Restoration of an Olympia Cremina - Page 4

[srobinson]

Well dear readers, in just a few posts tonight our story will come to an end. The last of my parts came in which allowed me to do my final assembly. I will cover the final steps of fitting the handles, rebuilding the steam valve and then unveiling the machine. I was going to drag this out a bit, but I am very pleased with the results and can't wait to show them off. So let's get going.

With the handles and caps coming in, it's time to fit them on the machine. First the portafilter:



Now the lever:



And the cap... Let me know how you like the triangle. This is something that Les and I worked out and this piece has a lot of hand carving on it to get this shape. It bolts onto the chrome base and then there is a burl cap that covers the screw:

The quality of Les' work is just fantastic. I really wish the pictures could do his handles full justice.

[srobinson]

Since I had to get the steam knob custom fitted to the valve post, I had to send the entire piece to Les. With it back now I could finish rebuilding it. The valve is a pre-update version and looks just like a valve that you would see on your sink faucet. Steps include replacing the washer on the valve:



There is a rubber plug on the bottom of the valve that screws in and will act as the main shutoff:



The valve then screws into the neck of the steam arm and a brass nut holds it in place:



Les' steam knob fits over this and screws into place:



And the final step is to pop on the burl plug to finish it off.



That is the last step to the rebuild. Now all that is left to do is put it all together. All parts accounted for and all washers and gaskets used...

[srobinson]

This will probably be the last post in this thread for me. I would like to thank everyone who helped on this project, the comments while writing this and all of the words of encouragement from my fellow LMWDP members and the great members of HB. I'll start another thread on using the machine, but with 4 pages of posts and almost 3000 views, I thought it would be best to finish this off with simply the pictures of the machine.

Enjoy....

[HooHaw]

Ohhhh...

Ahhhh...

*drool...*

[oly_puller]

Steve-
She's beautiful! Thanks to you, my wife is going to kick my butt and Les is getting some of my hard earned cash! Those new handles are magnificent!
Bravo my man... can't wait to see how you like her in action.
Pt

[Teme]

A beauty, definitely yes. And I think I've said this before but I'll say it again: Great to see the machine get the TLC it deserves!

Personally I might have gone for a cap in a style similar to the steam knob instead of the triangle - but that's just me. Regardless, the finish on the handles and knobs look impressive.

Br,
Teme

[KarlSchneider]

Hi Steve,

Richard Wagner liked to use the the term Gesamtkunswerk for his creations. I think this term applies here as well. It surely has been a collective project with many contributing. But it is your opera and I feel like shouting Bravissimo!

Of course the story to date has been an overture on a grand scale. Let the music begin.

[srobinson]

Thanks for all the kind words. New thread on usage will start shortly. Teme, it is hard to get a good view of the boiler cap unless you see it in person. I had it over for an early morning Jam at Dan's house....I will let him comment on the triangle.

[HB]

I'm with Steve on this one - Les' wood handles are superb. Plus the triangle nicely compliments Olympia's contemporary logo:



Overall I would say the combination of high-gloss black powdercoat, sunglasses-required brightwork, and rare wood custom handles have put this restoration way over the top. Congratulations Steve, a real class A job. Let's talk more offline about the next restoration job you offered to do for me involving the carbon fiber faceplate and 1/4" thick brushed stainless steel sides, OK?

Back to this this morning - Steve wasted no time getting in the groove pulling delightfully smooth shots. The second and third boasted beaucoup crema, I suspect because of the higher pressure compared to my spring-powered lever (huh? do I detect "lever envy"?). I wasn't able to convince Steve to install a brew gauge like Lino's Peppina to confirm my theory:


Lino's Peppina with tapped grouphead for brew gauge and thermocouple

By the way, I'm lobbying Jim Piccinich at 1st-line to sponsor Steve's next project, a formal Bench review of the latest Olympia Cremina:

Olympia Cremina 2002

Steve explains that it incorporates innovations not present in his '67, and I know nobody more qualified to review it. If you're considering the Cremina and would like to see such a review, send a note to Jim (sales@1st-line.com). Given enough requests, perhaps we can persuade him to offer an HB member discount too?

[cpl593h]

And then you can put the valve back together. You want to make sure that when this is under higher pressure that the plug can rise up on the spring and allow the steam to blow through the holes in the valve. I will be rigging up a pressure gauge to this to make sure I have it dialed in correctly since you can manually adjust the spring pressure. With one additional brass washer it goes right on top

Did you manage to hook up a pressure gauge here? Any advice on adjusting the pressurestat and relief valve?

[Paul L]

Steve, I have thoroughly enjoyed following the thread. When I bought my Europiccola I was not tempted by the wooden handles but Les' craftsmanship has me drooling and wishing for a set to be sent this side of the water. If you are tempted to order a set for your Europiccola let me know and I suspect I'll double the order. If Les will make a set anyway and ship to the UK it will be hard to resist. Of course, the hard part will be the matching drip tray which I suspect will otherwise look a bit odd in in its standard black plastic (mesh upper part in stainless steel is okay of course).

[Breaddrink]

Of course, the hard part will be the matching drip tray which I suspect will otherwise look a bit odd in in its standard black plastic (mesh upper part in stainless steel is okay of course).

Can you order the metal drip tray part as an accessory?
I notice they only sell them with the wooden handle machines, otherwise they're all plastic.

Rob.

[srobinson]

Did you manage to hook up a pressure gauge here? Any advice on adjusting the pressurestat and relief valve?

Actually Dan and I just did a pressure test on the machine a couple weeks ago. The Cremina 67 does not have a pressure gauge on it but we were able to hook one up right off the top of the boiler.



There is a thumbwheel at the base of the pressurestat that allows you to adjust. I have decided to keep mine at 1.1-1.2



We found that the machine is very stable with its pressure. We did a couple tests to see how much pressure fluctuated between cycles and it all stayed within a .1 range. At the range we picked you get great steam and solid pressure for your pulls.

[Teme]

Can you order the metal drip tray part as an accessory?
I notice they only sell them with the wooden handle machines, otherwise they're all plastic.

Rob.

The Pavoni metal drip tray cover is available as an accessory. If I recall correctly e.g. http://www.espressoxxl.com in Germany sells them at a reasonable price...

Br,
Teme

[cpl593h]

It looks like you connected the manometer right to the steam output tap. Nice! Did you have to machine any adapters for this or were many of the parts ready made and available at a hardware store? I imagine that one would be able to just attach the manometer only for pressurestat adjustment and re-attach the steam assembly when through... If the pressure cycles in such a small increment there isn't really a need to pressure surf, it seems.

Would it be feasible to remove the steam wand and connect a manometer after the steam valve for this purpose, or would parts have to be milled? Were the parts obtained locally or online?

[HB]

Steve borrowed my gauge and fittings. Although the Cremina's fittings are metric, 6mm and 1/4" are close enough that I used stock parts available at Home Depot. If you want to add a tee there, it should be easy except for the steam tube bending . Steve and I also talked about putting one atop the site glass for test purposes.

[cpl593h]

Thanks Dan

[cpl593h]

My Cremina arrived today. Boiler: immaculate. Internals: spotless. Group: NIGHTMARE. I'll post photos of that later. I got it all cleaned up and rebuilt the group with gaskets (thanksfully all of the other gaskets are great). Here's my pressure gauge solution:

[cpl593h]

So I said the group was a nightmare. It took me FOREVER to drill through the brass to make the portafilter naked. I thought my hole saw was just dull, but the brass is just plain thick.

But ahhhhh.... success.

[HooHaw]

Reckon you don't fancy them milk stuff.