Hey guys, I've been wanting a commercial lever for a while, but after having a few home levers over the years, I've come to love the control and versatility of the direct/manual (non-spring) levers.

Which, if any, non-spring commercial levers were made that I should be keeping my eyes peeled for?

Obviously converting a spring machine is a possibility otherwise, but I figured I'd look toward machines that were originally not spring-assisted first, and see what catches my eye.

I dig the art-deco and/or industrial styled machine, as opposed to the more opulent silver and gold embellished machines traditional styling. Prefer something that takes 58mm baskets, if that's an option. Power source (electrical or gas), space, even parts aren't much of a concern (I'm a machinist with a fully equipped shop), just whether I can find something I like, for semi-palatable prices.

Anyway, thanks for any info!

As far as I'm aware there has never been a commercial lever without a spring.
It would not work very well in a commercial environment since the barista would have to pay 100% to the shot every shot. Also, the wider the piston radius, the more force required create adequate pressure against the coffee.

You could try to convert a spring to a manual if you want, it might be a fun project. I would imagine you'd want to greatly increase the length of the lever to give yourself more of a mechanical advantage against the wider piston.

Or learn to love the commercial spring lever. They do feel quite different than a home spring lever, and give you a lot more manual control than you'd think if you've not had the chance to use one yet

I agree with Dominick. OTOH if you want to have a commercial quality shot with a 58 mm lever group the Cafelat Robot offers that capability. It's not a commercial lever, but it is manual, and the shots can mimic my commercial spring lever.

dominico wrote: Or learn to love the commercial spring lever. They do feel quite different than a home spring lever, and give you a lot more manual control than you'd think if you've not had the chance to use one yet

Exactly - there is so much fine tuning with pressure profiling that you can do with a commercial spring lever. I think people sometimes under estimate how much control over varying the shot you can have with a spring lever.

Good points guys, I appreciate the feedback.

I'm aware of course, that the spring doesn't stop you from applying more pressure if necessary, and I'll take it as a fair point, that the commercial lever springs are likely much stronger regardless, although I don't like the typical orientation of most, which would require me to push up, as opposed to pull down, if I wanted to exert more force.

Are there any reversed orientation commercial spring levers out of curiosity? Do any of the spring levers regardless of orientation offer spring pressure adjustment (this is definitely possible, but would require room for pre-load adjustment and travel inside the group head, so I'm guessing the answer is no.)?

I've only just learned of the Cafelet Robot, and I'll admit I've always assumed of any of the similar designs without a boiler or continuous source of hot water, were gimmicks, and problematic for temp control. I'm open to being convinced otherwise however, and I'm guessing it wouldn't be hard to use one as a platform for modding. How are people maintaining proper brew temps? Is simple manual flushing effective enough? Just need enough water at X temp to pre-heat and flush, then pull a shot?



FWIW, I think you guys would be surprised how little extra leverage you'd need, regardless of piston size, etc. Take it from someone who regularly moves around 4 ton machine tools with nothing but a 5' digging bar and a few pieces of round stock.


As an aside, what do you guys think of the Gaggia style pinion driven lever groups? I've always found them, and certain eras of the attached machines, to be extremely attractive. Otherwise, my favorites are the various art-deco styled Faemas (Urania, Presidente, etc). Any concerns with either of these types of machines? There a couple available for import at semi-not-insane prices if I can get the shipping concerns resolved.

Thank you all, very much.

I looked at the kickstarter page for the Robot, and learned a bit more, thanks for mentioning it. I could fabricate something similar, very easily, although at that point, I may just cannibalize an extra boiler I have laying around and go full loco on building a lever from scratch. Although, considering I have about a thousand other projects that I haven't managed to finish, that's probably a bad idea.

You can get a commercial lever with a strong enough spring to start with that you wouldn't be pushing the lever. You would modify the shot with preinfusion or with holding back the lever. Gaggia's offset groups work fine if you like the style.

Some commercial machines offer both manual and spring for the water to be forced through the puck.

When using the Faema Urania, the pre-infusion can be controlled by pulling the lever all the way down for as long as needed.

Then to make the shot the lever travels back up and the spring forces the water through the grounds or alternatively you can push the lever up to create a larger pressure i.e. spring pressure and the force of you pushing up the lever.

I sometimes use this option when I have ground too fine, or tamped too hard and choked the machine. Or if I want a more consistent pressure throughout the shot. (instead of the declining pressure of the spring).

Having used many only manual machines as well as only spring machines (and choked many). I find the group on the Faeme Urania offers the best of both worlds. Not sure what other commercial groups offer this but there are bound to be others.

All of the commercial Faema levers allow you to increase pressure by pushing up against the lever as its rising. I can do the same with my Faema Zodiaco style levers.

I think most other commercial levers also allow you to do this, but I don't know offhand which ones do and which ones don't.

happytamper wrote:Some commercial machines offer both manual and spring for the water to be forced through the puck.
...
Not sure what other commercial groups offer this but there are bound to be others.

Original Italian and Spanish Gaggia for one example.

The major difference between a commercial lever machine and a pump machine is who exactly is making the decision on the shot process. The pump machine may be totally automatic based on preset parameters once the shot is initiated or manually adjusted on the fly while the lever machine is totally under operator control at all times.