Learning the art of restoration

[Ausnadian]

One of the things that Coffeesnobs has opened my eyes up to is how good some of you are at restoration of old machines. Maybe its the fact that I am now closer to 50 than 20, the thought of making old new again really appeals to me. Purely from a hobby perspective, I could see myself enjoying the time it takes to restore an old machine back to its former glory, even if it took a year.
I live on the Mornington Peninsula, and google hasnt bought up any results, so I was wondering if there is anywhere around Melbourne that I could learn these skills, night classes preferred.
Cheers for any infomation

[saoye]

Re: Learning the art of restoration

Hi Ausnadian,

I have not done any major restore at all but in my opinion pretty much everything you need by way of knowledge is online and in forums these days. For major restorations what you probably need is an electrician license if you are intent on doing everything yourself. the rest comes from research and interest on your part. There probably are courses on basic understanding of what an espresso machine entails and the major differences between categories as well as maintenance. I am sure the Site Sponsors can help on such courses.

[dabbler]

Re: Learning the art of restoration

I have never done a coffee machine restoration, just the occasional running repair. My interests in restoration lies with small furniture pieces, kerosene lamps and pre-WWII gramophones. Gramophone internals can be complex but most repairs involves physical breakages usually from fatigue.

Saoye is right about the amount of information online but nothing can beat firsthand advice from a seasoned expert. Particularly when it comes to restoration which is a far far different thing to a repair to working order. You might need two sources of hands-on training. I certainly did for my interests. One for machine internals and one for exterior/appearance.

I learnt some wood and metal restoration techniques from my Dad when he was alive but they were his projects not mine. He made most of the "hard" decisions. I never really had the time until illness struck. So with time on my hands I started projects of own and looking online for solutions and tricks but quickly found I needed to seek out a special interest group and joining a local "mens shed".  They not only shared information but resources like hard to get tools etc. Online is a good place for standards, specs and original imagery but not so good for real world practice efforts. You cant ask a video the requisite "stupid question".

As your post suggests - you really need to get experience based "training" up your sleeve. Maybe one of the repair oriented sponsors can help with exposing you to variety of machine internals.

[Ausnadian]

Re: Learning the art of restoration

Online is a good place for standards, specs and original imagery but not so good for real world practice efforts. You cant ask a video the requisite "stupid question".

This is precisely why I want real training, and it is more so in the art of metal restoration and finishing, patching up rust areas etc etc, I am quite a hands on guy, and learn most things by doing, but I also learn from watching the nuances of skilled workers. Online guides are helpful, but like some online recipes, they can assume you know all the basics and therefore leave out a very important tip

[Ronin]

Re: Learning the art of restoration

You need to find a go to person.
Can be invaluable in time and money saving, doing it right the first time. Also can help with finding that elusive part.

Take plenty of photos of everything. digital photos are my go to for pipe work and lasing with the go to person. A picture can speak a thousand words.

Im on the finishing end of my first restoration and its been a huge learning curve, but enjoyable.

p.s. itll probably cost more than you think, so allow more money just in case.

Hope this helps