Incomplete list of Gravity-fed lever machines - Page 10

#91: Post by **missionhb** » April 13th, 2008, 11:55 am

Hi Henry,

To my knowledge, this machine has no "nickname", and Neowatt refers to the Italian company that produced it. I think Neowatt was rather specialized in home steam espresso brewers, and than this machine was their unique contribution to the world of home hydrocompression devices. I completely restored it and it works fine (one day I should shoot some videos of shots produced by those old guys).

Cheers,
F

PS: with regards to the "internal design", wiring, & switch I tend to think this is a machine from the mid-late 50's

#92: Post by **missionhb** » May 16th, 2008, 6:50 am

Hi All,
Here is a prehistoric "La Peppina" (it can also be seen in the first post of this forum). At that time it was called "La Piccolina", made by FE-AR for the company "La Carimali". The distinctive bowl looks like it was made of ceramic, but in fact it is metallic with a very thick layer of enamel. The basis, the drip tray grate, and the bakelite handles also differ from the later models.
Best regards,
François

#93: Post by **CoffeeOwl** » May 16th, 2008, 1:56 pm

beautifully-bright-red

May 16th, 2008, 7:24 pm

The shape of the bowl is really nice too. I tried to update the names (la piccolina/la peppina) in the first post but there is now a 'no-offsite images' rule for posts!

I can just imagine some Italian bachelor in his flat in the morning, placing a single cup under the spouts, lowering the lever, turning to the gas range steamer to froth some milk, then sitting down with his latte and a newspaper before rushing out to catch a tram...

Regards, Henry

#95: Post by **missionhb** » September 1st, 2008, 10:06 am

Hi All,

All of you know the MK1 Gaggia Gilda, probably the first lever home espresso device that was produced in the very early 50's (right).
I guess fewer people met her giant twin sister (left).

best,
francois

September 1st, 2008, 9:56 pm

Woah! Errr... just perspective, or is she really that much bigger? How tall are they, anyway?

#97: Post by **missionhb** » September 2nd, 2008, 9:19 am

Hi Henry,

The big Gilda is 50 cm tall (from base to thermometer knob) and takes 220V, the small one reaches 40 cm and is powered at 160V instead.

Best,
F

#98: Post by **donn** » September 18th, 2008, 2:26 pm

hbuchtel wrote: Zerowatt CA708
Manual lever

Actually a spring lever. Though the lever can be pressed upwards manually, to augment the spring pressure if necessary. It's a shame no one makes anything like this today.

September 19th, 2008, 3:39 am

Nice, thanks! Unfortunately I cannot edit the list anymore because this new forum software only allows 3 pics per post... so I cannot save edits without throwing away the whole post! Hopefully one of the mods can help us out?

Did you write some usenet messages about the Zerowatt several years ago? I doubt there are many other Donns with Zerowatts

Those posts were basically my only source of information about the Zerowatt at the time, so thanks!

#100: Post by **donn** » September 19th, 2008, 3:04 pm

That was I. Sorry to hear about the problems with the site software - it isn't working very well for me, either!

There must be a few other Zerowatt owners around, though. I was thrilled to discover that Orphan Espresso advertises piston seals for it. Best espresso machine I've used.