CMA/Astoria (cafethema) Lever rebuild

[milowebailey]

I like the red second out from the right.

Are you gonna put those nice wooden handles on the lever handle too?

 

I've thought about making some lever and portafilter handles, but not easy since there are 3 different hole sized inside the lever handles and probably 3 on the portafilter handles.  Tricky to get them the exact depth.   Maybe once I get everything else done I'll give it a try.

[Tex]

Looking good Larry. If it was my machine I'd opt for some pin striping for those panels, regardless of color.

[BoldJava]

Looking good Larry...

Agreed, very nice work.  If you are looking for opinions, I love my black 90% gloss black. 

How did you get those springs on/off without taking out your Adam's apple in the process?  Intimidating from afar --

[milowebailey]

How did you get those springs on/off without taking out your Adam's apple in the process?  Intimidating from afar --

Off was easy, enough gunk on everything that the pistons didn't want to shoot across the room.  You see the wood clamp in the background of of photo..... I compressed it with the clamp until the threads would start (about 3/4" of compression).  I put the screw end of the clamp on the piston so it would still turn (making sure it was centered) then turned the piston until I had 2 full turns, then took off the clamp and threaded it on the rest of the way.

[Tex]

 Dave is right, those springs can be dangerous if not handled correctly. I compress them in a vice, and wire them in position until the piston is on - then release the springs.

In fact, I recommend they not be disassembled during restoration - they can be cleaned as an assembly, safely.

[milowebailey]

I had to dis-assemble the CMA lever.  The only way to replace the pins is to remove the piston from the yoke.  Agreed that care needs to be taken, wear gloves and point the piston 90 from your body.

[BoldJava]

...
I've thought about replacing the lever on my La Peppina to maybe get more pressure out of it, but I don't really want to bother with it. ...

Good for you!  Proves that every coffee scratch needn't be itched.  Read a great post (can't find it again) that touched on the issue re:  leaving coffee as an art and a fun-thing rather than micro-controlling everything.

[BoldJava]

... that I have the Gaggia Factory that I can lean on to crank out the higher body and crema shots for espresso with a punch or milk drinks.

The Tin Man gave me the best shot of the LeftCoastLouie event in Portland.

[mp]

Viva la Tin Man!

 

[milowebailey]

Back on the CMA this morning.  I have it back together far enough that I can fire it up tomorrow.  I need to connect power and it's ready to test for leaks.  I filled it with water today and with no steam pressure it's water tight..... Photos tomorrow.

[ScareYourPassenger]

Looking forward to the pics. I love rebuild threads!

[EricBNC]

I wonder if I will ever end up with one of these commercial machines in my home...

[milowebailey]

I'll post a video later... my memory card was too full to take a video.  The machine is working well.  Good crema on the first shot.

Here are some photos of the progress

[milowebailey]

One more

[milowebailey]

Here is the first shot and first latte.

The steam pressure is crazy.... I will probably drop the pressure from 1.5 bar down to 1.2 bar.  Seems like 1.5 bar is too much pressure.

What is a good starting pressure for a lever machine?