La San Marco single group lever

Posted on January 7th, 2016

converted La San Marco single group lever

Dual boiler, dual PID commercial lever beast!

This beast started out life as a La San Marco 85 series, single group volumetric heat exchanger. I bought it last year as a fixer upper, the boiler was over filling and it needed a general going over. 9 months or so later and it’s a very different machine to the one that came in!

Turns out the over filling problem was a fractured heat exchanger, so that ruled out keeping the machine conventional – the heat exchanger would have to be decommissioned, capped off and become part of the steam boiler volume – I didn’t like the chances of a successful repair.

At that point it became a total strip down, and while I had the bare chassis on the bench, I started playing around with the possibility of fitting a lever group that I had spare. With an extra cross member in the chassis, it would totally work! So, off to see my mate Gonz who worked his magic and welded in a cross piece to take half the group flange. The group was already fitted with cartridge heaters, from back in the days of the Quick Mill Achille testing with Talk Coffee, so why not take advantage of that? Then, why not add some extra precision with a dedicated brew boiler as well? Yep, it would fit with a bit of wrangling. I also adapted a small volume heat exchanger into the existing steam boiler to provide pre-heated water to the brew boiler. Serious overkill at this point but why the heck not?!

So, this ended up being the most advanced lever machine I’ve built to date, with a PID controlling the group and a PID controlling a dedicated brew boiler just behind it, temperature control is phenomenal. By tweaking the two set points, you can even control the shape of the traditional lever temperature profile.

The original boiler is slightly under-specced at 1700W, but it allows the total machine wattage to stay at approx. 10 amp draw, with 600W in the brew boiler and 200 in the group. It takes a while to reach 1.5 bar, the group is hot well before then – but is ready to go after 25 min approx. and steam pressure is never an issue due to the huge volume for a single group, and added insulation.

It’s plumbed in only, as the line pressure primes the brewing circuit and is used for pre-infusion. The spring installed in the group (new of course) generates 10 bar peak pressure. It’s a delight to use and pulls wonderful shots. I’m mad to sell it, but that’s the reality of running a business, I can’t hang on to everything!

Summary of work done:

solved issue with heat exchanger crack
entirely new brewing system – group, boiler, pre-heater, PID control X2.
new autofill controller, SSRs, wiring as required.
rebuilt all existing valves, plumbing.
powdercoat exterior panels in electric blue hammertone (bold, I know, but it looks stunning!)

It’s probably the most advanced lever machine in the world, in terms of temperature control (at the time of writing – 2016). Offers will be considered. I am in the process of finalising fitment of the front panel, as it was never intended to cover a lever group. Once that’s done she’s ready to go, will not take me long!

SOLD – Kees van der Westen Mistral

Posted on June 16th, 2015

Mistral machine no. 32

Kees van der Westen

cm20150603_Kees-van-der-westen---Mistral-Duette-side-V1

Complete nuts and bolts rebuild – new legs, chassis powdercoat, and full re-polish of panels. Every gasket and valve replaced. Over a year part time on the project at this stage!
New coffee boiler.
Insulated steam boiler.
A total of three PIDs, one for the coffee boiler and one per group cap via cartridge elements. Steam is pstat/SSR.
Power is 25 Amp single phase, about 5 amps more than original.
Steam valves converted to lever type, one lock-on direction forward and momentary purge backward. Valve bodies are Nuova Simonelli adapted and feature a LM anti-vac valve on each wand.
Custom paddle switch – functionally the same as Marzocco MP group, two stage operation, but electrical rather than mechanical so there are no seals to change.
Chronos key pads for shot clock, volumetrics on both groups with a manually controllable preinfusion function. Use either touchpad or manual paddle at any time. I find I like to flush with the paddle and pour shots via the touchpad.
Custom made dispersion block in POM-C (same as current Speedster setup) for cleaning ease, temp stability.

lever machine resto, so fresh and so clean

Posted on March 17th, 2013

#coffeemachinist lever machine resto, so fresh and so clean #lever #espresso #restoration

Restoration projects

Posted on September 21st, 2012

Restoration projects

creating functional classics

It could be argued that espresso machine design reached it’s peak in the workshops and foundries of northern Italy in the mid 20th century, and everything since then has been a bit boring! There’s a certain character about machines of that era that just exude flair, passion and artistry. And while not many of us are lucky enough to own a Gaggia Esportazione, Cimbali GranLuce, La Pavoni Concorso, La San Marco Lollobrigida or Faema Urania, it’s certainly true that any vintage coffee machine is eminently restorable to perfect working condition given enough love and attention.
Whether you’ve got an older second hand machine that you want to bring up to scratch for domestic or cafe use, or you’ve uncovered a gem in a forgotten corner of the garage, I can help you with either a complete restoration from start to finish, or a particular aspect if you’re doing most of the work yourself. My aim with restorations is always function before aesthetics – what’s the point having a shiny beautiful machine if it makes rubbish coffee or no coffee at all. After that, anything is possible including installing modern electrical systems, re-plating or re-manufacturing worn parts, re-spraying paintwork and reproducing original factory artwork. My preference and advice is always to preserve original finishes where possible, as this preserves character and adds value to the machine in the long term.

Naturally these hands-on processes can be very time consuming, and I assess and quote each restoration project as a flat labour fee plus expenses, according to the result you want to achieve.

Microcimbali restoration

Posted on September 21st, 2012

Microcimbali restoration

Vintage domestic lever machine

This was a good example of the sort of horrible condition that many vintage domestic machines imported from Italy are in. Plentiful rust, corrosion, scale, damaged chrome, perished insulation, seals, etc etc. Beware the optimistic eBay description! However, the appeal of these vintage lever machines is justified – once restored, they really are functioning design icons of a bygone era.

Luckily, the most important parts of the machine were fixable. The worst case scenario is that the element filament or insulation is damaged, meaning a costly one-off custom element has to be made. Luckily this was not the case and repairing the element just involved re-sealing the terminals with high-temperature insulation compound.

Further work included:

Repairing hole in cast aluminium boiler by drilling out and plugging internally with new material
Drilling out and re-threading damaged mounting points on boiler casting
Re-wiring with modern silicone insulated cable
Replacing all perished seals with OEM or custom made versions
Polishing exterior surfaces and fittings

These old lever machines fascinate me, and I love working on them. They are always a challenge, but there’s nothing more satisfying than getting a perfect shot out of a machine you’ve restored, and it’s now an asset the new owner will enjoy for many years to come.

Nic’s Bo-Ema

Posted on September 21st, 2012

Nic’s Bo-Ema

Vintage two-group lever machine

This beautiful lever dates from 1964, and represents both Australia’s manufacturing and cultural history as it was in Sydney in the 60’s. Espresso bars were gaining popularity, and at that stage the only commercial machines available had to be individually imported from Italy, or brought over as cargo by emigrating families. The story goes that two enterprising continental chaps named Bordignon and Emer got together in their Revesby factory, which at that time churned out terrazzo polishing machines, and decided to have a go at producing a machine locally. The result found it’s way into a few choice locations, and Bo-Ema still produce espresso machines in Sydney, though the company has changed hands a few times, and modern bo-ema’s are not exactly a thing of beauty.

The current owner wanted to give it a thorough restoration to working condition while preserving the patina of a lifetime of hard work.

With most restorations, the machine is completely stripped down to it’s component parts, everything is meticulously cleaned, polished and reassembled with new parts where necessary, then tested and tested some more. In some cases there are hundreds of hours of labour involved, particularly if parts that are no longer available have to be made – in this case the seals for all the valves had to be custom wound from a mixture of oldschool hemp fibre and modern PTFE.

Other major jobs included:

Custom made powdercoated chassis brace including new feet to replace the missing originals
Drilling out rusted steel studs from boiler flange and replacing with stainless/brass hardware
Replacing rusted group springs to achieve full 10 bar pressure
Complete re-wire with modern pressurestat and thermal cutout for safety and reliability
Hand polishing valve bodies, lever handles, fittings

The result was a machine that is working better than when it left the factory 50 years ago – there’s nothing quite like a commercial lever machine and Nic is lucky enough to have one that is a significant part of Australian espresso history.