info on my thoughts outside of the general conversation here.
Ever made beer? There are aspects of cooling that could be adapted I think with very little problem. Are you familiar with what we, here in the U.S., refer to as a 'garbage disposer'? It is essentially a hammermill/pulveriser. There are commercial designs that could be easily adapted I think. I have not made much of a study on this but at least the internals could be cannibalized and added to the design. This would eliminate the need to build the hammers and the motorized components. This might be a big boon indeed. The largest problem with this is to develop a means of controlling the particle size, although that is doable.
No doubt a hammermill would be a lot easier for you to make, or cheaper to buy perhaps, and if you could see one in operation before you make a commitment you might be able to get a guide on screen sizes and temperatures.
As I indicated above you are accurate in this assertion. Good point!
One point I note is that (at least up until last year) the US, Australia and South Africa, where I believe hammermills are much more common, are not members of the International Olive Council.
Yeah well that's the way the postmodernist business jerkoffs here act out there weird psychodramas about emotivist will to power. The intent to exploit the individual governs everything so it's not surprising that getting a set of standards would have to preclude the IOC. I've made a modest study of their (the IOC's) intent and it appears to center around the dignity of the producer and the avoidance of fraud.
California has its own standards and I'll probably have to look at certification through them. Adherence to IOC is not ignorance though and the IOC website has a wealth of information. So does California's.
For your guidance the old granite wheels about this place are one metre (39 inches) in diameter and 15 cms (6 inches) thick. That is somewhat less than a quarter of a cubic metre and with granite averaging about 2.7gms/cm3 I calculate they would be about 600kgs. Check my maths I am prone to make mistakes !!! I saw a website in Australia at one time that reckoned their stone wheels weighed one ton, but I have my doubts they are that heavy.
The design I have in mind would be significantly less weight. It's my thinking that the RPMs could be higher for the same quantity of fruit as the structural design could manage the forces. The in-out flow times would be faster even though there's the reduction in the surface area/weight ratio of the wheel over traditional stone wheels.
I will keep an eye out for anything I come across and pass on the info.
I am looking forward to your discoveries!
If you have not already seen them check out Pieralisi and Campagnola (not Campagnolo they make bicycle parts) equipment.
I'll do so thanks again.
Taste wise generally, I prefer the Portuguese varieties.
Do me a favor and PM me over this please. It's a little OT and I'd like to talk to you about these oils ok?
Let me know what's going on Mac.
Thanks for all the support,
Jon