I would like to comment on alignment before this thread goes off the rails. Per our own Jake-G, who rebuilds grinders and can do extensive testing, as well as high end grinder builders like Titus, simple tests at the zero point, like using a marker test or the gap betwen chirp and lock are not good indicators of the

I think that a compressed spring is ideally suited to provide pressure due to the fact that it's pressure decline somewhat matches the reduction of resistance as the puck erodes

SSP Cast V1 (silver knight) here, pretty much as consistent as any other burrs I've got. There's a tendency for fast and accelerating shots, puck integrity is not all there, but that's the same for every shot.. Try the stock burrs to (partially) rule out other factors. Edit: example shot times with a Bezzera Domus Galatea, without profiling

This is what fascinates me about making espresso. It turns out that making espresso is an thermodynamics challenge, an electronics challenge, a hydraulics challenge, and a fluid flow dynamics problem all wrapped up in a compact physical package. Understanding it and designing the control system has been fun. BTW, the fact that steaming milk requires different temperature

I'm not an expert and I think you can be a bit more specific with the descriptions: Are you plumbed in now or reservoir fed? What does machine on mean? On and not brewing or when you lift the brew lever? Do you have a flow control kit? If you do which gauge is showing 12 bar?

White wall. Very zen