Every time that one has to remove the steam control knob with the La Pavoni lever machines it is necessary to press out the roll pin. I have an arbor press which works well for this, but most people do not, and it is still a nuisance even if one have one! I discovered that the diameter of the hole in the brass insert that holds the pin and the diameter of the hole in the shaft are near the perfect diameter for cutting M4 threads! One can simply run an M4 through the hole with the shaft in place and make the threads. Instead of using the worthless roll pin one can then simply put in a suitable length M4 set screw. This holds the knob just as securely. One can then remove the knob in a few seconds by simply loosening the set screw!

Another simple modification that makes future work easier is to replace the two pins that hold the group handle with 6mm threaded rods capped with washers and acorn nuts. The original type of clips tend to be difficult to install without deforming them so that they fall off because the 6mm shaft is really too small for using clips in this manner. This is true with NEW clips. Some care is required to get the threaded rods the exact right length.

(I also made a brass steam control knob, brass is a bit too good a heat conductor, though it is usable, and it looks a lot better than the ugly plastic knob. I replaced the main group handle with a large brass one that I made with a metal lathe a long time ago. I also replaced the porta filter handle with an ebony one that I also made on the metal lathe.)

Great idea!

All sound great. Robert, can you post some pics?

Some photos would be great. I cracked the knob on my machine when I replaced the gaskets on the steam wand valve last time. I was actually thinking about cutting the knob and making a metal fixture that would hold the outside of the knob and then allow you to use your 4mm screw idea to attach it.

Does anyone have a spare (broken) La Pavoni knob they want to donate? I just need something with a decent outer diameter (the part where your fingers touch) that I can cut into sections.

Ray

rpavlis wrote:...Another simple modification that makes future work easier is to replace the two pins that hold the group handle with 6mm threaded rods capped with washers and acorn nuts. The original type of clips tend to be difficult to install without deforming them so that they fall off because the 6mm shaft is really too small for using clips in this manner. This is true with NEW clips. Some care is required to get the threaded rods the exact right length.

Another solution too: after breaking one of the C-clips, I noticed that you could simply leave that clip off one end of the original lever pin. Months and months later, the pin hasn't budged toward an escape - it stays perfectly in place. So even after I got a replacement clip, I never installed it and I run the LP with the clip on just one end. That's one less little annoyance when doing a group disassembly.

the original (early model) europiccolas had steam knobs that screwed on and were further secured by a set screw instead of just the roll pin

Here are two pictures. The first shows my pre millenium Europiccola. The original knob with an Allen tool and a 4mm tap are on the drip tray. My brass knob is in place. You can also see the acorn nuts on the ends of the group handle to replace the clips. Note the brass group handle, I made it from brass because brass is dense enough to prevent the vacuum that forms on cooling from pulling up the handle. The portafilter handle is Gabon Ebony. (Ebony is hard enough to machine like metal, and it is easy to cut threads in it! If anyone else try this with a metal lathe be sure to remove the saw dust immediately from the lathe. Also it is best to complete the operation in one session making only light cuts to prevent cracking and splintering. It is also a good idea to seal the wood with something like tung oil immediately after making the piece. Although ebony is extremely expensive, it only takes a small piece of it to do this.) Note the beautiful grain of the ebony. This is its natural unstained colour.

I thought the black plastic boiler cap to be ugly, so I painted it with high quality brass spray paint.

The second image shows a close up of the brass knob I made and the original knob with an Allen tool.

How do others think it would look to cut a nice three or four centimetre square cube of ebony and then drill a hole in it and insert a brass insert bored to fit the end of the steam knob into the hole and cement the brass insert in place with epoxy resin?