Hello,

I'm having no luck trying to find stainless steel tampers (in various sizes) that do not have any handles. I only want the polished metal disk as I'm a professional woodturner and I prefer to turn my own handles. Does anyone know of a supplier that offers a kit w/o a handle, or some company that can custom make them so I can add my own turned handles from various woods and alternative materials? Thanks in advance and all the best to you and yours!

I would contact this guy on EBay, he can make whatever size you like and is very reasonable with prices: http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-Tamper-Maker

Look HERE . . .

zin1953 wrote:Look HERE . . .

Hello,

Thanks for the link, however the product shown is made from aluminum and I need stainless steel. Thanks for your assistance.

ddr wrote:I would contact this guy on EBay, he can make whatever size you like and is very reasonable with prices: http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-Tamper-Maker

Hello ddr,

Thanks for the info and the link. It looks like this bloke can do custom work, so this might be a good source. Thanks and take care!

HB wrote:I assume you mean the piston? Espressoparts will happily sell you them a la carte, for their tampers or Reg Barber's.

Hello Dan,

Thanks! These look very good... Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Quadshot wrote:I'm having no luck trying to find stainless steel tampers (in various sizes) that do not have any handles.

Hi Steve,
If you're in the Woodlands you are a stone's throw from a slew of excellent machine shops, any number of which could turn tamper bases. We also have a couple of excellent electropolishing outfits here (all of the above in Houston). This means that you can have your own unique custom tamper bases made, probably for a fraction of the cost to buy commercial offerings (depending on quantity).

I know some folks who also know some folks, so if you contact me offline I could probably hook you up. The best case scenario would be to find a machinist who was interested enough to work together with you to make the base of your dreams....

ddr wrote:I would contact this guy on EBay, he can make whatever size you like and is very reasonable with prices: http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-Tamper-Maker

I have 2 of the tampers from that guy and I am not all that impressed with how they handle. They are about half as thick as the one I have from coffee-labs and I will have to loctite the stud if I don't want them to loosen (it is short, very short). It is also smaller than I would like. I haven't miked it yet but it leaves coffee all around the edge on the 58 mm I use and I have to tap and re-tamp. Also I tried to get him to sell me an extra bottom and it was almost the same price as the whole tamp so I just ordered another instead. He also is hard to communicate with and I also don't like the bevel as much ether. To his credit they are much nicer than the cheapo lava knock off I got ripped off on. Hollow pre-dented based earned that guy some negative feedback!

IMHO, If you are going to make custom wood tamps, go the extra distance and get some really nice bases.

You can get them directly from Reg Barber as well. Turned quite a few handles for folks, they just order the piston. FYI the Reg pistons use a hex cup set screw. I don't recall the diameter/pitch off the top of my head although I want to say 3/8-16. I can check my stash when I get home if you want. Other brands use other screws.