dave thanks for the reply and that razor picture... not enough words! beautiful... (and this is from someone who collects pocket knives)

@timeggers: what about thin porcelain cups instead of using glassware? ie. sake cups or tea cups or maybe silicone? guyot design squishy travel shots (1.5 oz, food grade silicone, temperature resistant to 400F)

A Quina portafilter and tamper


And a Lacewood (also called leopard wood) portafilter and control arms for an ElektraT1


I have not cut the studs down to length yet which is whey they look so long. These are the last two pieces to come off the Lathe for the next few months. Man will I be glad to have my new workshop set up. I am going to go crazy with nothing to do in the evenings.

Well, my workshop is in a big 53 foot trailer now. But, before D-day I decided to up the ante on my skill test. This is a gemstone pen. Yes that is real stone, and yes it is very, very hard. The manufacturer recommends a metal lathe. I did it on a wood lathe with hand tools. It took nearly 3 hours to turn having to stop every 5 min to sharpen my tools. But man, is it awesome looking. That is black stone and gold veining. Wet sanded up through 12000 grit micro-mesh and 3 coats of renascence wax. Photos dont do it justice. What does it have to do with espresso machines, well, nothing. But it wanted to share it (and brag a little).

Simply stunning Dave, nice job.

Just wanted to offer my congratulations to cannonfodder on some amazing work. Everytime I see new posts in this thread it is immediately opened with the hopes of seeing new photos of his work.

To join in the praise parade...

I could not resist Dave's offer of a customized portafilter handle for my Elektra Semiautomatica. The stock Bakelite handle is tough and has a faux wood finish, but oh boy, it's nowhere in the same league's as Dave's work. Beautiful grain, hard finish, and a better feel than the original (slightly longer and more bulbous end). He also turned a matching tamper handle. I'm not worthy!

I am officially in Pa now. Moved to my little apartment until the house is finished yesterday. Lucky for me, someone does not know how to set up their WiFi router so I am spoofing off their internet. Hint for all you non computer folks. Enable encryption on your wireless router, and change the default admin password.

It will be a couple months until the new place is finished and ready to move in. Those emailing me asking about some custom work, I will be back in business. But right now my house is a bunch of sticks...

Well, my move is over, the new workshop set up and I am back at it. One of my regular commercial customers ordered 50 units the day I told him I was up and running so it has take some time to get through all those.

I just finished this set for another HB'r. It is Brazillian cherry in gloss catalyzed urethane. The steam/water controls used a large threaded insert so I could not turn the handles. Instead we went with a wood cap to replace the stock chrome cap that goes on the handles. The small groove in the plug is to hold the OEM O ring from the chrome caps to hold everything nice and snug. Turned out nice IMHO. Two portafilter handles, the caps for both valve controls, a tamper handle and the brew lever handle.

I am glad you are back in business. One day I will invite myself to see your setup!

Awesome, great to hear that you're up and running again. That set looks very nice.
By the way, did you ever have a chance to look over the pics I e-mailed?

A little cocobolo action. The portafilter handle was turned a couple days before the other parts so it has oxidised to a redder color. The other parts will match it in a couple of days.

Finished another grind catch basin for an Elektra Nino in birdseye maple as well.

The striations on that cocobolo are so unique! Cocobolo is always been a popular wood, but that set right there has got to be the coolest accessory kit Ive seen yet!

I definitely need to dress up my portafilters and grinder.

Dave, would is possible to make an angled handle, like on a La Marzocco PF, but on a La Spaz PF, which has a straight mount? Like, instead of the mount being angled the 15deg, could the stud be mounted in the wood at such and angle? Its a standard mount, not complicated like the Rancilio.(Just screws together) One of the very few things I miss from my Anita, is angled PF handles.

Your work is so beautiful. One of these days I'm going to order a full set of matching wooden handles for my Cremina and MCAL and the steam knob for sure from somewhere. ...ah one of these days... And I love that grind catch basin.

JmanEspresso wrote:Dave, would is possible to make an angled handle, like on a La Marzocco PF, but on a La Spaz PF, which has a straight mount? Like, instead of the mount being angled the 15deg, could the stud be mounted in the wood at such and angle? Its a standard mount, not complicated like the Rancilio.(Just screws together) One of the very few things I miss from my Anita, is angled PF handles.

I could drill the stud hole at an angle and turn the handle before I glue in the stud, but I do not think it would work well. The stud would be short in the handle and it would probably split from thumping it on the knockbox. Probably not the best option.

I guess it seemed too easy in my head. Now that you explain it, Dave.. It seems the only way it would work, is to have the handles diameter be bigger then Id probably want, so that the stud could have more length. Plus, I would really be upset if I split the handles. Idea, deleted.

Now I just need to decide on a wood.. THATS the hard part. My Father dabbles in woodwork, and one of his favorite woods for anything, is Desert Ironwood. I think it DOES look nice.. But I tend to like lighter toned woods. But, I digress.


Thanks for the info Dave.. Ill shoot you an Email once Ive decided what I want.

one of the biggest problems would be the direction of the handle. You may end up with a 15 degree angle to the left instead of down.

hahaha, I didn't even think of that... Which is embarrassing to say the least. And the visual is quite amusing.

It'd be nice if it where a friction fit, like a Quick-Connect fitting without the collar to hold back. This is just me thinking out loud, Im over the angled handle idea on the VII PFs unless you come up with a solid way to do it, in your spare time, for free

I emailed this thread to my Father(who is a Syphon Coffee FIEND), and he was taken back. IDK if it means a whole lot, but he's quite adept in woodworking(no lathe though), and thought your work was really top notch. We were talking about, and I told him I planned on having some PF handles and some grinder accessories made, and he started thinking about what could done to his brewing gear to shnazz it up. We were looking at the Yama TCA-5(tabletop 5cup), and realized that the black handle, is removable, by taking off the nut underneath the base. So, would you be able to make a handle to fit in the black handles place(Id send you the syphon itself, unless you own it as well)?

Here, in case you're not familiar with it... It looks like there is just a threaded rod brazed to the top, the black handle slips over that, then the base, and then a nut on the bottom to hold it all together. Imagine, if you will, the bumper knockbox. The rubber sleeve? It'd be like making that, out of wood, with a simple, albeit different design as the black handle on it already.

Do not have a vac pot. Been thinking of getting one but I have more gear than I use now, but I would still like to have one. If it is just a bolt through handle, I should be able to turn something. I could bore it on the lathe or chuck it in the drill press. Send me an email and we can discuss it. I would need the original so I can get the sizing correct.

I managed to find some Arabica coffee wood. Most 'coffee wood' is actually a domestic tree not the fruit producing coffee that we drink. I found some coffee arabica burl wood and decided to try it out. It turns like olive. On the machine, the burl wood looks a lot like a blond granite. Interesting stuff.