Turning your own wooden handles for la pavoni

[da gino]

Has anyone turned their own handles/knobs for a pavoni before? I've always wanted to do it and have decided to finally do it after looking at srobinson's amazing photos of his wooden handles on his cremina. If anyone has done this for their Pavoni I'd love advice. I got a nice piece of cocobolo today. I figure the handles will be fairly easy, but I'm not sure how to make a knob for the water tank that will screw in perfectly, and I'm not sure how the pin attaches the steam release knob to the pavoni - is it threaded or does is just slide in snugly? If I can't make the knobs work that is fine, I'll still be happy with the handles, but I'd love to replace all 4 pieces.

Also any advice on how to treat the wood is welcome, too - linseed oil, wax, naked?

(Yes I know that I could order them pre-made, but I think it will be fun and cheaper to make them myself).

Hugh

[cannonfodder]

I can't find any other photos, but I know if have some. I had my dad turn me some cocobolo handles for my machine. The hard part was making the thread insert for the wood. At the time I knew someone that had a metal lathe so he turned me a couple of inserts from brass bar stock. We used a satin urethane finish. That was a couple of years ago and they still look as good as the day they were turned.

I have a small lathe and was thinking of turning a fill set for my Elektra.

[cannonfodder]

found them...

That brass insert and threaded stud were custom made from stainless rod stock and brass rod stock.

[mhoy]

Very nice handles. Which Elektra handles are you thinking of making?

When I was rebuilding my Elektra T1, I tried to remove the steam/water wand handles, at some point I decided I was putting enough force on trying to get them off and stopped as I didn't want to break them.

Mark

[espressme]

Hello Hugh,
The lever handles are about 12mmx1.75 tapped and the pf grip is ~10mmx1.5 as a stud ( on mine it is a perfect fit for a 3/8ths- 16 stainless steel bolt.) I say "about," because I have found LaPav to be a bit over or under sized in their threading. You could cut the head off a 3 or 4 inch bolt from the hardware if you wanted and then epoxy the shank end into the wood giving strength through the whole length.. Old hardware stores and auto parts stores are wonderful for finding odd stuff and metric stuff!! J-B weld is the great answer to metal to wood. Clean the wood and metal well first with alcohol or better yet, M.E.K. to remove oils.. The Lever handle could be made the same way using a piece of 9/16ths round brass or bar from the Hardware store. The taps and dies are about $15-$20 and the brass or pipe would be what you can get locally. Or PM me and I can make and send you a core for each.
The Boiler cap knob presents a problem. You could have someone use a lathe to cut off and drill and tap the existing knob, It may be of Bakelite with brass inside or may be all Bakelite. For the steam tap the pin is through the shaft and must be pressed out one side, that makes the steam tap the simpler project.
I use Mahoney's Walnut oil and beeswax for a finish. They are food safe and, if the owner takes care of salad oiling them, they are holding up well. You might look at the "Rebuilding the Oly Twins" site for some other ideas as to shape. HERE
There are a few hints as how to proceed on page six.
HERE
Cheers
Richard
P.S. have fun!!! I did!

Has anyone turned their own handles/knobs for a pavoni before? I've always wanted to do it and have decided to finally do it after looking at srobinson's amazing photos of his wooden handles on his cremina. If anyone has done this for their Pavoni I'd love advice. I got a nice piece of cocobolo today. I figure the handles will be fairly easy, but I'm not sure how to make a knob for the water tank that will screw in perfectly, and I'm not sure how the pin attaches the steam release knob to the pavoni - is it threaded or does is just slide in snugly? If I can't make the knobs work that is fine, I'll still be happy with the handles, but I'd love to replace all 4 pieces.

Also any advice on how to treat the wood is welcome, too - linseed oil, wax, naked?

(Yes I know that I could order them pre-made, but I think it will be fun and cheaper to make them myself).

Hugh

[da gino]

Wow, thanks for all the great advice and the inspiring photographs. Being new at this I know my handles won't look as great as yours do Richard and Dave, but they'll be unique and fun. I got to start the project today and it is going slowly, but I wouldn't have even had what I needed to get started without all the advice above. I did indeed have to go to an autoparts store to find the metric stuff I needed, as none of our hardware stores had them (nor did the first four autoparts stores I called), but in the end it took about half an hour from picking up the phone for the first time until I was home with the taps and dies in hand - not bad considering I didn't even know they were called taps and dies before reading this thread (which I further demonstrated by calling them puts instead of taps).

My friend who is letting me use his workshop also owns a Pavoni (in fact he introduced me to them) and now he may make a set for his own machine, too.

Hugh

[espressme]

Hello Hugh,
Always does my heart good to see someone carrying on the do it yourself idea. Good luck and please post photos of your work here!
Thanks
Richard / espressme
PS I'd call them taps and dies. Every area has its own terminology among the folks what work there. Taps and dies will help you if you mailorder or try to find them from sources away from the home town. I came from an area where we had twirlies and burrs for nuts and screws.

[da gino]

I don't know how long it will take me to finish the project, so here is a photo of what I have so far - the first handle...



I'm sure the next one one be exactly the same - we'll pretend like that is by design and not lack of skill!

[espressme]

Nice!
rp

[mhoy]

I too think it looks good. Wood has character, plastic is well, kinda plasticy.

Mark

[da gino]

I got a chance to make some progress yesterday, so now I have two handles, but I haven't figured out the ideal way to attach a boiler cap made out of wood yet, so I probably won't even try that for a while. I will probably follow other's suggestions and splice or screw it into the current plastic knob since even if I could thread the wood correctly it seems like the moist environment of the boiler might not be ideal for wood.

If I did go with an all wood knob, one of the parts shops suggested I could put a pressure gauge right into the knob, which would be fun and interesting to have, although I think I prefer a cleaner look.

As for the new handles I love the feel as I pull the shots!

Hugh

[mhoy]

I love the look of the wood handles. How did you connect the wood to the metal threads? Did you make brass inserts for the threads?

Mark

[da gino]

I love the look of the wood handles. How did you connect the wood to the metal threads? Did you make brass inserts for the threads?

Mark

Hi Mark, thanks! I used a 3/8" drill bit to create a hole and then a 12mm/1.75 tap to thread the hole and then just screwed the bolts from the portafilter and lever that the plastic handles used to screw into directly into the wood. A metric drill bit might have been better, but I didn't have one. I found the tap and die set for $25 at a local autoparts store (the hardware stores in town didn't have one). I don't have any inserts although they probably would work even better. I was originally thinking that I'd create a prototype now and then go back in a couple weeks and make better handles with inserts when I got more skilled, but I'm happy enough with these and the tap and die worked well enough that I will probably stick with the current set up.

Hugh

[Spresso_Bean]

Nice work - they look great! Makes me want to turn some handles, which I've thought about a few times, but was always hesitant due to the metric inserts that I had a hard time locating when I looked around. Threading the wood is a good idea and hopefully it holds up over time, but if not you could just drill it slightly larger and use a metal insert and you wouldn't have to turn more handles. The boiler cap is another tough one as you mentioned, but EPNW sells them if you haven't seen the picture, and I was also trying to figure out how to go about making one. I think the wood makes the machine look even better.

Edit - actually, the EPNW wooden Pavoni parts almost look like they're all just threaded in the wood which I hadn't noticed before. The one I'd wonder about is the boiler cap and how it appears to be all wood - for some reason that would scare me but I have one of the 1960s machines where the boiler cap isn't all the same material - it's metal plus plastic/Bakelite. The threads for the portafilter handle and the lever handle are also different. Anyway, I might have to go turn a few handles and tampers after seeing your work...

[r-gordon-7]

Beautiful handles indeed!!!

Just a thought regarding the boiler cap... With the Gaggia Factory, its "Tinman" cap covers its boiler cap, making its boiler cap simply an "internal part" which wouldn't seem to need a wooden makeover, as it wouldn't show anyhow. So, as the La Pavoni's boiler cap presents a bit of a challenge to replicate in wood, is there any way to simply enclose the La Pavoni's boiler cap inside a decorative outer metal cap that would sit over & cover it... perhaps something like a Gaggia Factory "Tinman" cap or an Elektra dome? I believe the La Pavoni's boiler cap may be of a larger diameter than the Gaggia Factory's boiler cap, so a spare Gaggia Factory "Tinman" cap might not fit - but something along those lines might be easier (and more durable) than finding a way to replicate the La Pavoni's boiler cap w/wood... Again, just a thought...

r-gordon-7

[espressme]

Please post the URL, I have tried their site and wasn't able to locate it.
Thanks
Richard

The boiler cap is another tough one as you mentioned, but EPNW sells them if you haven't seen the picture, and I was also trying to figure out how to go about making one. I think the wood makes the machine look even better.
Edit - actually, the EPNW wooden Pavoni parts almost look like they're all just threaded in the wood which I hadn't noticed before.

EDIT: Thanks see below

[Spresso_Bean]

Here is a link to the page with three wooden Pavoni parts that they sell:

http://www.espressoparts.com/results.cgis?catalog=&select=NAME&keywords=wood+pavoni&image.x=0&image.y=0

I didn't see a matching portafilter handle, unless the lever handle fits both.

[da gino]

Here is a link to the page with three wooden Pavoni parts that they sell:

http://www.espressoparts.com/results.cgis?catalog=&select=NAME&keywords=wood+pavoni&image.x=0&image.y=0

I didn't see a matching portafilter handle, unless the lever handle fits both.

The lever handle should fit both- they have the same threads and they are easy to interchange
(at least on my machine). On their diagram of parts they call both of them "P74W" or P74 if you don't want the wooden ones. My plastic handles were subtly different from each other, but were interchangeable functionally.

Also as far as the boiler knob threads go, I talked to the people who imported my machine and they said that La Pavoni at one point had wood thread on their wooden boiler caps, but that they don't anymore and it is now wood with Bakelite threads.

I have a friend who bought the Pavoni with wood a few years ago - I'll email him and ask how his knob and handles are threaded.

r-gordon-7 I had thought about some form of tinman cap, but I'd love to master the wooden knob if I can.

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions.

Hugh

[Spresso_Bean]

The 1960s Pavoni I have has two parts which I'd assume can come apart somehow - there appears to be a center cap in the Bakelite but I don't want to mar it up trying to get that off until I know for sure how to do that. This way some of them could just have the Bakelite area replaced with wood rather than the whole boiler cap. I guess it depends on when they were built.

[espressme]

EDITED:
Later caps are outies and the cap is a male threaded into the boiler.
If your cap has the name elebac on the bottom of the plastic it may be similar to this Cremina cap. The Vinyl center pries out with a needle or the tip of an eXacto knife.

I would guess that some of the "Gaggia Factory"s are of that style ( over the boiler fill, now mooted by the next post). The boiler is a bit different to allow the tin hat.YMMV
Cheers
Richard
PS. I have a later LaPav one that is one piece molded plastic over brass on my LaPav. I have another LaPav that is all Bakelite.
LaPav has many different configurations over the years and anything may vary with different suppliers.
So, if you send for a replacement, measure twice!!