Summary

PLEASE READ PRINT SETTINGS AND NOTES I've seen many box design Tofu Presses on Thingiverse, but not many two-panel vice designs. There are 4 parts to print, two of which should be printed twice. Construction and operation is as follows:

1: Insert both screws into the base from the bottom. The curve on the screw stand should align with the curvature of the base (These can be glued in place, but should work fine w/o glue as long as pressure is applied to the base when the handles are tightened).

2: Place tofu (or other food item you are trying to flatten) with paper towels underneath and above in the center of the base (Atop grooves).

3: Place Top of press over screw rods by lining the holes up. the flat side of the top should be face up, with the grooves creating a sandwich with the base. (like a George Foreman grill)

4: Place handles over each screw rod and twist to tighten until tofu is compressed

5: Wait about 30 minutes or until water stops draining from tofu (Tighten as necessary to squish out all liquid). Dump excess water in sink, and dispose of paper towels.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

MakerBot

Printer:

Rafts:

Yes

Supports:

No

Resolution:

0.1 mm for Screw Rod and Handles, 0.2 or 0.3 for Top and Base

Infill:

60% or higher for Screw Rods, 30% for handles, 10% for Top and Base

Notes:

This MUST be printed with PLA plastic! ABS is NOT food safe! Proper arrangement on the build plate in Makerbot Desktop is as follows:

Screw Rods: Horizontal with supports (This will be a pain to clean up, but when printing vertically I noticed a propensity for the rods to snap along the print grain. Horizontal printed rods will take more time, but will be much more durable!)

Base: Ridged side Down, legs pointing UP.

Top: Ridged side UP, flat face on Down on surface.

Handles: Cylinder knob pointing UP, flat side of handle Down on surface. I recommend printing with 2-3 shells for optimal results. For a larger Tofu Press, like the one I printed and have shown in the photos, All components may be scaled around +-25% to preference!

If you do this, make sure you scale EVERY component or they will NOT fit together!

Post-Printing

To reduce chipping off into food/making plastic food safe

I advise you to sand the Base and Top where the grill lines are with a fine grade sandpaper. Make sure to get into each groove and remove any loose threads of filament that may not have adhered to the component. Afterwards, wash thoroughly with wipes, sponge, ect. to remove ALL plastic powder. Don't eat powdered plastic!

How I Designed This

Design:

I 3D modeled all components in Blender, a free 3D design software. https://www.blender.org/ I have included a video tutorial on how to make a simple screw and handle that will work when printed.

Video Tutorial for designing 3D printable Screws in Blender

Video Tutorial for designing 3D printable Handles in Blender