Beautiful setup, Doug.

after looking at what everyone else has, I realize I have a long and expensive way to go!! how do you all afford these machines and grinders. I thought the Silvia (second hand) and Rocky were expensive!

tcampbells wrote:after looking at what everyone else has, I realize I have a long and expensive way to go!! how do you all afford these machines and grinders. I thought the Silvia (second hand) and Rocky were expensive!

I'd wager that some of us are a little or a lot older and have already gone a long and expensive way before you!

cinergi wrote:My Synesso 220v and Versalab M3 setup:

It also seems you polished the brass grinder bell in the M3 as it really shines - or is this a new standard? The finish in Versalab photos seems less smoothly polished. Also, it seems like there is some metal under the portafilter clamp.
Could you do some close-ups to give a better view of these details?

As to the Synesso, what is your experience with stability? It looks new out of the box. The steam wand completely clean (as it should, but rarely seen like this). Do you do milk drinks or espresso? First shot after having been idle for some time? Back to back shots?

Regards
Peter
Netherlands
Europe

I polish the brass with a product called Nevr-Dull. You can get it at any local hardware store.
Notice how the front plate that the PF holder attaches to does not match the color and texture of the rest of the grinder. This is because Versalab changed machine shops and didn't care to make sure all their grinders they have sold match. For a $2k grinder (with optional equipment) I think everything should match but they refused to make it right. It would cost me about $45 to have the front plate re-powder coated to make it match everything else but that's not the point. Their customer no service is. (Sorry for the rant).

I've had the M3 and the Synesso going on 3 years now. Stability is great. My last 3 WBC runs (3 runs of 14 shots using WBC testing procedures) averaged .37F for reproducibility and .35F for stability. Note that my machine has the latest electronics and probes. I almost exclusively drink cappuccino's and work hard to make sure everything stays in new condition.

cinergi wrote:I polish the brass with a product called Nevr-Dull. You can get it at any local hardware store.

In the USA ... Not to worry. Similar products should be for sale in the Old World.

cinergi wrote:Notice how the front plate that the PF holder attaches to does not match the color and texture of the rest of the grinder.

I presume you retrofitted the PF holder as an upgrade? Do you still have the original front plate - and would it be possible to drill/tap and move the PF holder to the original plate?

cinergi wrote:Stability is great. My last 3 WBC runs (3 runs of 14 shots using WBC testing procedures) averaged .37F for reproducibility and .35F for stability. Note that my machine has the latest electronics and probes. I almost exclusively drink cappuccino's and work hard to make sure everything stays in new condition.

And you did steam the milk for the cappa's during the runs you mention?

Regards
Peter
Netherlands
Europe

CafSuperCharged wrote:I presume you retrofitted the PF holder as an upgrade? Do you still have the original front plate - and would it be possible to drill/tap and move the PF holder to the original plate?

The pointy end of a painful saga...

I presume you retrofitted the PF holder as an upgrade? Do you still have the original front plate - and would it be possible to drill/tap and move the PF holder to the original plate?

The pointy end of a painful saga...

What Ben is referring to is when we both sent our original front plates back to be drilled and tapped but only after receiving PF holder front plates that would only fit the newest grinders (the latest version is slightly taller putting more space between the bottom funnel and the base plate). Versalab never asked us which version we had. What made matters worse is Versalab drilled the holes unevenly and installed the clinch nuts backwards on Ben's front plate then did the exact same thing to mine a couple of months later even though they were made aware of the mistakes made on Ben's.

Ouch!

<censored bashing>

Regards
Peter
Netherlands
Europe