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Gaggia America lever machine - project "lighthouse"

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  • Gaggia America lever machine - project "lighthouse"

    Starting out an adventure project! I decided to make my own espresso machine over the lockdown. Starting with a couple of old 2 group Gaggia America lever machines with "coffee pot" centre groups...and turning it into a single group vertical boiler machine with PID control. Been doing rebuilds for fun for the last few years, trying different machines... so I figured, why not. How long could this possibly take right? Ugh. Many many hours later I present to you the process and hope it comes to completion soon.
    Stared with a few total junker machines and decided to scrap what was rubbish and use the rest for parts.
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  • #2
    Up next make something useful out of the old "coffee pot" urns. A new front porch light? Why not.
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    • #3
      Next step... make a new boiler from scratch and clean up the best group head as a donor for the single group machine...
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      • #4
        Best group head awaiting clean up. Stay tuned.
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        • #5
          Great work Leverman...

          Will be exciting to follow your progress in building this beauty.

          Mal.

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          • #6
            Forgot to mention, my inspiration is the old Faema Venere, it had a vertical boiler and I was always fascinated at how it looked like a "giant Pavoni" :>)
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            • #7
              Group head clean up. Lots of soaking, gentle scraping and buffing. Decades of "who knows what" need to come off.
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              • #8
                After all the "elbow grease" as been applied... and a bit of rubbing compound! You will notice the original brass spacers that go in the group look a bit different. Experimenting with some custom ones made from virgin teflon to help reduce drag, keep the group seals from wearing and minimise the chance of any scraping of the group piston. I'll post some pics of the process to make those soon.
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                • #9
                  Brass spacers in the group were a bit worn, still useable but I figured... let's try something new. So I got a bar of virgin teflon and tried turning them on a lathe... came out pretty nice! Smooth as!
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                  • #10
                    Finished spacers. Firm enough to do the job but flexible enough to "do no harm" to the piston. Also will help with disassembly when time for gasket replacement comes. (I hope)
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                    • #11
                      Following with interest. Very inspiring.

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                      • #12
                        Inspiring, I have an old machine i want to fix up.

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                        • #13
                          What did you do to unscrew the piston from the rack? Is it because this is a newer machine than other groups I've seen? Paul Pratt told me he has never been able to unscrew the piston without damage, which is why I have never attempted to unscrew mine, although he works on really nasty machines sometimes.

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                          • Leverman
                            Leverman commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I soaked the whole thing in penetrating oil a few days… then some gentle heating, followed by more soaking in penetrating oil. Then clean it off well and wrap it in wet leather, clamp it in a wooden vice or roughened wooden blocks in a vice then turn the shaft…. Slow and steady it came off!

                          • Leverman
                            Leverman commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I forgot to mention I used a basin wrench/spanner to get down inside the piston.

                          • IamOiman
                            IamOiman commented
                            Editing a comment
                            oh that's smart, never thought of using basin wrench like that. On my next gaggia project I'll try that

                        • #14
                          Click image for larger version

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ID:	928929Not sure what happened during Covid… but time and life seemed to blur into some odd never-land… but I did make progress and am back at it! Progressed to the first rough mock up of a frame. Just experimenting with shape at the moment.

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                          • tompoland
                            tompoland commented
                            Editing a comment
                            VERY interesting! Following with great interest.

                          • kofekitt
                            kofekitt commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Looks very interesting - I know it's just a mock-up, but that's quite a bit of weight hanging off that boiler neck, both from the weight of the group, and even more stress when pulling the lever . Will there be more bracing or a frame around the group to boiler junction?

                        • #15
                          Nice work Leverman - something I would love to be able but unfortunately my skill levels are sadly lacking Love those levers

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                          • mgrobins
                            mgrobins commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I replied to the wrong post :P
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