Search results for:

I miss this pipe, RIP

Bravo!

Gotta be a Eureka 65E or a Compak if you're upgrading from the Rocky. Don't order anything straight off the website, make sure you call Marko first.

If you're going for a double boiler I always think a rotary pump is nice to have too, nice and quiet. The Rocket R58 ticks all the boxes, it's compact too. The taps feel a bit plasticky though. Profitec 700 feels better quality, does all the same stuff.

Orchestrale Nota is my favourite of all the machines BB do. Heat exchanger, rotary pump, massive boiler, very sturdy. The boiler size is the crucial thing, it's super temp stable.

Domestic dual boilers cram so much stuff into a very small space, it's a highly compromised design. The 2 boilers are tiny, it's like cooking with a flimsy lightweight saucepan vs a big iron pot. They're very complicated and they go wrong a lot. I don't believe that a dual boiler really gives you any more temperature predictability than a HX machine with an experienced operator.

Good luck Hippy

Looks cool, I wonder if it's a modified grinder? The body looks like it and the mechanism would be the same.

Ignore that. it's a juicer. Forrun eBaying.

WTF is this? Anyone seen one?

I've got another 2 group pump machine, the orange one pictured previously, that's nearly ready to reassemble, then i've got 3 x 3 group levers, one in the same body style as the yellow one but chrome, 2 more modern style, one of those is LPG for mobile use.

There's about 30 hours work in them, plus £200 worth of powder coating, the cost of parts and the importing headaches - the last machine was 41 emails! So i'm looking for £1500 - £2000 depending on which one.

Quick shot before todays ride

I'm glad you asked... The groups are fully mechanical. When you turn the handle (it goes a quarter turn to the right) it seals the exhaust valve and activates the pump via a microswitch. Turn it off and the exhaust valve opens and relieves the residual pressure. On most machines this is handled by an electrical solenoid valve - i prefer mechanical things to electrical ones.

There is no facility for preinfusion, its just on or off. It has 53mm portafilters which give a deeper coffee bed, I've always been a fan of that. The steam wands just move fore and aft which is a bit archaic, i might be tempted to fit later model ball jointed valves. Those are brand new wands in the pic, you bend them to the shape you want which I've now done. They're fine, you just need to remember not to yank them sideways.

Its a bit blobby but its the first flat white out of the completed project. Tastes of win.

The fruit of an intense evening. It's hot, it's dry and it's pretty. Tomorrow we brew.

Yes, domestic machines are a fiddle. Too much stuff, not enough space. This has been thoroughly pleasant so far, but i havent put power and water to it yet.

Nice innit. Yep, body and frame blasted and powder coated. Picked it up this morning.

We shall rebuild.

Potentially yes, but probably no.

They're really tricky to master - there are no temperature controls on them and they quickly overheat which causes your coffee to over-extract. Having said that, if you have the patience for it and want to learn all about the effect of temperature and how to handle it then you will have a better understanding of espresso than 99% of the button pushers out there, once you get the hang of it.

drums fingers impatiently

Still waiting for the frame and bodywork so i brought another machine in which i thought might just need the mechanical stuff doing, but no dice it turns out.

Since starting the first one i have imported 4 more San Marco machines - theyre just so beautifully well made and enjoyable to work on that i am going to see if there's a business in this.

The orange one has perfect original paint but the rest of it is feckered. I'm going finish the first one before going any further. I've fired up the Astoria as we have friends coming over in a bit.

Yes its about 8 litres i think. The sparkplugs are the terminals for the heating elements.

Boiler good to go. Need the frame and bodywork from the powdercoaters now for reassembly. Its all happened quicker than i expected.

One grouphead rebuilt.

.

I'm the 45RC hillclimb champion! Well chuffed with that. Not sure how many 85kg hillclimb champs there have been - I put it down to being on fixed.

I've got a tear in my eye. Very touching that one :)

Getting lucky with the brightwork - polishing up nicely, some permanent scratches but I reckon machine polishing wouldn't be worthwhile, it will hopefully be put into commercial use one way or another anyhow.