I purchased a bottomless portafilter from Etsy and I love the quality and finish, but it doesn't seem to turn very far in the group. I'm curious if this is an issue or not. If the portafilter is set and secure, I suppose it doesn't matter. My precious portafilter would turn quite a bit, which was nice since I could rest it in place while I raised the lever and then turn it tight once I was ready to fill the chamber with water. With this, there really isn't much room for that. I now leave the pf out completely while I raise the lever and then add it and tighten it right before infusing.

kenyabob wrote:<snip>If the portafilter is set and secure, I suppose it doesn't matter. <snip>

Correct. for some unknown reason, many of us obsess over the angle. In most machines, folks want it at six o'clock. Frankly, I found it better a bit to the left so I can see my scale better and used a 1/2 mm thicker PF gasket to achieve this. If you don't already use one, switch to a silicone gasket; they are more compliant and you'll be able to twist the PF a bit tighter if desired.

This reminds me of how my bottomless portafilter went in when I received it. Mine is for a millennium model, and apparently there are two different baskets that La Pavoni ships these machines with. One of them requires a small bevel on the inside of the portafilter to be able to seat all of the way down. My baskets are of that variety. The solution is to file a very small bevel on the inside edge of the portafilter. I took careful measurements of the way my basket fit into my original PF, and how it fit into the new PF. The maker was surprised at the difference, and then discovered that La Pavoni has two slightly different designed baskets. He offered to send me a new one with the bevel in it, but I decided to file it to save all of the shipping. It really isn't a big deal to fix if that is what's going on.

FWIW, my PF locked in about like yours, and I thought I would live with it since it seemed to work okay. on my 4th or 5th shot the PF exploded off the bottom, and coffee all over the kitchen. So, while you are correct that as long as it locks it's fine, just beware that it really may not be locked enough.

Comparing the width of the original to the new portafilter, I am not quite sure what the larger tooth gets me. It seems bulkier/heavier duty, but for what purpose? Maybe stainless doesn't like to be worked/honed down as small as brass might.

Not having a handle attached may also make you think the new PF does not lock in far as the original one, yet the ears seem thicker on the new one.
Try with the handle, you can always put a file to the ears but as mentioned; don't worry about the absolute position of the handle as long as the PF locks in far enough to jump out under pressure.