erics wrote:That's a daunting task . . . maybe use a "dummy" valve without the threading and check the seating with some Dykem.

Oh it's not that bad, the shaft is loose and free to turn both ways, it's only when you add the end fitting that the shaft gets locked in. Good tip on the layout dye.

I dropped off the chrome today, all 4 boxes of it and the main body shell. I was able to quickly repair the inside of the valves this morning. First thing was to grind the inside surface of the valve, they are all in really bad condition.

The steam valve body was mounted in the lathe chuck and the stone grinding cone was mounted in the tailstock. I had to make an extension mandrel to hold the grinding cone as the shaft was not long enough. Made a mandrel out of some junk brass stock I had.



After that I swapped the grinding cone for the valve shaft and then used the valve grinding pastes. Seemed to work well and a decent seal was made.

Each pair of a shaft and a valve body was then stamped so that I can pair them up again later.




Now there is a bit of bad news, the chrome plater does not think he can do the main outer shell of the machine. It is probably too big for his tank, strange considering he did a much larger 3 group for me in the past. There are areas on the inside of the body that need good chrome plating and I think he was concerned with that. Maybe he can't position it to plate those inside parts. He will call me in a few days.

It's back!










There are a couple more pinholes more than I would normally accept but considering the condition it was in I think it looks great. I have not done anything this week on the boiler, hopefully next week I can get that done. Tomorrow I need to find a safe place to hide the main body so that it does not get scratched.

............

Unbeeleevubble. Get out the sunglasses!

I need to return to page 1 of this thread to remind me of how it once looked

I wanted to finish the week on a happy note, so did the final polishing of the front horizontal ribs. They are aluminium and were badly corroded.



I used a belt sander to get the corrosion and subsequent pits out. Then used the random orbital sander, then buffing compounds. So here is the front end all assembled and polished.



As you can probably see, I did have the front panel, that the ribs bolt onto, rechromed. I was not going to do this incase the wavy pattern was lost, but after much discussion, I did this (final buffing) with the chrome guy so that we did not lose the pattern.



Of course there is nothing inside the machine yet, but a good way to end the week.

Splendid Paul !

Wow, that came out fantastic!

A busy week week for me so not a lot happening on the VA. More a planning and calculating week as I tried to sort out the rest of the custom parts needed, such as heating elements, seals etc..

The original heaters are completely shot so I ordered those today. Here is one of the originals at the heating element shop I always use.



Originally there were 2 elements, one low and one high power and no pressure switch (you just flip it to low when required). But I will be using a pressure switch so I am just putting 1 x 3kw heater in there. Naturally if you are making the effort with a custom element you may as well get 2 made at the same time. That explains the boxes of parts I have for each machine.

Whilst I was there I also had some elements made for my 1948 Gaggia Classica. Both these machines have special elements that feature a significant portion of the element that is above the water line. If the elements are not built with that in mind they will not last very long.

A wall of elements at the shop.



Of course the element needs a boiler lid to attach to, so after that it was off to the brass supply shop for a 6mm slab of brass plate. I will make the round boiler plate next week. Here is the shop, they sell round bar, hex bar, square, brass, bronze, copper etc..Pretty cool. I told them what I wanted 6mm x 14cm x 14cm and was in and out within 5 minutes.



After that I went to the seal shop to have some custom seals made for the actual lever groups. I worked out the dimensions the day before and went armed with my little diagrams. 8 silicone seals (3 or 4 per group) based on my measurements cost an arm and a leg, US$20 each. Ouch. This machine is a proverbial money pit that is for sure. The elements were not cheap either. Brass for the boiler lid was US$18.

Heaters and the seals will take a week or so.

I was finally able to fire up my Faema Marte yesterday. The poor thing sat there for a few months watching me mess with the VA. Always finish the week on a high, that way you will be looking forward to coming in to work on the Monday. Will take some better photos and put them up next week.