Koughy Senior Member Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 41 Location: Storrs, CT Expertise: Intermediate
Posted Wed Oct 29, 2003, 11:18am Subject: Build it myself?
Being an tinkerer, I am thinking about constructing my own expresso machine. I have been playing with an inferior pump machine for a few years and doing a bit of research on the requirements for a machine. I am wondering first if anyone has done this or heard of someone doing this before, I have searched and havent found one yet. The one thing I would really need to aquire would be a grouphead and portafilter, (E61 of course) that is difficult to replicate. I am guessing though that one of the parts places could help, or maybe I'll find a scrap machine. My goal in all of this is to incorporate really good temp control and pressure capability, and to waste a whole lot of time and effort(hehehe). Koughy
RG Senior Member Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 21 Location: Bradford, England Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Vibiemme Domobar Grinder: Vibiemme Best
Posted Wed Oct 29, 2003, 11:28am Subject: Re: Build it myself?
I've asked the question myself on previous posts, "Where do I but the elusive E61?" Check out my ideas for the ultimate HX machine on my list of previous posts. It received a generally luke warm response, but I thought the logic was sound enough. I suppose for a home build dual boiler would be the easiest to fabricate. Please post your thoughts on the subject as I am also considering a similar "suicide machine."
Posted Wed Oct 29, 2003, 5:45pm Subject: Re: Build it myself?
I would encourage you to try. You may be a pioneer in some way, but nowadays you should be able to find an off the shelf solution to every problem.
Some day I would like to pick up an old or broken commercial machine and rebuild it my way. As long as the group head is intact, you can swap everything else in and out. I think that would be a great way to learn what all the parts do in context and see the effect of changes.
I don't know enough about metal working to try to build a frame and stuff from scratch. I would definitely want to start with an E61 style group head and portafilter. Ideally, I'd want an embedded computer controller that I could interface with. That's the part that would really interest me.
Posted Wed Oct 29, 2003, 7:01pm Subject: Re: Build it myself?
Have you tried making friends with Mr. Salvatori? He builds custom espresso machines. Sometimes the sources for assemblies are tightly guarded, other times people like this are glad to help.
From the looks in my Tea, everything but the housing looks bought, not made.
The boiler, including safety equipment, looks like one component. The grouphead is another. The control module a third, and the pump a fourth.
Aside from the case and the necessary plumbing and wiring, there isn't much else in there.
Koughy Senior Member Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 41 Location: Storrs, CT Expertise: Intermediate
Posted Thu Oct 30, 2003, 6:38am Subject: Re: Build it myself?
Ahhh, so there are a few out there who share my thoughts! Part of the reason I am thinking about this is that the reviews I read, even for higher end consumer machines ($1-1.5K), show that they have technical issues which could be relatively easily solved. Things like temperature stability, pressure control, etc which I am familiar with from my work. Here are a couple thoughts: Steaming is completely separate from brewing, probably a separate 'machine' I like the HX concept, I am debating whether to use a boiler (typical design) or try perhaps a simple copper block instead. Basically the block is heated to the desired temp and the water goes from the pump through the block and into the grouphead. Copper has high thermal conductivity and capacity. If I used a large enough thermal reservoir then the temp would be minimally affected by heating a shot of water. Koughy
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