Thanks for the generous props folks - I feel lucky to have been in the right place at the right time, and to have been able to strike a deal with PetePO. My wife is very understaning

As for the spring dimensions, I didn't take any measurements but I certainly will when I get a chance. However, I'd estimate the piston is about 1.75" in diameter, with the spring being slightly less, maybe 1.5". The spring wire diameter looked to be about 1/4". I'd like to get a PF I can put a pressure gauge on to see what the pressure generated during the shot are - will a typical faema E61 PF fit, or do I need an official Conti PF?

I'll tweak the pressure down to 1.1 or so, it seems like a good place to start. That's what the Cimbali I had was running at.

Thanks again-

Jeru,
Soon, I will have access to several Conti PF. I am sure we can solve your problem.

Jeru,
The lever assembly is very interesting. Next time you have it opened up, a close up of that mechanism would be lovely.

I'm curious about the cylinder diameter and the dimensions of the lever, the distance between pins, piston travel etc etc, It will be impossible to provide too many of those sorts of measurements

And since you're a Conti man now, inches are a unit of measurement from your former life. You must speak metric

Regards
Timo

I was out of the loop on this post for a bit - we just had our first baby!!!!!

Anyway, Mo, let me know when you have the pf's I'd be interested in a spare.

Timo - I'll file away your questions for the next time I have a chance to tinker with my machine (been a little busy lately), I can definitely get you some info, and I can even do metric

j

Congratulations on the new baby.

Be sure to catch up on your sleep before you start working again on the machine ...

Regards
Timo

timo - here's a real close up view of the piston 4-bar linkage with a metric scale. I had to reduce the photo size considerably to get it on the website, so if it's too crude to get the measurements you want let me know and I can email the original photos to you.

Here's the piston down:



Here's the piston up:



Hope that helps - I'm sure your next question will be length of the lever, which I didn't think to measure. It's probably around 14", or 35.5cm

j

Thanks, Jeru! Very nice.

It looks as though the pins are ~10mm in diameter. Industrial strength. Estimating from the 'before' and 'after' positions of the piston rod pins, the rod would appear to travel about 22mm.

My next question is, actually, what is the diameter of the piston? Same as the basket, or larger?
Does this machine produce close to 60ml from a single pull?

Regards
Timo

Congratulations Dad!!and Mom!!! Name - ??????? don't say doppio ;>)

I hope you all are doing well. On my Conti- I got the original PF and a naked model. The naked one is not Conti stock. It's lugs are thinner than the original. So it swings around to 4 o'Clock position when locked in. The stock one is good at 35 minutes after the hour if you follow me ( and the original will accept a triple shot ridged La marzocco basket). Bill could tell you where he got the naked PF. I am happy to bring or show you either one if it helps

Timo - that linkage is huge - I will take a picture of it next to my hand for scale- It is capable of turning a ships rudder!! It is serious linkage.

greg

Jeru,
The naked portafilter came from espressoparts. It's for an Astoria, Item #AS_59B.

mogogear wrote: ... that linkage is huge - I will take a picture of it next to my hand for scale- It is capable of turning a ships rudder!! It is serious linkage.

It is very beastly indeed. The design appears to eliminate the pin's moving around in a cutout slot, as happens in the domestic models like the Cremina and the Pavoni.

Is it smooth the entire pull, or is there a sort of snap midway when the "knee" locks?