feitz wrote:>>@redbone that eBay tamper station looks good.<<

I happen to have that exact same tamper base. It works very well but has a flaw: the rubber bottom on mine always comes off since the stainless steel body only rests in two grooves.

Only have issue when moving station. Advantage of naked / bottomless PF is that any flat surface available will do.
I prefer spouts on PF minimizing spurts.

So, about a year late I'm still using the Thor 49mm. Going to upgrade soon though.

I'm thinking the Orphan 49.4mm for my Cremina. Any feedback on that? I take most of my Cremina advice from Orphan, so seemed like the way to go.

Update: Got the Orphan Espresso eventually, never looked back! Great use of $35.

More 49mm tamper information here

Kafatek makes a LevTamp for Cremina/CT1/ MCAL. It works brilliantly.

Yeah, been mulling that one over. Kinda pricey for my taste, but still a possibility. I wonder if the level tamping is as important at a smaller diameter. Theoretically it would be harder to be accurate at a smaller diameter, but I don't feel like it has much of an effect on my Cremina performance now.

I mainly want to upgrade because the Thor is wood (which grosses me out for no real reason) and it seems a hair small. Maybe it's 49mm not 49.4...

The Kafatek is 49.5mm. I am using it with a Strietman CT1, and notice improvement with a level tamp, as I do with the bigger version on my Slayer and LR. The need may be slightly mitigated by preinfusion or manual lever benefits, but there is still improvement in consistency. Also, the Gen2 LevTamp with the thinner base gives incredible feedback to tamp pressure and grounds compaction.

It is expensive, but unlike many expensive tampers, it actually may be worth it.

Thanks! That's the second or third strong endorsement I've heard, so I might just have to pull the trigger soon. Probably after a grinder though, since, you know, that's about 1/12 the cost of a Monolith!

I have been using the orphan 49.4 tamper since 2011 - works perfect for me, have no desire to change it.