If you plan on doing alot of juice the blender would be a real pain to work with.Forcing the hard produce into the blades of the vitamix is difficult to say the least.The blendtec would probably do better because of a wider container.The only juice I make from blending dry then pressing out via a nut milk bag is grass juice.I dont actualy use a press I just use my hands.The main drawback to using a press is more stuff to clean and more time taking for the juicing proccess.A 6 ton press is impressive for raw crushing power but how practical could it be?.Good luck and happy juicing.

Have you checked the archives here at CZ? You might find some helpful info... a lot of old posts to slog through, but you might find some help. About 1 to 2 years ago, there was one or more threads from a couple people who had made their own juice presser similar to what you are describing. I no longer remember which forum it was in, it may have been right here at the Juice forum.

Between a Masticating Juicer and a blender there is no difference in the product really.

THe difference is that with a masticating juicer you can just keep going without stopping - Whereas with a blender you are repeatedly doing batches and stuff gumms pu at the bottom of the vessel eventually.

In terms of the pressing part - The Norwalk had a slick pressure relief valve switcjed to the juicer power to make the squeezing operation really simple, whereas depending on how you setup the press can be as awkward as you want it and you'll probably have to udo it manually unless you spend the time to fit it out either pneumatically or hydraulically...

The real key to acheiving maximum juice from a pulpy mass is that the pressure must be continous thru to the last drop. So if you use a manual press/jack the stop/start gets less juice. My theory: as the juice is squeezed drys the fibres so that as the pressure is released or stopped the fibres suck up the juice making it harder to release again. Not sure what the technical explanation is BUT its the reality.