I think FotonDrv mentioned this idea early on, maybe in the marketplace thread. Anyway, I decided that it would be nice to put some of the boiler heat to use and warm a few cups on my L1 (which I keep on all day) without scratching up the top.

I ordered a sheet of FDA-grade silicone (12"x12") and trimmed it to fit. I'm also going to poke holes for the screws so it sits perfectly flat, but I thought I'd see how it does first. I would've liked a black sheet, but the translucent-white is growing on me.



I cut out around the tank so that the tank lid rests on the silicone.


The leftovers:




Relatedly, just before I bought the L1, I watched Luigi Lupi's latte art video. In it, he made an interested comment about the open-vents on the top of (commercial) espresso machines. It was that the always-on boiler kept a constant air current which keeps the machine from getting dusty. If that is the conventional wisdom, it seems remarkable that so many home machines inherited that design but are not designed to be always-on. I don't know if there are other tradeoffs, but that struck me as an interesting discrepancy. Style-wise, at least, I like having no venting on the top of the L1. (I realize some machines like the Bosco even have steam-powered warmers, so there is more to the equation than top-vented or not.)

I like it! Thanks for sharing.

Yes, I did the same thing with some silicone mesh (sold in the UK as 'Cookamesh').

Despite Reiss' correct assertion that in domestic situations you can't rely on the top of the machine to be sufficiently warm to heat the cups, if you do leave the machine on for a hour or two the top does get nicely warm. (I should point out I have plumbed the Londinium in so I don't need access to the reservoir).



I've also used the same mesh on top of the drip tray to stop it from getting scratched.

CORRECTION: 'Cookamesh' is PTFE rather than silicone.

I like the black mesh! I may have a lot of FDA grade silicone to find something do with now...

The black mesh is a very good solution. I must find some of that locally.
I plan on leaving mine on all day too. It will sleep when I do

Not sure about the L1, but my domestic Lusso is reliably warm on top provided it's on all day.

My L-I works well for warming. I too use a silicone oven baking mat. The mat is non-skid, easy to clean and keeps the machine from being scratched, and it is easily removed,

^ hmmm...I'm surprised you haven't made a cocobolo mat to match your handles!







Yet.

The oils in the wood would leach onto the stainless But not a bad thought. Notice the grate in the photo, although this is Bubinga wood.


Another shot but with bad lighting.


All it needs is an espresso machine sitting on it. If this table was sitting on the L-I it would crush the L-I...

The bottom lattice type shelf in your photo would make a nice cup warmer...made from thinner stock of course. Nice table BTW!

Or something like this...but it does reek of 80's style routered trivets.

Use silicone dots at the corners to isolate the wood from the SS. My project list just got a little longer