13thfloorelevators wrote:yeah...its not difficult to buy one at THAT price ... im searching for one in good condition which is worth to do some restoration for a GOOD price (not a bargain, but unrestored and affordable)....

Me too!

13thfloorelevators wrote:yeah...its not difficult to buy one at THAT price ... im searching for one in good condition which is worth to do some restoration for a GOOD price (not a bargain, but unrestored and affordable)....

Good luck.

hperry wrote:...is better because it easily reaches the temperatures that today's coffees require.

You could speed up the temperature by isolating the boiler, right?

NelisB wrote:You could speed up the temperature by isolating the boiler, right?

Not really....the boiler heat up time will be a little bit (not that much) faster...but it takes some time till the circulating water heats the group properly...so u will not have that much advance in the beginning....

And temperature management is always a little bit of luck on this machines.....

@paul: not sure if i would call the faema boilers crappy.....mine is in really good condition after over 50 years...not exactly what i would expect from crap.....

Yes the boilers themselves are ok, but the ones with the aluminium collars are not so great.

Paul, yes the aluminum collars are hard all the way around, and a bit hard to figure out why they designed them with those aluminum clamshells....what was the goal of this design? Thankfully our Lambro is a nice simple gasket but the next project, a single group Urania, has the aluminum collars so we'll see. I think a part of the boiler longevity is that most of the machines were gas, and with an external heat source scale was not such a problem....they got electrified later, at least all the ones I have seen have been retrofitted from gas to electric control.

I thought the OP was talking about shot quality, not price points here, but since it has come to that, I think it is pretty difficult to find a Lambro, unrestored or a fixer upper at ANY price....yes a few on ebay italy, with some stout shipping costs and this is a take your chances proposition. As far as single group levers in the US new, there is the Bezzera (check the post on that one), and the Astoria, $3500 with plastic side panels... a good machine but the design lacks the open group look that I think we all love about the vintage machines. Izzo and Fiorenzato both make a single group but it is a special order and when we last checked it was almost $5000 per machine if you buy 5, plus shipping. We really wanted to carry the Izzo but at over 5 grand we would still have all 5 of the minimum order, that's for sure.

It is a funny thing....call an electrician or plumber to come and do some work, or better yet, take your car to a mechanic or a body shop....depending on the tradesman the charge is $100 per hour, a mechanic less but shop rates can get pretty high, but an espresso guy spends 30 or 40 hours working on a machine and suddenly the value of the labor somehow evaporates since folks think it is something they could do themselves....I can fix our car and wire our house and fix the plumbing, but I still had to pay a guy 800 bucks to put a new control unit on our well water pump....go figga.

If I could buy Lambros for less than a grand I sure would have a stockpile of them just for the future. these cheap classic espresso machines are a lot like the fabled 1956 Corvette in a barn or that original Harley in the shed....something of an urban myth. Not that a person can't dream....but at the same time one needs to be realistic.

@doug: it was no offence, i was not saying that your machine is too expensive. You put a lot of work in it and you probably done a great job, so sure you deserve your money! it was just not what I was looking for, thats all!

cheers,
stefan

Some time ago I saw a Lambro for 1000 EUR on an Italian annunci website (not eBay). Not a restoration job, but not pristine either. On eBay I've seen a Velox (with a "make offer" option) that ended at 450 EUR, and these days a Lambro around 1500 EUR.

I like the restoration work, as I'm doing on two NS Oscar. I'll help a friend with two machines, one Velox and one President, but I could spend a little more on a commercial lever already restored for me... So, if I could bring to Brazil on a reasonable cost (as we do pay a lot of taxes here ) I would think about buying Doug's Lambro... Maybe when some friend move back to Brazil with a surface freight...

Márcio.

orphanespresso wrote:
I thought the OP was talking about shot quality, not price points here, but since it has come to that, I think it is pretty difficult to find a Lambro, unrestored or a fixer upper at ANY price....yes a few on ebay italy, with some stout shipping costs and this is a take your chances proposition. As far as single group levers in the US new, there is the Bezzera (check the post on that one), and the Astoria, $3500 with plastic side panels... a good machine but the design lacks the open group look that I think we all love about the vintage machines. Izzo and Fiorenzato both make a single group but it is a special order and when we last checked it was almost $5000 per machine if you buy 5, plus shipping. We really wanted to carry the Izzo but at over 5 grand we would still have all 5 of the minimum order, that's for sure.

Hi Doug,

I was talking about shot quality. Did you have shots from the Izzo and the Fiorenzato?
I live in old Europe. I can buy a used Izzo for €2500. Also the Fiorenzato is much cheaper then the 5 grand it will cost in the US. But I am much more attracted to the old Faema's. The Izzo won't fit my kitchen anyway.
And also the guys who posted on this topic convinced me (like you) that I need an old Faema. The Lambro would be the best choice for home-use because of the smaller boiler. But I prefer the looks of a President. They do pop up once in a while, both Presidents and Lambro's. I can drive to Italy to pick one up. I haven't give up searching!

Cheers Niels

Maybe if we'ld buy two San Marco's Niels we could get a nice deal .