I meant the fabrication of dispersion screens. Was this the 30-ton press you mentioned back when the trees had leaves?

timo888 wrote:I meant the fabrication of dispersion screens. Was this the 30-ton press you mentioned back when the trees had leaves?

YUP but 20ton! Might do so if there is the interest, I don't need one right now.

I am leary from past experience of trying to satisfy someone and ending up with a lot of cost that I never recover. I had two different model shops over the years and lost both to deadbeat inventors / corporate purchasing agents that ran up bills and who's lawyers offered 10¢ on the dollar. Had a few bad experiences with the home shop too.

The real cost would be to buy enough of the necessary perforated stainless steel sheet of the proper thickness with holes of the correct diameter. Seems it used to be about $40 a Square foot.This method of manufacture would be only for "all mesh" snap on / in screens. Like the oldest laPav and Amore and some like that. Seems that Caravel and other home machines used that type too. Some just cut to size and snapped into a groove..

At a later date other types could be laser punched and cut after proof of concept, if the cost wasn't too exorbitant. The cost I would have is turning the core to form around and or/ into of steel. Measure and cut oversize and then trim by steps to get the desired end product after springback when removed from the form. Figure about 6 tries per screen = 1ft²or more.

Kinda -sorta like your problem with the different sizes of Cremina baskets and their different fit from different dates or supplier of manufacture, the tooling wore and it is cheaper to change the PF - CNC machining code to fit the baskets.

Remember, sheet metal stretches and retracts so it does not really ever follow the exact size and shape of the core or die used to produce it. So, it is not cut and dried like making a shaped bar stock piece to measure with ones own shop measuring equipment on the lathe.

I suppose that the method could save a few classics from the scrap heap though?
richard

espressme wrote:I am leary from past experience of trying to satisfy someone and ending up with a lot of cost that I never recover. I had two different model shops over the years and lost both to deadbeat inventors / corporate purchasing agents that ran up bills and who's lawyers offered 10¢ on the dollar. Had a few bad experiences with the home shop too.

I worked years ago for a prominent plaintiffs firm that specialized in securities class action. On one class action, thousands of investors had lost their life savings because of some nefarious dealings by the directors of the company. The plaintiffs firm worked out a deal with the defense firm (after they had both milked the cow) whereby the class members would be compensated 11 cents on the dollar. The court praised the plaintiffs firm for its excellent efforts on behalf of the class.

Regards
Timo

izzy wrote:Recently I have developed a problem where the piston might not come down and seat completely after a full pull. I have to open the steam valve to relieve the pressure and place a large bowl under to piston to catch to water that continues to flow. One way I found to fix this is to spray WD40 on the top of the piston and work it for a few minutes to get it down in to mechinism. This seems to fix the system for a few months.

You need Dow Corning 111 from http://www.mcmaster.com . It is the lube rec'd for Olympias. Beware of other food grade lubes labeled "occasional contact" they will not cut it for levers. H61 if i remember well is the USDA spec for frequent contact and high temp variability.

Hehe your WD40 reminded me of the MadMax movie for some weird reason

Hi all and I need help too!

I just purchased an Italianstyle CE-14 C - on the cheap. Plenty of rust and corrosion underneath, but seems to function OK... to a point... I can load water from my purifier, and then turn it on... After a couple minutes the tank is partly heating, and then SURPRISE there is water gurgling out of the air vent on the top rear of the cylinder...

(Thanks to Richard fro the warning on piston removal) So I created a wooden support for the piston, and added a 24" clamp - this lets me compress the cylinder and piston, to allow removal of the lever, and then I can remove the piston and replace the piston as I wish. The V-gaskets are old, and I believe this is the source of the water outpouring...

THEREFORE
- Where have you found the V gaskets available?
- Can you verify the dimensions that I believe I have identified: inside diameter 30mm, outside diameter 47mm, thickness of 5mm...
- Is there something else I should look to fix to stop the small stream of water that exudes from the top?
- Someone mentioned a manual - I would love a copy of a manual, PDF or otherwise...

Does anyone have any other ideas which I shgould be considering?

Thanks all,
Brett

Hello Brett,
IMLTHO, You are on the right track. From your description, there is a good possibility that the "v" rings are damaged. It would pay at the same time to get a seal for around the piston rod at the top of the cylinder.
I would make a call to Edward
click here
He's been around the block and could tell you whether an old LaPav "v"ring set would fit. He also has inexpensive gasket sets to aid the task if you find the Old Ambassador or Europiccola sets will fit!
Another is:
click here
Another possibility used by some restorers is:
click here
They have a lot of seals and such.
Alchemist, Latte Jed,and happytamper, among others,I believe, have one of these models
Remember Timmo's comment about Dow#111from:
click here
Good Luck and may a great cuppa soon follow!
sincerely
richard

BD7Js wrote:Hi all and I need help too!

I just purchased an Italianstyle CE-14 C - on the cheap. Plenty of rust and corrosion underneath, but seems to function OK... to a point... I can load water from my purifier, and then turn it on... After a couple minutes the tank is partly heating, and then SURPRISE there is water gurgling out of the air vent on the top rear of the cylinder...

(Thanks to Richard fro the warning on piston removal) So I created a wooden support for the piston, and added a 24" clamp - this lets me compress the cylinder and piston, to allow removal of the lever, and then I can remove the piston and replace the piston as I wish. The V-gaskets are old, and I believe this is the source of the water outpouring...

THEREFORE
- Where have you found the V gaskets available?
- Can you verify the dimensions that I believe I have identified: inside diameter 30mm, outside diameter 47mm, thickness of 5mm...
- Is there something else I should look to fix to stop the small stream of water that exudes from the top?
- Someone mentioned a manual - I would love a copy of a manual, PDF or otherwise...

Does anyone have any other ideas which I shgould be considering?

Thanks all,
Brett

Hi,

Congrats on your purchase. I have had my cappuccino amore for a while now and still have not managed to get it going. i have carried the piston head with gaskets around in my car waiting for the chance to find some new gaskets but still have not located any. Even mailed one to Vanelis but never heard from them. this Machine has been just teasing me! One day I am sure it will work again but with the many projects i have, and the numerous working machines I use, I have not rushed it.

If you could get a photo of the orientation of the gaskets on the piston rod i would really appreciate it. When I took the gaskets off mine I forgot to note the orientation. As well, is the piston head on your machine in aluminum and is it corroded? Mine is a mess as you might see in the early pics on this thread.

So it's Monday, and I started calling places (Sorry, we don't carry that; Sorry we can't help you; Sorry...) and found that I have an old espresso machine...

I went to McMaster-Carr at http://www.mcmaster.com and found a neat little product called a Buna-N Cup. No this won't make your partner love you more. Except if she loves your espresso... Part number for the product I ordered was 9691K59 at a total shipped outlay of under $8 for a 5-pack.

I went 1/4" ht., 1 1/4 ID, and 1 3/4 OD. These are slightly off my own measurements, but I believe will be close enough for espresso work... They have one a tad larger, and that will be the next purchase (I know I should have bought both, but I am too cheap - it's why I drive 4x to Lowes to buy one saw....)

Orientation of the Buna-N cups:
Lowest opens DOWN, so as to PUSH water down toward your espresso
Upper two open toward each other
SO - Middle one - UP
& - Top one DOWN
The Top prevents water from going UP into the cylinder, then out the airhole, down to the base, into the electronics, and tripping your ground circuit interrupt. The middle one prevents the water from pushing down while the tank is heating. The bottom one is used to properly push water into the coffee, and ultimately into your cup...

Will report back once we complete this step. It's a lot like the game of LIFE...

BD7Js wrote:So it's Monday, and I started calling places (Sorry, we don't carry that; Sorry we can't help you; Sorry...) and found that I have an old espresso machine...
Will report back once we complete this step. It's a lot like the game of LIFE...

You mean?? No original rules and you only find if you win after it's all over?
rp
PS, thanks for the M-C part #.
Bye the way, there will be a dispersion screen needed at the bottom of the group. If it is like the LaPav.Euro it may be held in place by the Group gasket. One type may be snapped into a groove inside the bottom of the Cylinder and held by a ring of copper wire staked into place by four light punch marks at 12-3-6-9 o'clock. If there is a groove around your group cylinder, one type is like the Cremina which takes a formed screen that snaps over the group cylinder.

Can anyone post a link to the picture of this dispersion screen? I am interested in seeing it, or better yet, buying a replacement... The screen on mine will need to go around the base of the cylinder, and clip around it. The base of the cylinder is approximately 52mm across, and the scree will have to wrap this...

I am ready for anyone's ideas on this...