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.

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.

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.