The boilers have been installed. And I've been working on final install of the fittings.



Before

After

That certainly is a beautiful job you are completing on your Linea.

I would think twice about using all that teflon tape on those fittings for several reasons. For sure the original build of the machine was not done this way, errant pieces of teflon tape have a habit of ending up in all the wrong places, and as the fittings are NOT DESIGNED to be sealed by the threads, you could actually initiate a leak by using the tape.

Thank you. It's been a fun project for me and my family. When I started taking apart my Linea, I noticed teflon tape on every fitting. Then, I read comments akin to yours about not using it. Sadly, the last company to complete any maintenance on this machine did very poor quality work. As I mentioned above, all the fittings were cranked to their max.

I concur the fittings were not meant to be connected with teflon tape and in retrospect I think I may remove it. The fittings are not tightened yet because I wanted to make sure I actually remembered where everything went before I started finalizing the connections. So, look forward to new pictures without all the teflon.

Thanks for making me think before I tightened all these fittings. What do you think about the brushed (more like scratched) finish on the font facia?

Steve

Everything looks great! If you're worried about the front plate looking bad, you could always get it powdercoated. It obviously wouldn't be metallic, but it would stand up to the occasional portafilter collision.

What do you think about the brushed (more like scratched) finish on the font facia?

Certainly there is probably some posts here on HB as regards metal finishing - not my most skilled endeavor. However, one thought would be to grab a junk piece of SS to see if any methods you want to try are reasonable. I realize(?) you already sent it out for rework that was returned not to your satisfaction.

You could also bead blast it. That would give it a matte finish that probably wouldn't scratch as easily a stainless finish would.

PictureThyme wrote:
What do you think about the brushed (more like scratched) finish on the font facia?

Steve

You can do some very nice metal finishing yourself on this part. Here's how to "grain" metal:

go to the Home Despot (where you can be tin-horn dictator of your own hovel), and buy a pack of 240 grit wet or dry sandpaper. Get full size sheets as they are more economical. Buy 3-M's hard rubber sanding block designed to accept 1/4 sheets. Split a full sheet into fourths and install one into the sanding block. Fasten down the front panel so that it can't move. I think I may have laid mine onto a piece of plywood and used two-sided tape to keep it in position. Screw a guide of some sort onto the plywood (I think I used a pine strip), parallel to the long axis of the plate. Wet the sandpaper (lots of water is good) and sand the front face, moving along the face and keeping all sanding strokes parallel, using the guide. The trick is to always sand in the same fore and aft direction. If you deviate from the one line of action you will introduce some pretty lousy looking scratches. Pretty soon you will have a beautiful grained finish that is easily cleaned and does not show fingerprints. It shows off very nicely against polished stainless. Change out the sandpaper as soon as it stops cutting the metal quickly. Sandpaper is pretty cheap and you can waste a lot of time trying to extend the life of the paper.

When I spiffed up my Linea, I grained the cover panel you are concerned with. I also grained the 3-sided panel that attaches near the top of the machine.


-Greg

JohnB. wrote:If by "circular burnishing " you are looking for an Engine Turned finish on the front panel this guy could probably do a nice job for you: http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~eamonn/et/et.htm

That would be really cool looking I think.

erics wrote:That certainly is a beautiful job you are completing on your Linea.

I would think twice about using all that teflon tape on those fittings for several reasons. For sure the original build of the machine was not done this way, errant pieces of teflon tape have a habit of ending up in all the wrong places, and as the fittings are NOT DESIGNED to be sealed by the threads, you could actually initiate a leak by using the tape.

Really? I've been doing some mods to my Linea and I've used teflon tape on all the fittings. Should I go back and remove the tape? I've owned my machine since new but used to have it serviced so some of the fittings may have been tampered with but I thought I was supposed to use tape. The machine has been working fine with no leaks but I don't mind re-doing the fittings I used tape on.

Thanks!