Old Faema lever machine

[Teme]

I saw this interesting looking old Faema last weekend when I popped into Stresa in Northern Italy. I have not found any further info on the machine but I just wanted to share the pic since I think the machine is a beauty. A bit large for a home machine and I guess the price would be way out of my league as well (and don't know if the shop would have been willing to sell)... ...the picture is not of very good quality as the shop was closed when I walked past and I had to take the pic through the window...

Br,
Teme

[IronBarista]

Drool! That's a beaut.

[espressobsessed]

I have to laugh at the Labatt's picture in the window. In Canada, Labatt's and Molson tend to have poor reputations for quality (although Labatt's tends to be a bit better)!

Thanks for sharing!

[yemanha]

The beautiful machine is a FAEMA President. I have one on my workbench waiting for a complete restoration. Until now, it is not looking so beautifully, but at least it is mostly untouched. (except for the back window, that is an original window of a E61) On top of the page you can see a wall mounted FAEMA Velox lever machine. Produces a lovely espresso with not too much room consumption in the kitchen. But before starting the FAEMA restorations I first have to finish my Gaggia Lever machine that is now in pieces.

[HB]

Thanks Paul for joining and sharing what's happening at your workshop.

BTW, I discovered your site over a year ago while researching the Cimbali Junior writeup, specifically the reassembly of a "la Cimbali" lever espresso machine (the photos showing how to recompress the piston's spring gave me a new appreciation for the forces involved). Your overhaul of a La Marzocco Linea photo series was a gruesome reminder of what scale buildup does to machines that aren't maintained. I look forward to hearing more about your Gaggia Lever restoration.

[yemanha]

Hi everybody,

I had to move my La Cimbali site: now you can find my restoration of this lever machine here.

Best regards,
Paul

[mogogear]

Nicely done, and well documented. How long did the project take from start to finish?

[yemanha]

Hi Mo,

if you count from the day I received the machine until the day I had it working on the counter, it took more than 2 years. But a lot of this time, the machine was just waiting for some parts. The most difficult to find was the heating resistance that was burned. This machine was really a mess, so it was very time consuming putting it back into shape. In total perhaps 9 weeks of work.

Best regards,
Paul