Lever project - Urania 1 group

mycuppa · September 2011

on 1315010207:

Yes, I've budgeted for the fees, but actually I have no idea on the customs process. My intent is to run around filling out the forms myself. The crate packing is ISPM which should stop any issues with wood fumigation, but as to what they want to do with the contents, we will see. How did you go with yours? I'm a slow learner but still happy to learn from others mistakes I'll post up the story as it plays out....

Well done Stuart..... I'm not sure if you have done this already, but I would highly recommend some form of Marine & General transit insurance. The policy is pretty cheap for peace of mind. It's probably not too late to purchase cover. I did this on a roaster coming in a container from Europe.

on 1315021549:

Two exciting rebuild threads on the one forum. Come on AM, I love a good trifecta!

Will a roaster restoration thread suffice ?

UNM · September 2011

on 1315043921:

Will a roaster restoration thread suffice ?

About time we had something on roaster restoration. Looking forward to it.

Muscles · September 2011

Very cool crate! Amazing how it can get around the world in a few days and then take weeks to get anywhere in Australia - I hope this is an excepton to the norm for you. My last parcel from the UK took 4 days door to door and even though it was worth more than a thou, I wasn't hit with any GST or duty... how do they decide who pays and who doesn't or is it pot luck?

Brett H · September 2011

on 1315045676:

About time we had something on roaster restoration. Looking forward to it.

Oh yes please!

mycuppa · September 2011

Not a done deal yet - looking at quite a few options.............. Used 45kg Petroncini ex Austria that needs a bit of resto, or Used classic Probat G40 from the US that is in good working condition, or Brand new profile-driven pimped up Joper 30 (this may be the winner actually), or Brand new Deidrich CR-50 with roast profiler, or Geisen W45A (but I suspect this won't be ready in time as the R&D on this baby is not finished yet). I'd really love to do a resto.......as I have all the mechanical and electrical engineering skills, just so very time-poor atm.

borat123 · September 2011

so far so good, made it to Adelaide airport. Now for customs....

Koffee_Kosmo · September 2011

This will be a great project From all reports, this machine makes a great coffee, couple that with sexy looks and its a winner in more ways than one I wanna see great chrome work and don't be scared to add some gold plating where appropriate KK

borat123 · September 2011

on 1315307509:

This will be a great project From all reports, this machine makes a great coffee couple that with sexy looks and its a winner in more ways than one I wanna see great chrome work and don't be scared to add some gold plating where appropriate KK

Haha, 24 carat gold plating - now that would be some bling to look at... Depending on condition, I'm thinking of sending the entire cover in for re-chroming. I reckon that's why these Urania's are such good lookers. I think the internals and the Zodiac group are pretty much exactly the same as a Lambro. Here's a pic of a restored one: (and more pics here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=157656197635323&set=o.123847744336889&type=1&theater&pid=329373&id=100001728304878 )

Koffee_Kosmo · September 2011

Now that's what I call a sympathetic restoration And probably better than when it was new ;D And that grinder is also a great restoration KK

Ronin · September 2011

That is a nice restoration. Bling, never too much bling.

borat123 · September 2011

Cleared customs and got the crate home. Opened it up and although no transport damage there were a few unwanted surprises.... The cast aluminium part of the group head, has a section which the lever rests against in the upright position. Unfortunately someone has let go of the lever and it's hit hard and broken off the top of the moulding. If I can get one I'll probably just get a replacement. The glass pipe that shows the boiler fill level is broken. (not a big deal), and the mercury bulbs / switches are missing (I'm guessing they're not air freightable). Will have to go with a Sirai now. So this afternoon I managed to remove all the pipework and take out the boiler. Spent hours and hours removing rusty nuts, then struggled with the bolts which were fused between the boiler rings. Eventually got all the bolts out bar two, and one of the rings off. Hopefully I'll get the last couple of bolts out, and boiler open tomorrow. The effort to get the boiler nuts off and the bolts out was unbelievable. Penetrant, blow torch, spanner, whacking, and as a last resort cutting with the dremel..... All the pipework was reasonably clean (and each fitting complete with a metre or so of plumbers tape ::) ), but the boiler is pretty scaled up. The element was so caked up it wouldn't come out. I'll have to wait until the boiler is open to get a good look. Someone has tried to turn the steam wand and twisted the pipe badly so will need to find a replacment for that too. Tomorrow's jobs - get the boiler open, start descaling everything, remove the group head, and visit the plating / polishing place to find out what the replating and polishing is going to cost me. I'll likely get the frame sand blasted to get rid of rust, and then powdered coated. More pics tomorrow.

borat123 · September 2011

Here's some of the posts that went missing....

more pics? ok, here's today's effort: After more blow torch heating, penetrant and whacking with a rubber mallet, here's the disassembled group (6kgs), with the preinfusion control layed out on the right. I'm going to try and get the group rechromed, and the all the stuff on the right, except the nice round head cap (also to be rechromed) will be replaced.

And here's the piston which by the looks of it hasn't seen light of day for a while..

This is the result from a couple of days of blow torch, penetrant, whacking & dremel cutting. Even then there were still a couple of bolt segments left that had to be surgically extracted.

This is a close up of the lever mount section of the group head. Not only was it snapped off, but there are a couple of huge cracks here too. Lucky these bits are still available new for about eighty bucks Smiley

Tomorrow I'll have a go at the piston. I just realised I need a C spanner to get it off the spring. Another trip to Bunnings. Tools I didn't have that I've bought from there in the last couple of days: Disposable blow torch, can of penetrant, G clamp, Dremel cutting kit, and now a C spanner. ;D Half of the boiler and most of the pipework is soaking in citric acid tonight. I used up the last I had so will need to visit the home brew shop on Monday too.

Koffee_Kosmo · September 2011

Nice progress Borat This will be a lovely machine to use when its up and working again

KK

borat123 · September 2011

I paid a vist to the plating / polish shop today. Dropped off everything requiring chroming, and the boiler for polishing. The deep half is copper, and the top is brass. It will be acid bathed to removing the external tin coating prior to polishing. The boiler interior didn't appear to have any tin - not sure if this is how they came from the factory, or over time with descaling etc it wore off. The rechroming also involves plenty of labour as after stripping in an acid bath, they have to polish and bash out any dings before rechroming again. Then I went to the powder coating place and got some pricing on sandblasting, priming and powdercoating the frame. Quite reasonable I thought. Will wait until I get the boiler back before doing the blasting/painting, as I might do a minor bit of welding on one of the boiler mount points first. Also left the bits of aluminium trim at another place for stripping and re-annodising. After that I went to the fastener shop for stainless steel versions of all the rusty nuts / bolts & screws. I should get it all back in 4 weeks time...

Koffee_Kosmo · September 2011

Dont forget a little gold plating here and there Just to set it apart at the new residence

KK

borat123 · September 2011

on 1315818999:

Dont forget a little gold plating here and there Just to set it apart at the new residence KK

Yes, it will fit right in. I hear everything is gold plated over there... And here's tonight's quiz - who can identify what this little brown ball is made of? (It's on the end of a handle thats moves a sliding panel on the bottom of the cup warming tray) Perhaps its bakelight, or wood? AM, can you turn up a perfectly round 10mm wooden ball

Ronin · September 2011

Don't think it's wood. Wood doesn't craise like that. Plastic or bakerlite would be my guess from the photo's Awesone progress, I'm jealous (and time poor atm)

borat123 · September 2011

on 1315822441:

Don't think it's wood. Wood doesn't craise like that. Plastic or bakerlite would be my guess from the photo's Awesone progress, I'm jealous (and time poor atm)

I think you're right Ronin. Wood looks a lot nicer than plastic. I broke the end off the rod as well when undoing the rusted nut on the other side. May have to find someone to knock up a new bit of threaded rod with a right angle bend in it. I can then drop it into the shop to get chromed with the other stuff.

Koffee_Kosmo · September 2011

I dont think its Bakelite Its a composite material ? something with hardened rubber For a replacement I suggest a [1] wood ball [2] Glass Ball [3] Stone like pink marble ball [4] Metal / Alloy Most can be purchased off the shelf and all they need is a hole drilled to fit the shaft The thread is not important as an interference fit will do the job just as well KK

Ronin · September 2011

on 1315823852:

May have to find someone to knock up a new bit of threaded rod with a right angle bend in it.

Looks like 1/4 inch rod to me. Measure it, you might be able to get a piece of Booker rod (threaded rod) the right size. Off the shelf and easy to find nuts also.

Brett H · September 2011

What about get a lapidarist to turn up a nice stone or fossilised wood as KK suggested (pink marble). I've never drilled out anything that large as to accomodate an interference fit but I bet DB is a man in the know.

UNM · September 2011

These kind of handles are used on a lot of commercial catering equipment, so a supplier of such items could probably help. I think a nice wood handle would look/feel best.

Ronin · September 2011

I'll take your measurements AM and go a step further. Since these were probably made in imperial not metric My guess is 1/2 inch or 12.7mm (and prob was round when new) for the ball and 1/8inch for the rod. I could take it to work and use the laser scanner if you want it accurate to 0.0001mm ;D

borat123 · September 2011

on 1315875616:

Looks like a bit bigger than 10mm to me, say 12mm And does not look perfectly round ;D ;D What is the rod dia 4mm or ? This is the time you go and buy a cheep set of digital verniers

Geez guys, I come back in from the shed for a break, and I see the party's started here without me... :D

I might just go and buy a set AM. Who sells cheap ones? My list of tools I never knew I needed is growing every day

[the C spanner yesterday cost me $59..... ::) ] Re size, I would guess it is almost certainly metric as it was made in Italy, and I think they've always been metric right - even in the 50-60's? The expert coffee man in Europe replied overnight and said it's a type of rubber - so KK was right! I think wood though would still be in keeping with a heritage listed coffee machine be an allowable improvement....

Here's a bakelite version: http://www.fabritec.ch/de/kugelkopf-schwarzes-bakelit_deM302956.html

Lacehim · September 2011

I bought a set of digital ones Borat, at your favorite store! Bunnings! They weren't too expensive from memory. I had the same problem, I was always looking for a tool that I didn't own!

Still it's a good excuse to shop for hardware!

UNM · September 2011

on 1315885161:

I bought a set of digital ones Borat, at your favorite store! Bunnings! They weren't too expensive from memory. I had the same problem, I was always looking for a tool that I didn't own! Still it's a good excuse to shop for hardware!

Got my digital calipers at aldi either S25 or $29 from memory. Well worth it.

borat123 · September 2011

Who else want's a single group Urania?? Here's one in the Netherlands... Looks like a similar vintage and the same style as my one. This one may be in better nick but hard to tell without any interior pics. Reading the text with google translate, I think it's had a similar boiler mod too. http://witgoed-apparatuur.marktplaats.nl/koffiemachines-en-espresso-apparaten/478862770-faema-urania-lever-espresso-machine-uit-de-jaren-50.html 1600 Euros..

borat123 · September 2011

No takers on that Urania....?

He's got more pics here too: https://picasaweb.google.com/108705898623473679164/14September2011

on 1315875616:

Looks like a bit bigger than 10mm to me, say 12mm And does not look perfectly round ;D ;D What is the rod dia 4mm or ? This is the time you go and buy a cheep set of digital verniers

Hi AM, I paid a visit to Coventry fasteners, got them to size everything then ordered bulk replacements for all the nuts and bolts, in stainless. The thread on that rod fits an M4 nut ....

cheers, Stuart.

borat123 · September 2011

on 1316053590:

OH... Another correct call So let me get this straight... Your now chasing a 12mm wooden ball (Say Black Ebony or WHAT if any colour) that will fit onto a 4mm thread about 5mm long ;D

Thanks AM, yes your figures are spot on.... Actually a darkish reddy brown would be nice please, as its probably a bit closer to the original colour. Think I've still got some Waghi AA that would look good in your Halogen KKTO....

cheers, Stuart.

UNM · September 2011

I suspect swamp kauri would be a good colour match

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