Nick:
You mentioned making custom legs for your machine. I've mounted my PID and the CPU in a metal box I'd like to fit under the linea and will need narrower legs than the stock legs to fit the box. Besides the cost of new OEM legs, it would be nice to have a custom look. What did you use to make your legs?
Borrowed the image to remind me...
Thanks for the help.
Steve

Hi Steve, I happened to have some 30mm diameter aluminium stock from which I cut the legs. I sanded them on a lathe, and then polished them to a gloss finish so they look a bit like stainless. I countersunk a cup in the underside so that I could recess some rubber feet. I tapped a 10mm hole in the top with a 10mm recess as well. My old La Marzocco feet had a 10mm threaded screw on them; I assume this is standard. The 10mm recess on the top allowed me to conceal a locking nut on the threaded rod I used to allow height adjustment. In fact I didn't quite conceal the nut on the front right hand foot; you can just see it peeping through.

The machine has come on a bit since that last photo; mostly cosmetic stuff, the most noticeable being full length drip tray grates.

Regarding the pre-heat question, I've also noticed a rapid drop in the display's temp but with the Scace thermocoupler and Fluke meter, the brew temps actually rise a few degrees and then stays stable for at least 40 seconds. I don't see where pre-heating is important unless you are running many shots in a row. For the typical HB'er, and especially those with 2 group Linea's, pre-heating is not needed.