Has anyone made their own Bottomless Portafilter?

[Warrior372]

I am curious if anyone has attempted to make their own bottomless portafilter with a circular drill saw? If so how did that work out?

[John F]

Oh yeah..... loads of people.

It works great and depending on how good your tools/skills are it might look good too.

Mine works fantastically and looks like hell.

[Warrior372]

Perfect! I will add that to my list of things to purchase this week!

[thejavaman]

Oh yeah..... loads of people.

It works great and depending on how good your tools/skills are it might look good too.

Mine works fantastically and looks like hell.

+1.  I have a Carezza like John too.  It is pretty easy to do if you have the right tools.

HB HAS A THREAD ON IT that does a decent job explaining the step-by-step.

[Warrior372]

Will i be fine with a circular drill saw, drill, vise grips, and a dremel for smoothing things out? Or do you really have to drill 20 holes in a circle around the portafilter like they do in that thread ?

[John F]

 It is pretty easy to do if you have the right tools.

There was a time (it's hard to believe now) when it was debatable. I decided to hack mine on the spur of the moment one day and just grabbed a Dremel tool and a few min. later it was done. My thinking was to test the idea and then buy a professionally done job later on.

But this machine has become such a Frankenstein lab experiment to me that I almost wonder if I'm going to be sad when it's finally all prim and proper.  

The shots have told me they don't mind the hatchet job at all and will not reward me any style points for cleaning up so I delay further and further.....

[thejavaman]

...Will i be fine with a circular drill saw, drill, vise grips, and a dremel for smoothing things out?...

Absolutely.

...do you really have to drill 20 holes in a circle around the portafilter like they do in that thread ?...

Not necessarily.  It helps to do that to make the circle you're cutting more "perfect", but if you've got a steady hand and use common sense you should be fine with the above mentioned tools...

[Tex]

I am curious if anyone has attempted to make their own bottomless portafilter with a circular drill saw? If so how did that work out?

Not bad.

[thejavaman]

...But this machine has become such a Frankenstein lab experiment to me ...

I'm surprised you haven't put a PID on yours yet!   

2008-03-28: Gaggia Carezza w/PID

   

[yorel23]

Will i be fine with a circular drill saw, drill, vise grips, and a dremel for smoothing things out? Or do you really have to drill 20 holes in a circle around the portafilter like they do in that thread ?

Why mess with all that stuff?  I just clamped it in a vise in a CNC mill, wrote a little program, and VOILA!!   

What?  Doesn't everyone have a CNC mill right outside their office door?   

[Tex]

Will i be fine with a circular drill saw, drill, vise grips, and a dremel for smoothing things out? Or do you really have to drill 20 holes in a circle around the portafilter like they do in that thread ?

Why mess with all that stuff?  I just clamped it in a vise in a CNC mill, wrote a little program, and VOILA!!   

What?  Doesn't everyone have a CNC mill right outside their office door?   

Yeah, but I like old-school technology.

[thejavaman]

..I just clamped it in a vise in a CNC mill, wrote a little program, and VOILA!!   

Sweet.  You should advertise that and charge $25.00 A POP + shipping.   

[yorel23]

Will i be fine with a circular drill saw, drill, vise grips, and a dremel for smoothing things out? Or do you really have to drill 20 holes in a circle around the portafilter like they do in that thread ?

Why mess with all that stuff?  I just clamped it in a vise in a CNC mill, wrote a little program, and VOILA!!   

What?  Doesn't everyone have a CNC mill right outside their office door?   

Yeah, but I like old-school technology.

Yeah, but most of us aren't retired and looking for an excuse to get up out of the ol' rocking chair every once in a while! 

[John F]

I'm surprised you haven't put a PID on yours yet!   

I've started to a few times but it hasn't happened yet.

It will just because it's inevitable but the truth is I don't need it yet so it hasn't happened. I've done a lot of temp testing and am very comfortable with my ritual. If it became a problem I'd probably panic and pay priority shipping to get it done ASAP but it's not the case.

[yorel23]

..I just clamped it in a vise in a CNC mill, wrote a little program, and VOILA!!   

Sweet.  You should advertise that and charge $25.00 A POP + shipping.   

Then it would seem too much like work!