# Pimp my Europiccola



## jimbojohn55

Part 1

I've been after a la pav for some time, so when the chance on the forum for £150 europiccola came up, with a few minor defects I snapped it up - many thanks to @Jon

a Pre millennium 49mm with a couple of rust spots but fully functional landed on the doorstep (gently) - bargain









a quick check over confirmed the following - couple of rust spots, loose base to boiler joint, as for year I whizzed the base off to reveal 1999









I would note that with it just being pre millennium 1999 it shares some of the millennium changes - plastic lock nut holding boiler to base as well a Teflon piston and a resettable thermostat - this particular model was made from 1997 - 2001 after 2001 you get a 51mm group and a Teflon liner to the group. The idea of moving from a brass piston to a Teflon one was to reduce heat build up in the group head - at the same time 1997 the pressurestat was set lower from 1.0 to 0.8 Atm

Info from - http://www.francescoceccarelli.eu/lapavoni_eng.htm

and here is the Teflon piston


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## jimbojohn55

Part 2

The plan at this point is to repaint the base, turn some wooden handles for the lever and portafilter, and replace all the grouphead seals.

step 1 remove the group head









step 2 remove piston and soak the whole grouphead in Pulycaf









Next remove and grouphead and the siphon to descale it, there is something Christmasy about putting things in an acid bath..... a bit james Bond ish ?

Edit to be clear the grouphead is just in a bath of puly caf


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## Jon

Awesome! Watching with interest!


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## jimbojohn55

Jon said:


> Awesome! Watching with interest!


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## jimbojohn55

30 mins in pulcaf and the grouphead comes up a treat - I was expecting the cylinder surface to be just brass inside but found it to be plated a few minor pits but below the level of piston movement.


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## GCGlasgow

Keep the updates and pics coming, interested to see how it turns out.


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## timmyjj21

Nice!

One thing to consider is removing the steam knob retaining pin and using a long grub screw instead. Tapping the holes is pretty simple (if you already have the correct sized tap) and it makes removing the knob so much easier as the steel pin rusts and glues itself in place.


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## jimbojohn55

while waiting on some parts here is a before video of the loose lever - it doesn't get any more exciting than this -


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## jimbojohn55

Big gasket woe - having finally liberated a set of new seals and gaskets - (held hostage by the local sorting office after the red delivery card got mysteriously recycled during a kitchen worktop space dispute) - anyway I could now start with the teardown.

The machine is pretty straight forward to strip - the only difference of this one to most is that it has the black (larger) base to boiler nut









This nut was only used for a few years 95 - 2001 - it was then swopped back to original narrow brass version after some issues emerged of it not always staying put. So why did they start using this wider nut - my theory is that if you watch videos of people pulling the lever, you can often see the boiler lean forwards slightly on the base, possibly the wider black nut is an attempt to spread the force over a greater area - or maybe it was just cheaper than brass!

Whatever the issue I'm sticking with the plastic one, but of course after removing the nut I find that a larger than standard washer is under it







- this is a replacement over the top of the original -

I don't think that the larger version is available so ive got a pack of gasket paper £3.50 on the way from fleabay - actually 4 x A4 sheets of different thickness 0.5 - 1.5mm so I could have saved money by making both gaskets myself. The gasket that fits between the boiler and the top side of the base is a standard size (smaller) one.


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## Rhys

Great stuff, must be round to doing mine at some point


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## jimbojohn55

New years eve stripper ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................







- water based so no nasty smells £11 for 1ltr - toolstation - bargain stripper


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## jimbojohn55

my bargain eco stripper is still slowly working so thought I would rebuild the grouphead and change the seals

step 1 - remove the piston rod seals







I was surprised how knackered they were with some splits to the silicon seal


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## jimbojohn55

Step 2 change the piston seals one pointing up the other down, after smearing in food safe grease also the pushrod seal the piston was put back in the lip of the top seal needs a little gentle persuasion with a blunt screwdriver to make it past the edge of the cylinder.


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## jimbojohn55

step 3 - insert the shower plate - grease the portafilter seal and again with a blunt screwdriver ease into place - eventually inserting the portafilter into place pushes the seal finally home.


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## Jon

Dude. I hope you feel the La Pav was as described. I keep seeing new bits and bobs being fitted. PM me if you feel I've not told you everything and we can sort something out. I had no idea about the split seals etc.


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## jimbojohn55

Jon said:


> Dude. I hope you feel the La Pav was as described. I keep seeing new bits and bobs being fitted. PM me if you feel I've not told you everything and we can sort something out. I had no idea about the split seals etc.


Lol not at all - its in better shape than I expected especially the chrome is A1 - no worries - even if it had been 5 years old I would prob do the same and strip it down. It was a bargain









Edit - to be clear all the seals were working,


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## Jon

jimbojohn55 said:


> Lol not at all - its in better shape than I expected especially the chrome is A1 - no worries - even if it had been 5 years old I would prob do the same and strip it down. It was a bargain
> 
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> Edit - to be clear all the seals were working,


OK cool! I'm happy if you're happy!


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## jimbojohn55

The stripper finally worked - it took 48 hrs (the price of using a more eco product I think)

the result is that you can see how tiny fingers of rust start to spread under the paint









The next step was to rub down with medium emery cloth then give a coat of Rustins rust eater - this can be left to dry on the surface prior to painting


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## Dylan

jimbojohn55 said:


> The stripper finally worked - it took 48 hrs (the price of using a more eco product I think)


I think any paint stripper you can buy as a consumer these days is 'eco'. But only eco in the sense that the EU banned the old stuff because it was terrible for wildlife and plants, so the new stuff is 'eco'.

The old stuff would only have taken a few hours, and can still be bought if you are a company with the proper disposal procedures in place ( and maybe licences and such things)


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## jimbojohn55

I think this one is designed to not produce fumes and is alkaline based - helps me as my workshop is under the house. Das pimping bunker


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## grumpydaddy

Curious here about the clear rust converter as I have only ever used jenolite

Does it say tannic acid or phosphoric acid on the bottle ??

Past experience tells me that before application you should de-grease with something like Isopropyl alcohol to remove all traces of oil including from your hands in contact with the metal


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## Missy

jimbojohn55 said:


> I think this one is designed to not produce fumes and is alkaline based - helps me as my workshop is under the house. Das pimping bunker


I need a workshop! Mine is in the kitchen... Which is in the living room! When the time comes to spray I shall be heading onto the patio!!!


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## grumpydaddy

*BIG* cardboard box (think Currys or similar fo white goods box) to keep the wind/wind borne dust away and control overspray and if you have or can get a lazy Susan to place grinder on it will make life pretty easy Missy


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## jimbojohn55

grumpydaddy said:


> Curious here about the clear rust converter as I have only ever used jenolite
> 
> Does it say tannic acid or phosphoric acid on the bottle ??
> 
> Past experience tells me that before application you should de-grease with something like Isopropyl alcohol to remove all traces of oil including from your hands in contact with the metal


The safety data sheet says Ethinol / Methanol ? http://www.rustins.eu/healthSafety/RUST%20REMOVER%20msds.pdf

And yes always degrease first - ive got 5lts of car panel wipe ive been using for years - I think its wood alcohol.

then first coat of primer in acid Etch 8 so it sticks to the metal


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## jimbojohn55

Missy said:


> I need a workshop! Mine is in the kitchen... Which is in the living room! When the time comes to spray I shall be heading onto the patio!!!


Pick a warm day with little or no wind - tricky this time of year - or spray in a shed or greenhouse? Garage? church hall? local country club? Local phone box - no one will be using it!- you don't need much space - as grumpy daddy says use a cardboard box and maybe spray it in the loo with the window open a bit - also hold breath or use a mask-


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## jimbojohn55

3 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint so far - the original paint is a black metallic, so it was easy to get a match - in this case Fiat black metallic







- yet to come - 2 coats of clear top coat to protect the metallic paint.


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## coffeechap

looks great


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## Jon

jimbojohn55 said:


> yet to come - 2 coats of clear top coat to protect the metallic paint.


Loving this thread.

Are you planning to send this back to me once you've done all the work?


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## jimbojohn55

Jon said:


> Loving this thread.
> 
> Are you planning to send this back to me once you've done all the work?


Not quite - but I will stand outside your house with it raised above my head like a trophy, and then run off every time you open the door


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## Jon

jimbojohn55 said:


> Not quite - but I will stand outside your house with it raised above my head like a trophy, and then run off every time you open the door


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## jimbojohn55

gasket paper arrived - £3.50 for a pack of 5 - the thickest one matched perfectly 1.3mm - 5 mins later the replacement was made, - the original was stuck to the underside of the base so I will probable do likewise but use a little silicon sealant.


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## jimbojohn55

Paint dry - reassembly time - well I say paint dry with less than 16hrs since applying the clear top coat, but its Saturday and Ive got some handles to turn tomorrow -so with the base wrapped in cling film I I lined up the boiler only to realise that its lower edge was less than smooth.









a quick rub down on a sheet of wet and dry on a flat surface and were back in business


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## jimbojohn55

Next fitting the boiler to the base with new gaskets, I found the best way to tighten the plastic nut was to insert the three bolts and use a plastic coated junior hacksaw as a lever. The trick is to line the holes up so that when the heating element is fitted the pressure stat fits neatly in the base - or a new copper tube will be required and can be bent to fit.

The old one lined up and I was happy with the plastic nuts tightness so fingers crossed it doesn't move.


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## jimbojohn55

Wiring is a doddle to refit following the pictures I took on disassembly.

and voila. done


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## jimbojohn55

First test and no water coming out - guess what I forgot to fit? the syphon tube - 10 mins later and I'm pulling my first shot - complete with food safe grease and an interesting metal taste, I would like to think its the flavour of iron rich soil the beans were grown in but its just the machine settling in - 3 cups later and I'm starting to get great results


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## coffeechap

now all you need is a manometer and heat sink fins for the group, nice work, they are so worth the time and effort, next get your self a really old one.


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## jimbojohn55

coffeechap said:


> now all you need is a manometer and heat sink fins for the group, nice work, they are so worth the time and effort, next get your self a really old one.


I was looking at the heat sink fins, but as I'm doing one cup at a time probably not that useful - the nanometre I agree - but will have to wait, ive only just started working full time again.


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## Jon

Respect! Better than new!


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## Missy

I think you should have painted it pink


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## jimbojohn55

Missy said:


> I think you should have painted it pink


ermmmm....................................................no


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## Rhys

jimbojohn55 said:


> ermmmm....................................................no
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> View attachment 24350


At that, @Jon would definitely want to buy it back







:exit:


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## Jon

Rhys said:


> At that, @Jon would definitely want to buy it back
> 
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> :exit:


Match my eyes.


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## jimbojohn55

jimbojohn55 said:


> ermmmm....................................................no
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> View attachment 24350


Actually @Missy the idea of use colour is growing on me - however I'm thinking more of a red or a metallic green - the boiler is now loose - so its back down to das pimpin bunker for more work


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## Missy

Lol! Love it! We could add some feminist slogans....


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## jimbojohn55

Wake up to coffee and smash the Patriachy - might fit around the base ?


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## jimbojohn55

single hole steam tip mod- having tried the standard three hole tip with dire results I decided to make a single version for a grand total of £1.10 for a bag of 10 M6 stainless dome nuts

step 1 drill 1mm hole - centre punch first to stop the drill sliding around.

Step 2 Mount on an m6 thread in a cordless drill with the drill rotating grind down the hex part of the nut

step 3 smooth with 120 grit wet and dry paper then fit it

Result - slower more controlled steam with a much better swirl.


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## RDC8

jimbojohn55 said:


> single hole steam tip mod- having tried the standard three hole tip with dire results I decided to make a single version for a grand total of £1.10 for a bag of 10 M6 stainless dome nuts
> 
> step 1 drill 1mm hole - centre punch first to stop the drill sliding around.
> 
> Step 2 Mount on an m6 thread in a cordless drill with the drill rotating grind down the hex part of the nut
> 
> step 3 smooth with 120 grit wet and dry paper then fit it
> 
> Result - slower more controlled steam with a much better swirl.


That new steam tip looks awesome. Would you consider making them on request and posting out? For a small fee - of course! I would love to replace mine.

Cheers


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## johnealey

Would be interested as well if you do







Very much like the idea of knowing where it came from and modified to suit.

John


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## jimbojohn55

Hi - it takes me about 45mins to make one, so could do them for a £5 posted send me a PM if interested and will get a couple made this weekend. cheers Jim


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## jimbojohn55

Question - has anyone tried to drill and tap a 12mm thread into the top of the sight glass holder to install a pressure gauge.

The Europiccolo has an m11 1mm thread and the professional has an M12 1mm thread - so in theory drill the M11 with 11mm drill bit to remove the old threads then tap with an M12 - fit standard pro m12 adapter nut then pop on a pressure gauge.

anyone tried it?


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## timmyjj21

Never seen it tried in any of my research when I was considering what to do. All the mods were based around a custom M11 adapter or the expensive option of replacing to top sight glass holder with a Pro version.


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## jimbojohn55

Hi - because la pavoni decided to make it hard to fit a pressure gauge by deliberately fitting an m11 thread instead of a M12 like the pro - part of me wants to say "Oi Pavoni pack it in lad" and show its straight forward to drill and tap it. - bringing down the espresso establishment one thread at time yolo


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## grumpydaddy

What thread is the gauge? M12?


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## jimbojohn55

the adapter nut for gauge is m12 with a 1mm pitch - this can be bought easily from la pav spares http://www.theespressoshop.co.uk/en/La-Pavoni-Professional-Pressure-Gauge-Nut-Chrome/m-2238.aspx

the gauge that goes into it is 1/8 BSPT thread - I think


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## johnealey

@jimbojohn55

Having fitted Jim's hand built single holed steam tip, no more "aero 3 tip latte art", nice smooth silky microfoam:









Thanks again, genuinely appreciate both the personal effort put into this and the results









John


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## jimbojohn55

Weekend heatsink party collar - famed for overheating when pulling more than 2 shots, I had to do the heatsink mod, as the idea of a wet teatowl wrapped around the grouphead would spoil the whole feng shui of my coffee corner - so aluminium Elizabethan ruff it is

pack of six heatsinks from china = 1 month later







They take a lot of fettling to get rid of sharp edges etc but a couple of hours later and done.


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## Dylan

Toyed with the idea of thermal paste to aid heat transfer?

btw, that looks both absurd and awesome at the same time, you already got it spot on with your pic of a victorian collar


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## jimbojohn55

Dylan said:


> Toyed with the idea of thermal paste to aid heat transfer?
> 
> btw, that looks both absurd and awesome at the same time, you already got it spot on with your pic of a victorian collar


Strange thing is that it actually suits it.... as it looks a part of the machine - It seems to be working well without thermal paste - its an option if it stays, which I think it will - Black Adder piccolo?


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## Missy

Ruff ruff! That looks completely at home there! Just don't let baldric fetch you milk... rat... cat...


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## jimbojohn55

La Pav - I gave in an ordered an m11 adapter and gauge - easy to fit- ten mins with a bit of ptfe tape - result I can finaly see the pressure and the pressurestat is bang on cutting in at 0.7 - 0.8

I think it adds a an extra toy that lets me see when the temp is up and when its safe to remove the portafilter


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## GCGlasgow

Where did you order the parts from?


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## jimbojohn55

GCGlasgow said:


> Where did you order the parts from?


Hi GC

http://www.wilycafe.com/

over in the US - unfortunately I got stung for an extra £13 import tax







- the nice bit is that its machined from stainless steel


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## bluebeardmcf

I read the bit about drilling and tapping with despair, and am thankful you went for an adapter. I'm not a time-served man but to tap a 12mm thread I would start with a 10mm diameter hole, as there is a 1mm thread on each side of the bore, 1+1+10 = 12. I think that going into an 11mm thread you would end up with half threads and need a lot of glue.


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## jimbojohn55

bluebeardmcf said:


> I read the bit about drilling and tapping with despair, and am thankful you went for an adapter. I'm not a time-served man but to tap a 12mm thread I would start with a 10mm diameter hole, as there is a 1mm thread on each side of the bore, 1+1+10 = 12. I think that going into an 11mm thread you would end up with half threads and need a lot of glue.


Very true -further research - that's what put me off. It does wind me up though that a manufacturer deliberately tries to put off a simple upgrade to a machine by deploying an M11 thread making it very difficult to adapt. the earlier Euro's with the solid sight glass protector had M12 threads - so could be adapted easily - shame on you La Pavoni and "weep at my adaption"


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## bluebeardmcf

I'm impressed with your pretty Pavoni.

Overheard in the workshop: "You clumsy *#@¢¥er, that was our last 12mm tap!"

"It's okay I just called Gino, he has a cheap job lot of 11mm taps we can have this afternoon"


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## bluebeardmcf

OTH, I'm thinking that a helicoil type kit with 10 inserts is less than £10 on eBay....


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## geney

Good to know that Europiccola is so much serviceable and parts are basically available everywhere.

Still hunting for 1 though. Had some hard time on eBay.


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## bluebeardmcf

Thinking of a heatsink mod, maybe carving up a second-hand heatsink from a computer fan... About £4 on eBay...


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## jimbojohn55

bluebeardmcf said:


> Thinking of a heatsink mod, maybe carving up a second-hand heatsink from a computer fan... About £4 on eBay...


ive got 5 more (got a pack of 6 from Hong kong)- I'm going to modify them and offer up as kits with thermal paste in a week or two if your interested. no problem if not.

cheers Jim


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## bluebeardmcf

Keep us posted mate. I like to find my own novel solutions to such crucial problems ;-), but there again I have a backlog and yours is quirky enough.


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## jimbojohn55

Looking at some wooden handles for the pavoni over the easter weekend - just not sure on wood as yet







Left to right - Rosewood , Bubinga, and Zebrano - think I may try the Rosewood


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## Jacko112

Agree, the rosewood looks the better option out of the 3


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## jimbojohn55

I am conscious of matching the boiler lid and the steam knob.


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## Jon

I like Zebrano and given you're sending it back to me on completion you might as well go for that?


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## timmyjj21

The rosewood looks good, but have also seen some lovely zebrano options. Are you going to make a wooden steam knob to match, or just stick to handles?

It's a shame the boiler cap is such a pain to do anything aftermarket with.


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## jimbojohn55

timmyjj21 said:


> The rosewood looks good, but have also seen some lovely zebrano options. Are you going to make a wooden steam knob to match, or just stick to handles?
> 
> It's a shame the boiler cap is such a pain to do anything aftermarket with.


Hi Timmy - I'm leaving them for now - but I have just found a supplier of the right size thread for a boiler cap threaded insert in brass, its a rare size m32 x 2mm pitch, not ordered yet but will do.


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## timmyjj21

Group buy?! I'm keen depending on weight and postage to Australia! The M32 thread has always been the weak point in making a wooden one and I could never find a feasible option or cost effective supplier.


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## jimbojohn55

La Pavoni Handles - Rosewood - decided to up the dimensions a little and change the shape to make the pavs new handles a littlke more robust, Ive always felt the originals are a little mean in proportion and size - ive done some side by side for comparison.









Only first coat of Danish oil them so far and I'm now committed to matching the boiler and steam knob in time,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and then there is the powder coating of the base in a 60's metallic umber ... it never ends...


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## johnealey

Quality handles, very nice indeed









John


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## grumpydaddy

out of curiosity.... what are the overall dimensions of the base?


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## Syenitic

jimbojohn55 said:


> Next fitting the boiler to the base with new gaskets, I found the best way to tighten the plastic nut was to insert the three bolts and use a plastic coated junior hacksaw as a lever. The trick is to line the holes up so that when the heating element is fitted the pressure stat fits neatly in the base - or a new copper tube will be required and can be bent to fit.
> 
> The old one lined up and I was happy with the plastic nuts tightness so fingers crossed it doesn't move.
> 
> View attachment 24341
> View attachment 24342


You just eliminated my quandary...I've been struggling to remove that plastic nut on mine. Now I know, I will be running again tomorrow. Thanks Jim.


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## jimbojohn55

Syenitic said:


> You just eliminated my quandary...I've been struggling to remove that plastic nut on mine. Now I know, I will be running again tomorrow. Thanks Jim.


yes but it soon became loose again - I'm looking at getting a three leg oil filter wrench


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## jimbojohn55

grumpydaddy said:


> out of curiosity.... what are the overall dimensions of the base?


28cm by 19cm - now I'm curious what your thinking about ?


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## grumpydaddy

I believe they are made of a pressed steel plate which made me start thinking on how to engineer something a bit more substantial.

How thick ?

The effort you put in to this makes it look fabulous. The thing that came to mind was a laminated brass/copper base but the cost.......


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## jimbojohn55

grumpydaddy said:


> I believe they are made of a pressed steel plate which made me start thinking on how to engineer something a bit more substantial.
> 
> How thick ?
> 
> The effort you put in to this makes it look fabulous. The thing that came to mind was a laminated brass/copper base but the cost.......


like this ? - the original base is not that thick but generally quite soilid feel to it - you cant flex it with your bare hands .







http://www.home-barista.com/levers/pimped-my-la-pavoni-lever-t27224.html


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## fatboyslim

Walnut wood handles courtesy of @lookseehear . Don't quite match the Hausgrind but close enough. @nicktid what do you think of your old machine?


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## nicktid

Looking very good!

The colour of the hardwood handles is a good match for the tamper as well.

Nice work.

Cheers,

Nick.


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## PreCoffeeCantankerousness

jimbojohn55 said:


> Hi - it takes me about 45mins to make one, so could do them for a £5 posted send me a PM if interested and will get a couple made this weekend. cheers Jim


Hi Jimbo, are you are still doing these? I'm really struggling to get the consistency of the milk right with the stock tip so would be interested to see if this mod would help.


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## jimbojohn55

So having had some fun doing handles and toggles for @dfk41 Londinium I thought it was high time I had another go at handles for my pav - wood wise some black Palmira became available - its a type of palm from india where only the outer sap wood is usable as the core of the tree is fibrous, as a result its often of limited thickness but thick enough for pav handles


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## Jumbo Ratty

Jimbo,

That wood looks exquisit.

Really does make such a difference to what is already a vwey nice looking machine


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## jimbojohn55

Not sure if the height of design and refinement or a bit Bet Lynch !



Jumbo Ratty said:


> Jimbo,
> 
> That wood looks exquisit.
> 
> Really does make such a difference to what is already a vwey nice looking machine


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## Jumbo Ratty

Im just a sucker for a nice bit of exotic wood. Or leopard print


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## matt_bott

jimbojohn55 said:


> ive got 5 more (got a pack of 6 from Hong kong)- I'm going to modify them and offer up as kits with thermal paste in a week or two if your interested. no problem if not.
> 
> cheers Jim


Very interested in adding a Ruf to my machine - dont really care about the heat sink effect, thats a bonus - it looks wicked - like an old aircooled aero engine (except slightly smaller)

I was going to ask where you got the bits from but alternatively let me know if your doing a kit!


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## BeansForBreakfast

Huge thanks for documenting your maintenance and mods, and I applaud your ingenuity.

I'm very jealous of your workshop and tools, I can only dream of such a bunker.

Don't know who Bet Lynch is, but the handles all look great.


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## BeansForBreakfast

@*jimbojohn55*

I was wondering if you might be interested in making some handles for me? I would try it myself but currently, just don't have the facilities. Also, curious how you're getting on with the boiler cap and steam knobs?

Guess I could try and do it with a dremel and a drill, might look a bit too homemade though!


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