pootoogoo wrote:Ever wonder how much a Caravel cost back in the 70s ?
Since this is the equivalent machine to the ES3, technologically speaking...

Another incorrect statement on your part.
Strietman's machine incorporates modern technology in the heating of the group, maintaining water temperature, superior parts, etc.

In fact, I believe side to side comparisons of Caravel shots to the Streitman would be unfair to BOTH machines, and I'll wager Mr Strietman might agree.

Now he needs to designs a fit in base knoxbox to harken back to the faema base box

It really might be my
New favorite espresso machine from what i
Have seen. One day i now dream of this bad boy next to either my Pharos or maybe a hgone

IMAWriter wrote:Another incorrect statement on your part.
Strietman's machine incorporates modern technology in the heating of the group, maintaining water temperature, superior parts, etc.

In fact, I believe side to side comparisons of Caravel shots to the Streitman would be unfair to BOTH machines, and I'll wager Mr Strietman might agree.

What I see from the exploded view is an open boiler with heating elements attached to the side of the group, and a bulb thermostat... I don't see a huge difference. My statement was that Caravel is the old machine with the closest conception (very simple).



What was the other incorrect statement ?

Can you elaborate on how the machine are so technically different ?

In fact, I'll love to see a true side-by-side comparison, we'll have to ask Dr Salati first.

That's really beautiful to look at, but I have to wonder about the potential degree of flex when pulling a shot at full pressure with that design. Unlike with the wall-mount, there doesn't seem to be much support against flexing, with those two support tubes for the piston chamber assembly mounted side by side. I'm curious to hear from folks who have used it or seen it used--is it solid fore-and-aft during a pull, or is there a visible amount of flexing?

Shouldn't be a problem as long as you have one hand on the lever and one hand on the portafilter handle and squeeze together. I do the same with my Gaggia Factory to avoid unnecessary stress on the joint between the group and the boiler.

Great pics [anonymized]!

The more I look at the ES3 the more I like it. I would have liked to see a bit of wood accents on the base a la the wall mount model. But both are beautiful machines so I suppose more options/styles is good

The base does "look" flimsy but I'm sure in person it is perfectly rugged to handle the forces of the pull. Are they available yet? I couldn't find a link to buy

Excellent photo's [anonymized]! Thank you.

Flex of the frame would be a different thing than flex between the Group and the heating unit/electronics. A tube frame can flex for a very long time, just look at all the chairs that people use everyday that have tube frames and flex.

But you'd think in designing a countertop model, flex would be one of the primary design considerations. If the tubing has thick enough walls then it should be stiff enough to resist flexing.

FotonDrv wrote:Excellent photo's [anonymized]! Thank you.

+1! [anonymized], can you speak to the question of the vertical columns i.e. are they solid rods or tubing?

yakster wrote:Shouldn't be a problem as long as you have one hand on the lever and one hand on the portafilter handle and squeeze together. I do the same with my Gaggia Factory to avoid unnecessary stress on the joint between the group and the boiler.

I think that makes some sense with that design, where the boiler is bearing this load and you don't want to stress the boiler connections. This looks different to me - to start with, it looks stout enough to hold up, and anyway it doesn't bear on any critical connections. But it does look like he's using the portafilter handle like that.

In that photo, do I see a thermometer in the water bath? I'm curious about user experience with brew temperature control and stability.