I have tried all the tips listed in this post, but I think I'm at the end of the line with my portafilters. They look like this:


I'm friends with a fellow who turns wood for a living and he'll do the handles for me for the cost of the wood. I even have the studs. The problem is that when I try to unscrew the brass stud with a big wrench, the thin neck on the portafilter actually twists and I'm afraid I'll bend or break the brass. I've tried it with and without heating the boss. I can't really afford new portafilters. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the tip John. I gave it my best shot, but I'm afraid the portafilters won this one. I put the brass stud in the vise and heated up the boss until it was red hot, then put a big crescent on the neck. Nothing, except that the brass stud starts to deform and twist. If I pull any harder, something is going to break or become unusable. This is the third time I've tried to get these studs out and I haven't even moved them at all. I've seen the neck bend and the brass bend, but that's all.

Has anyone actually ever removed one of these? I'm not talking about the handles that are shown in the rest of this thread, but one exactly like mine. I wonder if the part that threads into the portafilter head is threaded brass, or is there a steel stud threaded into the portafilter and into the brass stud? I would love wood handles, but I think I'm at the point where I'll just have to settle for wood handles on the big levers. The only other way I can think of is to cut the studs off flush and try to drill them out, but I don't have a drill press and even then I don't know how I would get what was left of the stud out of the portafilter.

I suppose I'm too late to help You but,

As far as the Izzo DuettoII PF handle ONLY goes

They have a really large size internal hex in the actual plastic handle
easily accessed after prying off plastic end cap.

Just find a Huge allen key to fit, and I used a a large phillips
screwdriver shaft with a close fit, through the drain hole of the porta filter.
and clamped the screwdriver handle in the vice,
rather than trying to pad vice jaws to prevent any damage.

Took a bit of muscle to break loose the liberal amount
of loctite they use, but no real problem, and no nicks scratches or anything

Did both single and double PFs and replaced with my beautiful, Custom turned
'Reg Barber" PF handles, one zebra wood and the other bubinga!

Plus still have the two original handles in Perfect shape.

As I said I suppose this technique would be exclusive to
Izzo Alex duetto2 PF Handles?
The latest generation, that is.

Clint

Can you photograph the base of the stud so we can see how the connection to the chrome piece looks - looks to me like it might be a pressed in fitting, and not a screw fitting.

Then its a question of how to apply force to pull the 2 pieces apart...

Here's some close ups of the handle. I never thought that it might be a press fitting. If you look inside the brass fitting, it's threaded all the way down, and you can see that a stud has been threaded in from the other side. But I can't tell whether that stud is threaded into the portafilter head, or it's a press fit. No one has ever chimed in as to whether they have any experience with this exact setup.

Good pictures.

Looks like it might even be soldered in there (first picture) or be a single piece casting - take a measure and see how deep the threading goes and the hole goes and compare those measurements against the outside of the piece to see where the hole ends as compared to where the thread ends - I suggest using a long bolt or threaded rod to see how far down the thread goes and a pencil or chopstick to see how far the hole goes - if the thread/hole goes into the chrome piece far enough (as deep as the width of the hole as a general rule of thumb), then a hacksaw may be the answer, either with our without some additional tapping of the thread.

The brass part is 65 mm long. Inserting a stick into the hole, and measuring the depth, gives me 30 mm before I hit bottom. Looking into the hole with a light shows threads all the way to the 30 mm depth and then it's obvious that a stud has been threaded into the other side of the brass part. The threads look to run all the way through the brass part. Looking closely, you can tell it hasn't been soldered onto the portafilter head and it doesn't look like a one piece casting given the existence of what looks like a threaded stud inside the brass part. Maybe I'll try soaking the whole thing in methyl ethyl ketone and see if I get any progress.

Why is it obvious that there is is stud? Could it not be just the shape of the bottom of the hole that has been drilled and tapped - maybe check to see if it is magnetic at the bottom of the hole, which might indicate a stud if it is not magnetic, then it is unlikely to be a stud.

I would mount that in a drill press or vertical mill, square it up (tight fitting drill inside the threaded piece) and drill until it is the right depth, then tap it, and then cut it off.

If it is a stud that is holding the square bit on (not likely imho) - then you could cut the square section carefully in a ring until you are just touching the threads of the stud, and then unscrew the square section so that just the stud is visible - then you could attack the stud alone - at least it will prove if you have a stud or not.

Be careful with MEK - evil stuff, and is absorbed via the skin, so respitratory protection, eye protection and gloves.

If you look into the hole with a light, you can see that the end of the stud that is threaded in is beveled. It certainly looks like a stud. I'll try and find a magnet to check it with. It doesn't look like the brass has been just drilled and threaded up to that point.