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  • Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

    Ola everyone

    My MDF had enough of modifications, so I decided to mod my Classic now ;D

    I always wondered why in the name of God did the Classic designers choose to make a such short wand, bent two times at 90*. I guess only because it hide nice under the top part of the machine while not being used. I know some of you moded you Classics with the use of the Silvia wand. It is longer and has a better angle, but it also has a bigger hole, so you can empty the boiler really quick. Plus its not available here in Poland. So it was mod time

    It was a really easy modification, all you need is some electric elastic tape, a small vice and some foam or sponge. First you have to glue some foamy material to the clamps of the vice to protect the wand from scratches. Next cover it with some more electric tape and also use the tape on the wand itself, where it will touch the clamps. Now tighten the vice with the wand and bend it with your hands. Its not easy but it will bend. Make small bends and look how the materials reacts. Bend it to the shape you want And thats it, heres how it looks compared to the original (picture of the original is not mine, it was posted by someone on the alt.coffee group):



    [left - original, right - moded wand]

    Now it almost touches the bottom of my 300ml jug, it has a nice angle and finally I can rotate it so it actually drips above the drip tray and not only on its side. I can say Im satisfied

    Until the next mod

    Cheers,
    dsc.

  • #2
    Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

    I was wondering myself if this could be done.

    DSC, did you just unscrew the wnd from the casing or remove the whole casing of the classic - which is a pain to do.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

      Ola lucinda

      I removed the top cover, by unscrewing the two top screws, which allowed me to mess around in the inside. The next thing was to unscrew the wand itself and after that unscrew the inner steam pipe. With that done its just a matter of manouvering the steam pipe out of the casing. You can bend it a bit also, which should give you an additional 1-2cm (the pipe-wand connection will be lower, sticking a bit from the machine). Heres how it looks on the machine:



      Cheers,
      dsc.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

        what a nice mod !

        I already look forward to reaching further down the pitcher and enjoy a better angle

        thanks for posting it; I could already profit a lot from you two in the thread on frothing.
        after two weeks of intensivied frothing Im still on the not-so-shiny attempts..

        http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1166315191/0

        At least it was whirlpooling a bit when I used the small upper part of the frothing attachment Lucinda recommended:

        Originally posted by lucinda link=1166315191/0#2 date=1166331207
        First of all, get rid of the last plastic prophalactic on the end of your steaming wand. It sucks in far too much air and just makes huge bubbles. The smaller tip will suffice and you should get good results. Just make sure the steaming wand is at right angles to the machine.
        but as it seems there will flow quite some water and milk in the next few months until Im fast and effective enough to start trying on latte art. and maybe in a few (dozend) years it would be nice to look something like this (found the link via esspressovivace.com):




        greets from the rising branch of the learning curve
        (is this still some kind of understandable english?)

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

          Silvia owners can do this too and I think it makes things way easier. I place a bend in the wand to help with texturing....I suggest 10-15 deg out and 10-15 deg forward. The wands bend easily- Im yet to break one...but I suggest that you do it carefully .

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

            dsc, your mod looks great in the photo you posted of it on the machine. However, may i urge caution to others considering this mod. I did it with my Gaggia and put too many wiggles in the wand. Once those little bends are in there, you can never quite get rid of them. No amount of attempted straightening will make it look as new as it once did. Although your effort looks far more successful than my attempt, i can still see in you photo of the wand on its own that there is a tiny wiggle or two.
            I wish i had left mine well alone. Im now considering the replacing-the-wand-with-a-Silvia-wand mod.

            This is the wand after i attempted to put it back into its original shape. It still has some wiggles where i made the bends.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

              The wiggles could probably be overcome by bending with a larger pipe over the wand instead of doing it by hand.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                Originally posted by Thundergod link=1168907993/0#6 date=1169382386
                The wiggles could probably be overcome by bending with a larger pipe over the wand instead of doing it by hand.
                A really simple way to do this is to drill an appropriate size hole (to poke the wand pipe through) in a piece of wood about 25mm thick and then use the length of wood as a lever to make the process easier to manager and also produce good, neat results

                Mal.

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                • #9
                  Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                  Ola

                  Yup you are right Mal, you can also use another metal tube (steel would be good cause its hard) as Thundergod stated.

                  mean bean you are also right, there are small wiggles on my wand, thats because its harder to bend at the already bent places and if you use too much force on the wrong spot you will end up with a funny looking bend. So look out for it

                  Cheers,
                  dsc.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                    Gday Tom,

                    Yep, theres lots of ways to do this..... I just prefer using timber where other materials might mark the surface of the tube being bent. Dont like messing up that nice shiny finish

                    Mal.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                      Hi Mal

                      Yes you are right, using a steel tube without anything to cover the wand might result in scratches. I used a vice to hold the wand in place so I had to make sure the wand wont get damaged and so used some masking tape to protect it. Im sure tape could also be used when using a steel tube to make the bend. Although wood is softer and might work better without the tape

                      As you said therere lots of ways to do it and Im not saying one is better than the rest Just keep it scratchless and safe

                      Cheers,
                      dsc.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                        I asked my service guy if he would be able to put a sylvia wand on my machine when it goes in for a service, apparently he can do this so it will be done then.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                          Too easy Cindy ;D,

                          That is the other option of course, get someone else to do it for you 8-)

                          Mal.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                            Originally posted by lucinda link=1168907993/0#11 date=1169773535
                            I asked my service guy if he would be able to put a sylvia wand on my machine when it goes in for a service, apparently he can do this so it will be done then.
                            "Service guy". Mmmmmm. Me thinks id like one of those! How often do you get your machine serviced?
                            And what kind of place do you get it serviced? Is this thru a coffee specialty store or is it a warranty thingy?

                            Cheers,
                            MB

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Gaggia Classic steam wand bend mod

                              Ola

                              So Cindy hows the new wand working for ya? Im thinking about ordering one too, cause my new wand bend mod is kind of annoying. I cant get the milk to rise, its spins really nice, but when I try to add some volume by rising the wand a bit I get a lot of bubbles, sink it in again a bit and it spins and I end up with warm milk. Before the mod I could add a loooot of foam on top, now it just doesnt want to happen. Im wondering whats going on.

                              Cheers,
                              dsc.

                              Comment

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