Parts of a Cider Press – Screw, Tub, Grinder, Flywheel

All 10 parts on the diagram

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The whole press 8

Frame The grinder and the screw are both built into one frame. That lets the whole press be moved as one piece.
Hopper It feeds the apples down onto the grinder.
Grinder Apples are ground before they are pressed. A press with a grinder built on is often called a cider mill.
Flywheel Turned by hand, by the handle on its rim. It works the grinder.
Tub The ground apples fall into it. It is then slid under the screw to be pressed. The juice runs out between its slats.
Screw Turning it drives the pressing disk down into the tub.
Pressing disk It fits inside the tub and presses down on the pomace. Old cider books call it the follower.
Pomace Apples ground to a pulp. The same word is used for the solids left after the juice is pressed out.

Inside the grinder 2

Cylinder It is set with teeth and turns under the hopper. One maker calls it the drum.
Teeth They catch the apples and tear them into pomace.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it for the part: Wikipedia, text only, Fruit press and Cider mill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_press and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cider_mill (grinding before pressing, toothed cylinders, pomace, the screw press, a press with a grinder called a cider mill); a cider press maker's parts pages, https://happyvalleyranch.com/Category/HVR-Parts (acme screw, tub, pressing disk, grinder, drum and teeth, hopper, flywheel and handle); an 1868 maker's circular for a combined mill and press, full text at https://archive.org/details/CAT109916907931007426390 (frame, screw, fly-wheel, cylinders, pomace, two tubs so one is filled while the other is pressed); Buell, The Cider Makers' Manual, 1869, https://archive.org/details/cidermakersmanua00buel (frame, screw, follower, hopper, cylinder with teeth or spikes, pomace); and the US Department of Agriculture bulletin Making and Preserving Apple Cider, https://archive.org/details/CAT87205376 (grinder, cylinder teeth, screw press). Two labels take the modern maker's word for a part the older sources name differently: Tub (crib, curb) and Pressing disk (follower); the older words are accepted. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's press, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Making cider takes two steps: grinding the apples to a pulp, then pressing the pulp. This hand press does both. The first drawing is the whole press; the second cuts the grinder open.

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From apple to juice

Apples go into the hopper. Turning the flywheel spins the cylinder, and its teeth tear the apples into pomace, which falls into the tub below. The full tub is slid under the screw. Turning the screw forces the pressing disk down on the pomace, and the juice runs out while the solids stay in the tub.

Why this press has two tubs

With two tubs, one can be filling under the grinder while the other is being pressed, so the pomace never has to be shoveled from one place to another.

A press with a grinder built on, like this one, is often called a cider mill.
Older cider books call the pressing disk the follower. Both names are accepted when typed.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a cider press?

A frame, a screw, a pressing disk on the end of the screw, and a slatted tub that holds the ground apples. Most hand presses also carry a grinder: a hopper over a toothed cylinder, turned by a flywheel.

What is the ground-up apple in a cider press called?

Pomace. The word is used for the apples once they are ground to a pulp, and also for the solids left in the tub after the juice has been pressed out.

Why do apples have to be ground before pressing?

Cider making has two stages: grinding the apples into a pulpy mass, then pressing the pulp to release the juice. An 1868 maker's circular says that unless the apple is bruised or mashed, the cider cannot be pressed out.

What does the flywheel on a cider press do?

It drives the grinder. Turning it by its handle spins the toothed cylinder under the hopper. One old maker's circular says its mill could also be run from a belt on the flywheel.