Hi guys!

Long time lurker. Wanted to add to the buzz of vintage astoria lever machines floating around on the forums. Bout a month ago I decided to make the long journey to customize the exterior of my astoria lever. No clue year/model on this guy, would totally appreciate some insight in that area.

Picked this guy up to use for catering for my coffee shop as well as random events around the city. Ran like a charm when I purchased, just lacked the beauty I felt like the machine was capable of. I'm a big fan of full custom jobs, not just paint/accents, so I decided to strip the panels off and give it a whole new look! Here's the only before pic I have, and apologies in advance for the poor photos:



Not bad shape at all, but like I said, not quite as pretty as I'd like. Stripping the body to check out the frame - freshly powdercoated (all the more reason to chop it up!)



Those red wires stringing behind connect to a pump. I installed a button that triggers the pump power when you pull the 'manual fill' lever on the right of the machine, just so the pump isn't constantly running. The brains on the machine were ruined cause this thing sat outside for a few years before the previous owner refurbed it - so I didn't even want to deal with the autofill. Plus i'm running it mostly on propane so there was no reason to worry about getting that side of things up and running.

Here's my original mock up. Wasn't quite sure what I was going to do for the sides so I just left em white in the photo. Just an adobe illustrator mock.



The design here actually stayed true to the final product, with more accents and I ended up going with Alder for the sides/knobs/levers. Here's my first tangible mock up:



I liked the copper cup rail, despite it being so fragile. My soldering turned out good for a first go (after lots and lots of sanding!)

You'll notice the goofy groups that are different - I believe the one on the right is original and the one on the left looks and functions a bit newer. I didn't really want to drop the $$$ on a new group since they both worked fine, so I decided to add to the oddity by using different handles and slightly different wood accents on each one (you'll see that in later photos)

Side view, after soldering. Still need to sand the cup rail down a bit.




Front view, with the new brains of the machine. Arduino based. Eventually I'll make it a bit 'smarter' but for now it just drives some backlights that change colors as the boiler heats. Would love to throw a PID on this thing one day, and my inner DIY nature would probably end up programming it as opposed to buying one.



Here's the sides all installed and rubbed with a light danish oil - I wanted to keep the color and texture of the Alder really true while still adding a bit of water resistance.




That's about all I have for progress shots, now onto the final product:




Since announcing the project I've picked up 3 more requests for custom machines so I'll be sure and post about those as I get the ball rolling on em!

Thanks so much for looking, and I'd love to hear what you guys think of it!

Very nice! I'm not loving the front knobs but I love everything else.

Beautifully done. Thank you for posting!

Arcus - they are a hair clunkier than intended. I think I'm going to revisit once my lathe skills improve a bit.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Like it! More internal lighting!
Prone to getting carried away with mods myself.

Love the black color combination. And the low profile drip tray looks awesome! Are the black caps on the group stainless/brass and painted or plastic?
Great job!

I like it too !

Thanks for the inspiration! My single group lever is in bad need of some customization. It does have an aftermarket paint job that is truly wild but I was thinking of going the wood route too.

That's simply spectacular!