Extracting the Block from the Press
To remove the block from the machine, you must first release some of the pressure from the jack. SLOWLY turn the Jack Release Handle counter-clockwise for 1/4 turn until the piston drops about one inch, then quickly close it again to prevent it from dropping down too far. Unlock the lid and slide it open. This may take a bit of effort, particularly if the soil is too moist.

As mentioned previously, we've intentionally added too much water to the soil to show how it affects the block and the machine's operation. Here's what it looks like:

What a mess -- too much water!

An excessive amount of water makes it very difficult to open the lid and the quality of the block suffers greatly. In the photo above, you can see the excess water dripping from the top of the block and down the face of the block press.

With the Jack Release valve fully closed, we can now eject the block.

Without a core plate, the too-wet block was stuck fast to the piston

To make things even more difficult, we left out the core plate! This caused the block to stick to the piston, which in turn made it impossible to remove without severe damage to the block. Now that you know how NOT to make a block, we'll show you the RIGHT way.