I have two tampers, both homemade. The first was made by pressing machined aluminum caps onto a standard Rancilio plastic tamper. One cap is 58mm for my Silvia, the other is 53mm for a Saeco portafilter I have. I made my second tamper, also 58mm, from aluminum and ebony. This one has a nicer grip and is my favorite.

Made a maranti tamper for my Ponte vecchio.Works great.Cost nothing.Just a piece of wood lying around in the cellar.

I've been turning some tamper handles on my lathe for the past 2 weeks. Here are some examples. The first one is made of Olivewood.


The second (on the lathe) is bubinga.


The third is Cocobolo.


The fourth is Ebony.


The last 2 are made of special wood laminates, available in various colors. I really like the grey and red!




Joe

The plastic tamper that came with my machine was actually molded onto the end of the plastic coffee scoop that came with my machine. I cut it off (& threw it away) so that I could use the scoop easier.

That means my first "real" tamper was actually a Rancilio plastic tamper that my friend was throwing away. It worked so well that I still have it, even though I don't use it any more.

My second tamper is one I designed myself out of stainless & aluminum. It has an ergonomic handle that I designed to a tooling production line project at work, & a machine-specific face that matches the dispersion screen profile.

My third (& last!) tamper is a Reg Barber short convex tamper.

Wow i really like that grey and red too... where did you get that wood???

Hi Joe, sure that Cocobolo isn't Zebra wood (or possibly bocote, hard to tell w/ lighting)? I need to snap some pictures of the tampers I've turned and post them - sorry, haven't done so yet. Coco is my favorite hardwood, and I'm fortunate that I can still work with it given the sensitivity to the dust that many develop.

I've got a few burl tampers, a couple of Cocobolo, and some other misc. Benefit of being a woodworker, no?

Great thread - I can see the accessories accumulate quickly for some... slippery slope indeed.

Michael

I've been turning some tamper handles on my lathe for the past 2 weeks. Here are some examples. The first one is made of Olivewood.
The second (on the lathe) is bubinga.

First off Joe,
Beautiful work! I'm trying hard to find someone to make some handles for me here in Victoria, B.C. The woodworking classes have months long waitlists so I can't make one myself. My next question is the small chest of drawers beside the bubinga - where did you get that? It looks like stone fronts on the drawers. I'm mesmerized!! I must have one!

IMAWriter wrote:3
Cheapo 58mm Lava for Mazzer neck usage
Custom Reg Bubinga 49.3mm flat
Custom Richard Penney 49.4mm very slight convex
Oh yeah, a extra Reg 51mm brass "Cflat piston

Guess that makes 3.5, not the 3 I indicated by my earlier "vote."
Geez, election fraud on HB

Ha ha ha... Rob you oughta run for office. You got skill Brother.

Oh yeah... guess I should knock off the chit chat...
Tamper inventory:one Reg Barber (turns out he's just in my back yard too! Field trip...whoo hoo!), 3 no name stainless steels for my elektra, one 58mm no name stainless for my Belle Epoque, and I need a 44 mm for my Sama Export. I know I have more tampers but they are in storage.

Other than crappy plastic throwaways, I own two tampers. For my main machines, I have a 58mm Reg Barber tall that I'm extremely happy with. It's just the right height and fits my hand perfectly. I got a 53mm Espresso Gear convex tamper because I needed something cheap to use temporarily with my Vivaldi, and it's exactly the opposite: too tall and too thin. It's hard to tamp straight down because it rolls in my hand, and I can't reach the base to stabilize it.