My GS Project

Ronin

AngerManagement wrote:

Love to hate machining castings.. Especially Cast Iron Spent way to long at a Foundry or two on the south side and one did a heap of train wheels... Now, back on track... When will your system be ready for testing R ?

BK's at Runcorn I'm thinking AM. I'm northside. A little premature there re testing AM. Still in bits, although they are mostly cleaner than they were. Looking into powder coating the frame and have decided on colour scheme from the first series GS. There is a 1 group that has just been finished that looks fantastic, and will match my grinder too. But you'll have to wait for that 😛 And re chroming of course. I'm a little disappointed in the exposed group castings. Brass isn't to hard to work with tho, so I'll get them to a good standard before chroming all bits. Have some possible drama with both of the dispersion plates. Extra holes. Currently investigating if they should be fixed or not. I'm leaning towards yes, but that's a tricky job (says the welder, not me)

Ronin

jeff wrote:

If you don't have a local resource, Cannonfodder (Dave Stephens) over on Home-Barista does custom wood for espresso machines. I don't know what he charges, but his work looks beautiful to me.

Thanks Jeff Might do something myself first to see how it looks. I've got some Rosewood that looks good, but might clash with colours. Time will tell

Ronin

Forgot to mention Elements are tested (by electrician at work) and should work. 1300 watt brew boiler 2000 watt steam boiler Around 16 amps total, so a 20 amp will cover it nicely I think

jeff

The lever at the front of the right side, is that the manual fill?

Ronin

That's right Jeff. Hold the toggle switch to engage the pump and the lever on bottom right for the water valve, in original condition that is.

Ronin

I've been told that it won't make a difference, and not to worry about it AM. I'll try it as is, then if it's a problem they are easily removed after re assembly.

Ronin

Perhaps, but the other side to the hole is the recess for removal of the plate. Don't really want to fill those now do we 😉 or they will never be cleaned again.

Ronin

Frame work dropped in for powder coating today. Getting chrome plate quote also, this is the one I'm dreading. Worth the money, but could be expensive. Find out tommorow

Ronin

So... you can get coloured chrome, who knew Black chrome looking good. Not going to use it, but it looks good

Ronin

Frame striped and ready for powder coating, should be ready early next week. Chrome work underway, but probably 3 weeks away. Insert finger tapping impatient Ronin here. You must be patient for good work

borat123

Welcome to the "it'll be ready next week" club..... :rofl:

Ronin

borat123 wrote:

Welcome to the "it'll be ready next week" club..... :rofl:

Nice, thanks Borat 🙂 It'll give me time to finish sourcing the parts I need, elusive things they are.

jeff

Ronin wrote:

It'll give me time to finish sourcing the parts I need, elusive things they are.

I have to thank you for the inspiration to continue on my quest, though those few last parts are perhaps the scariest thing to me about a restoration. Looking forward to seeing some photos of that first shot! OK, I'll also admit I'm envious that you have 220 already available to you. Between an already-full 1970s main panel and the joys of obtaining local government permits, I think it is going to be as much of a challenge to pull 220 back to the "altar" in a San Francisco Victorian as it will be to rebuild one of these machines.

Ronin

jeff wrote:

I have to thank you for the inspiration to continue on my quest, though those few last parts are perhaps the scariest thing to me about a restoration.

I glad to be an inspiration for you Jeff. It wasn't my intention when starting this thread, was just to let people in on my adventure, but I'm happy to have helped you indirectly. Here in Aus we have 240 VAC main power, everything runs on it (including Marzocco's ;D) I'm hoping to be close to the first shots around or just after Christmas (holidays and spare time), we'll see though, got a few things to sort out

UNM

jeff wrote:

OK, I'll also admit I'm envious that you have 220 already available to you. Between an already-full 1970s main panel and the joys of obtaining local government permits, I think it is going to be as much of a challenge to pull 220 back to the "altar" in a San Francisco Victorian as it will be to rebuild one of these machines.

When I lived in California, all the houses I rented had 220 volts available for the tumble dryer. That is what I used for my UK appliances. Not necessarily safe to just wire it in, but it may not be as hard to get the power you need as you might think. I'm sure a local electrician will keep you right.

Ronin

So I picked up the frame from the powder coaters, Inspected it when arrived home. It's now back at the coaters to do properly :head: GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR Oh well. I have to give Kudos to site sponsor Coffee Parts. I ordered Sunday, got a conformation call Monday morning, parts arrived at my door Tuesday. Fantastic and fast service. Thanks Guys

Ronin

Got a call from the powder coaters today. Ready to go............ again. We'll see (I hope so this time) Also got a call from the chrome platers, Ready to go ;D Will pick up next week and post photos when I have the time. Almost re assembly time

jeff

Yep, you definitely inspired me! I got it mainly apart, the wiring loom removed, and on trying to drain the steam boiler found it filled with milky, murky water. My boilers look to be a little different than yours. The steam boiler uses a cartridge heater and I don't think it comes apart. The cap looks pretty solidly welded on. On the brew boiler, I really take a 30 mm spanner to that big hex and turn? How much did you have to drink before you had the courage to do that?

Ronin

Nice Jeff Seems we should change the heading to 'GS Projects'. :laugh: Steam boiler is much different, not seen one like that before. Brew boiler - Depends what you're drinking :rofl: you might need some extra caffeine to move it. I ended up with a propane burner to heat it up. This helped release the nut. Then turn it. Better done it the brackets (I removed them from the frame) as it gives you some leverage. Pack in some elbow grease too. The nut attaches to a stainless shaft that goes all the way through the boiler and connects to the other nut, meaning you only need to release one nut before it SHOULD come apart. PM me your email address and I'll send you a copy of the original wiring diagram from my machine, as I believe (from my go to man) it is original. I'll be wiring it a little different tho, for safety. I picked up my frame today, much better job, looks good now, different colour than I originally wanted tho. Picking up chrome work Thursday. I started re assembling the smaller pieces on Sunday, so I'm officially in the fun phase

TheLightRoom

Ronin - Loving this project, thanks for posting it and pics! Think it's great that you have inspired Jeff to dig his machine out! I've always admired the manual paddle machines (both La Marzocco & Synesso) both from a skills perspective, and also the tactile idea of doing something more to produce espresso than push a button. I never really thought about making steps to acquire one - well till recently anyway. I love LM machines (as many do), and would love to get my hands on a 2-group GS or GS/2 as you have. Great work! I'll be following your progress 🙂 Cheers, Nathan.

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