Dear all,

I wall lucky to get a beautiful old red label (SN: 4000) Faema Faemina in pretty good condition (including original knockbox!).
It needs some work, but it will be manageable (i hope .




To be done:

1. Min/Max heater switch is broken - Francisco have the parts
2. Gaskets needs to be changed - Francisco have the parts
3. Some parts need re-chrome (Bottom aluminium, lever, driptray, knockbox, steam wand)
4. One over-pressure valve needs parts (was filled with something black to block it)
5. New handles (this one have brown backlite, but the portafilter handle and steam knob are black and possible newer), so planning to have new handles and steam knob done i dark brown wood after original shape. The top know i will keep original.)

Question....

How do i get the lever handle off?
(I think i am stupid, but this is not covered in any guides - so i must be missing something easy?)

I have removed the locking rings, but... how do i remove the pins?

Hi there,

Very nice...


You can easily knock out the lever pin, just tap it with a hammer to get it moving and then you'll need a thin rod and a hammer to drive it out further to either side. It's the small pin BTW, the big one is the rod keeping the piston in place.

From what I know the aluminium is not something chromers will happily tackle, I decided to leave tha base as is and take is off and polish the alu when it gets uglier in a decade or two/three.
I researched some chrome platers working on vintage stuff (cars etc) and all were extremely hesitant, but perhaps you get lucky and can find one.
The other chrome should be Relatively easy once you find a chromer who knows how to match the chroming (somehow there must have been changes in the process, probably some safety or environmental thingy as there often is a difference in the shine and color between old chrome and modern chrome)

Good luck and welcome to the Faemina club

One might consider having the aluminium parts powder coated with high quality metallic powder coat. This would probably last better, and the appearance would be fairly similar.

There are several dark woods that could be used for the handles. It is much better to make the handles from naturally dark wood rather than to stain it. (If one know how to do it, one can also cut threads directly into the handles to avoid making metal inserts with really hard types of wood. The trick is to be patient, turn the tap in a short distance, remove it, remove all saw dust, and then turn it in a little farther the next time and repeat. If one do the bull in the china shop approach, the wood part may crack.)

Congrats on the Faemina.

You will need to compress the spring in order to remove the larger pin, thereby removing the piston. The secondary safety valve (on the steam tap) can be blocked with the aluminum foil included in Francesco's seal kit, or you can leave it blocked with the black goo you're seeing, because it's really not needed. I was also advised by my plater, who's been in the business over 35 years, against chroming the base, so I had it polished. My machine came with a brown steam knob. I doubt it was added later, and suspect Faema was using whatever parts were on the shelf. Remove the spacers between the elements, if you have them. There was a recent discussion over what the material is, but there's a good chance it's lead.

Marcelnl wrote:Hi there,

Very nice...


You can easily knock out the lever pin, just tap it with a hammer to get it moving and then you'll need a thin rod and a hammer to drive it out further to either side. It's the small pin BTW, the big one is the rod keeping the piston in place.

From what I know the aluminium is not something chromers will happily tackle, I decided to leave tha base as is and take is off and polish the alu when it gets uglier in a decade or two/three.
I researched some chrome platers working on vintage stuff (cars etc) and all were extremely hesitant, but perhaps you get lucky and can find one.
The other chrome should be Relatively easy once you find a chromer who knows how to match the chroming (somehow there must have been changes in the process, probably some safety or environmental thingy as there often is a difference in the shine and color between old chrome and modern chrome)

Good luck and welcome to the Faemina club

Yes the same experience as mine. Nobody would tackle the aluminium bases so I had to polish them myself. I did attempt to put a clear powder coat on top but I messed it up and put it on too thick so it went a milky white. I stripped that off again and left it polished aluminium.



The biggest issue with Faeminas will be the upright post will be firmly stuck in both the top and bottom sections. I've never managed to get those out in 1 piece.

Also go easy on tapping the lever pins out. The steel is brittle on the ends due to the groove cut out where the circlip goes.

Awesome machines though.

Your gas powered beast is even more beautiful than a regular Faemina....I want one....

Welcome to the club, nice Faemina. I need to polish up my Faemina's base, I also picked up some EL wire a while ago and was thinking of hooking it up under the base so you'd see a glow when it's on. I should probably replace the feet on mine too, they're a bit tired.

Blasphemy
Pimping a vintage design, tssssk...


Given the shapes and lighting tricks Faema used in various machines I am pretty sure they would have used that stuff if they could...

The beauty of this mod would be that it would be under the base so except for the glow it would be unobtrusive. I've held off on adding any temp strips, thermometers, or other mods to the Faemina because I really enjoy the vintage beauty of this machine. Should be able to get enough glow from EL wire even with a 120 V feed, I don't think there'd be any need for a frequency multiplier. Just need to make sure it's well insulated and weatherproofed.