I recently finished rebuilding a La Marzocco - Linea 2AV, and the portafilters are not in horrible shape. I thought about keeping them, and sending them out to get them cut bottomless. That being said, I personally like the style of the handle, and the size/shape.

Has anyone sanded/polished the portafilter handles? I'm not sure if they are "Bakelite" or not, but I know refurbishing that kind of plastic, is a huge PIA, and probably not worth the time or effort.

Any thoughts?


Thanks,
Justin

Somewhere out there there will be someone who can turn (from wood) some really nice handles, the plastic parts are just not really refurbishable (if that is actually a word!) - as for the metal parts you can get them electroplated with chrome - if you have some really nasty dings in them then sand those out first and the handles will be really special - good luck

coffeemelon wrote:Somewhere out there there will be someone who can turn (from wood) some really nice handles, the plastic parts are just not really refurbishable (if that is actually a word!) - as for the metal parts you can get them electroplated with chrome - if you have some really nasty dings in them then sand those out first and the handles will be really special - good luck

I actually have a CNC lathe at my disposal, but I wanted to keep it closer to original, than the wood handles. Although some nice spun aluminum handles might be interesting...

Euology101 wrote:I actually have a CNC lathe at my disposal, but I wanted to keep it closer to original, than the wood handles. Although some nice spun aluminum handles might be interesting...

Aluminium being the cheapest of the most effective heat conductors? Look for something further up the insulator scale. The reason that PF's have handles at all is to keep you from burning yourself on the brass. Secondarily, that think sticking out in the wind would be a bit of a heat sink, drawing heat away from the group.

Psyd wrote:Aluminium being the cheapest of the most effective heat conductors? Look for something further up the insulator scale. The reason that PF's have handles at all is to keep you from burning yourself on the brass. Secondarily, that think sticking out in the wind would be a bit of a heat sink, drawing heat away from the group.

I was joking for sure, I want to keep the OG plastic, but that is very true. Aluminum is easy to turn, and decently cheap, what about a plastic thread insert, to insulate the aluminum from the Brass/heat?

Euology101 wrote: what about a plastic thread insert, to insulate the aluminum from the Brass/heat?

General rule of thumb is that if it conducts electricity well, it'll do heat well, too. Not always an indicator, but comes pretty close.
I think that the idea holds merit to reduce the transfer of heat, but as far as how well it'll hold up to the punishment that a portafilter handle is expected ti withstand, I haven't a clue.
If they look anything like the picture in my head right now, though, they'll be damnedable pretty!

I think a plastic insert could work really great if you make it thick enough. Conductors have to be physically connected to each other for the heat to transfer efficiently, so I would think this would work. If it doesn't work well enough I'd guess you just need to make the plastic thicker and the aluminum thinner.

Give them a light wet sanding with some 1000, 1500, 2000 paper then if you have access to some micromesh continue the progression up to 8000 grit. Then hit them with some white rogue on a buffer to shine them up. If you don't have micromesh then use some Tripoli then the white rogue and you should be good.

cannonfodder wrote:Give them a light wet sanding with some 1000, 1500, 2000 paper then if you have access to some micromesh continue the progression up to 8000 grit. Then hit them with some white rogue on a buffer to shine them up. If you don't have micromesh then use some Tripoli then the white rogue and you should be good.

Thanks Dave, this is the answer I was looking for. I purchased 2 new plastic handles from LM, but I will try this and see how well it works so I have some "backups".