I have been wanting to gather some objective data on my Leva group and its temperature profile for quite some time. I have been a bit mum on the rest of the project which you can now see. I haven't been able to use it while I was getting a lot of custom work done on it. There's no sense starting a separate thread just for the photos, so I'm including them here.



There isn't a lot of data available on the PID Leva group as opposed to the more common San Marco (either straight dipper with pstat or thermosyphon). Since I'm not specifically setting out to write an official bench review, I'm freed from the normal pattern of them, namely, I'm not going to do an A to B comparison against another machine. I had in the past mentioned that I'd compare the Izzo Leva to the Bezzera Strega, but that will be a project that will have to come with time, and be more or less subjective opinion. I have a pretty good feel for the different types of shots that both are capable of.

I just received my custom portafilter and knobs, lever arm, back from an absolutely gifted woodworker who normally makes handles only for very fine Japanese chefs knives. I have one of his beautiful custom handles on a honyaki wa-gyuto that is just stunning. He's never made a portafilter handle and to date, nobody to my knowledge has a set like these.



Slightly larger and longer steam and hot water taps.





Leva owners might notice, the handle is now sleeve free. I sent the metal lever arm to a machinist and had the handle cut cleanly then tapped to accept a male thread. One of the most talented custom knife handle craftsmen, Isaiah Schroeder made these according to my design ideas. I couldn't be happier with the fit and feel of them.



I have no vested interest in promoting Isaiah's work besides being very thrilled with the results, but I'll be happy to share his contact information if requested. He can be followed at @isknifeworks on Instagram, however.



EricS crafted some thermofilters for me and now that I can actually pull the lever down again, I can start taking measurements, which I'll be working on going forward and sharing here. I just wanted to share some photo's of this guys beautiful work before I proceed with the observations on temperature profiles.

Highly interested, Tom. Has the Alex Leva PID group alread been discussed? If so, I missed that. Can you throw in a link about the specifics of that PID lever group? I've been mulling over such a modification to my Spring lever: PID the boiler programmed to adjust boiler heat according to the mean group temperature.

Not that I'm aware of, so I hope there's some utility from my attempts to gather data. Fair warning, I'm not as savvy using computer graphics as others, but I'll figure out enough. The manufacturer and vendors don't go into great detail about the PID Leva group in specifics. It will be fun to explore. Almost everything I've read is either on the straight dipper or the larger commercial San Marco groups with heat exchangers.

Beautiful woodwork there Tom.

Here's mine with toggle/joystick upgrade and Zebrawood handles.







It looks like you have a non-standard filter basket Tom - ridgeless. Can you give some details of where you got it and if it is an improvement on the standard one.

Cheers
Dean

Sa-weet Tom. I can share your pride of ownership, remembering the feeling when my woodwork for the Cremina came in. Good on you.

Please do me a favor. I am unfamiliar with the machine. Noticeably larger than the Cremina. Would you measure counter top to top of lever handle. Just trying to compare sizes mentally between the Cremina and your machine. Thx.

[Edit: Thx anyways. Did some reading on the machine over at Chris' Coffee. 31".]

Deano wrote:Beautiful woodwork there Tom.

It looks like you have a non-standard filter basket Tom - ridgeless. Can you give some details of where you got it and if it is an improvement on the standard one.

Cheers
Dean

Hi Dean,

I have a few IMS baskets and the standard triple which is more like a double and then, of course the single basket which I doubt I'd ever use. I also picked up some double baskets from cafeparts.com. When I had my new Reg Barber tamper made, I had it milled to fit the best basket I had on hand at the time, the stock triple. But it's slightly odd that they consider it a triple because you certainly can't dose anything near a triple in it, it will hit the group's inner sleeve even at an enthusiastic double dose.

I might get another tamper that fits the IMS baskets perfectly, because I'd like to explore those better. Any speculation on those would be a bit premature since they are the gappy-est (not a word) with the tamper now, and I can get donut extractions without being careful.

Boldjava wrote:Sa-weet Tom. I can share your pride of ownership, remembering the feeling when my woodwork for the Cremina came in. Good on you.

Please do me a favor. I am unfamiliar with the machine. Noticeably larger than the Cremina. Would you measure counter top to top of lever handle. Just trying to compare sizes mentally between the Cremina and your machine. Thx.

[Edit: Thx anyways. Did some reading on the machine over at Chris' Coffee. 31".]

I don't mind setting the Cremina next to it and snapping a shot for a better overall comparision.

Thank you Dan. Oooooh, I just noticed your location.... There's a L1 near me? We should buy the same commercial espresso roast, dial them in and compare. I'd be happy to have you over for shots on the Leva. I'd really be interested in seeing if there's a significant difference. I'm sorta doubting major negatives to either, but can't help but wonder since I've never even touched an L1, let alone had a shot from one.

Tom, just wondering if you have made any progress re: your observations on the Leva. I plan to purchase either the Leva or the Pro 800 this Fall and it would be great to have your thoughts on the Leva.

Thanks.