Hello,

This is a 13-year-old La Pavoni domestic lever machine, the Professional model. I bought it used from eastern Germany and got it shipped all the way to Saudi Arabia, and since then, I have done a lot of repairs which I have documented with more than a hundred photos. However I didn't yet have the time to arrange these photos and comment them. I used to contact Dr Pavoni of the Pavoni Express website to consult him about the many problems that I was encountering, most notably the bubbling at the end of most pulls, the excessive steam entering the grouphead, the steaming valve leakage, and the sudden failure of the pressure gauge. Not mentioning the many mistakes that I have along in the process, most notably the severe harm I caused to the coating of most of the parts and especially that of the portafilter, while trying to clean it. That is, it's a long story that I don't really feel now like telling. The end result was that I paid for the parts as much as I paid for the machine itself, and amongst the parts I bought was an ugly, cheap-looking, brass-plated, very expensive portafilter that features a black plastic handle, nothing like the golden one I had before with its wooden handle. So, and as to make it easier for me to forget what I have done to the original portafilter, I made it bottomless today, and asked my dear brother to take some photos for me, which are the subject of this topic.


Here are the tools that I used, that is, I used the hole saw method which has shown to be a very successful one. However, I still think that it's advantageous to give a turnery shop a visit as to remove the extra rim. This would make life much easier for anyone who wishes either to enjoy the view of a bottomless pour to take some photos.


This is my slight modification of the method, I worked it from the inside of the portafilter rather than from the outside, which as I have seen is easier and ensures an aligned cut when the diameter of the chain saw is a good fit (which I believe is a must, no?).


And finally it was taken off, after a lot of repetitive cutting/cooling cycles because the portafilter was getting incredibly hot after only half a minute of cutting, so I had to cool it repeatedly by passing cold water over it.


Before using a grinding stone to eliminate the burrs resultant of cutting, which in this case are at the bottom of the portafilter (at the outside, rather than the inside, which is a potential drawback of my modification to the method).


After eliminating the burrs.


My lovely Pavoni, prior to inserting the new bottomless portafilter.


After inserting the portafilter in place, notice the extra rim and how it makes it harder to witness the action.


This is the very first trial, and I am holding my breath, for it being the first time in my life that I witness the bottomless action.


Don't be tempted to judge this shot so soon, this shot is so special.


A close-up of the pour.


In the cup. Shots of this appearance in my experience sometimes have a very pleasant mouth feel, a one that I read someone describing as a "buttery feel", which is true. This shot was not so much like this, but somehow like this, and was very nice. However, it wasn't as buttery as life can get sometimes with the Pavoni.

Thank you Sam, that is kind of you.