Built a Frankenstein lever machine using used parts

#1: Post by **athoangphan** » December 28th, 2021, 6:46 pm

Back in August I was able to acquire a Gaggia Orione and a Reneka Tempo 123presso for pretty good deals with the intention of restoring the Gaggia. Over the Christmas break I was able to acquire couple Conti groups and parts, so I thought why not put a Frankenstein lever and I did

Here is the machine as its current state. I will spend some time in the summer building a custom enclosure for it, but for right now it is producing espresso, but the group is needing a new spring.

What I got from the Reneka were the frame, boiler, pressurestat, vacuum breaker valve, safety valve, and pipings. I borrowed the sight glass from the Gaggia. However, the good thing about this machine is that once I service the Gaggia Orione group, it can potentially be installed on the machine, so the machine is group swappable

#2: Post by **Honde_Valley** » January 1st, 2022, 6:54 am

Sweet. I'm sure the coffee is great too!

#3: Post by **tinman143** » January 1st, 2022, 7:29 am

Love it. Please share a video of it in action ! Congrats

#4: Post by **mborkow** » January 1st, 2022, 5:08 pm

That's awesome! Pics of shots?

#5: Post by **Tillamook** » January 3rd, 2022, 6:06 pm

I saw this Gaggia on craigslist a few months back, the owner told me I was next in line if you didnt snag it.

#6: Post by **Katzer** » January 3rd, 2022, 7:19 pm

Video! We need a video!

January 23rd, 2022, 1:57 pm

Awesome build!
What's the rough cost to build something like this??

January 23rd, 2022, 9:01 pm

Katzer wrote:Video! We need a video!

Soon

I am at school now, but the next time I am home, I'll make an espresso and get it on video to post here

January 23rd, 2022, 9:04 pm

IntelliEspresso wrote:Awesome build!
What's the rough cost to build something like this??

It depends on whether you could find good deals on old espresso machines which you could take parts from. I was able to find a working Reneka Tempo 123presso for $40 from facebook marketplace which I took a lot of parts from and the groups from a private seller.

#10: Post by **sprint jinx** » April 7th, 2022, 10:28 am

Terrific job, I took nearly the same route and built mine from parts.
The conti lever group - where were you able to obtain it or parts?
The reason I ask is - I have a two group setup but with one group blanked off, I could use another group - and I could use a few more parts.

Lastly - You could swap out the pressure stat in favor of a PID, if you wanted to do away with the temp swing. I dropped in a thermo probe and its been stable for a few years now. With the click of the controller, I can adjust the temperature.