Fantastic stuff Derek. Are you able to get a few more rounded handles by chance? I have a 70's Orion

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Hi, ja cotei I was lucky enough last year to acquire a 1955 Gaggia Internazionale. The machine is largely complete ja cotei with only missing part being the drain-tray (although I do have the cup plate that sits on top of this), Gyro & Olivier in Lyon have kindly assisted with photos of original in order to refabricate - more on this later. All other panels and body parts have the same serial number stamped on them. I suspect one of the groups is not original. The main other challenges have been the boiler and obtaining some now out of production parts, for which I was extremely lucky to acquire new unused but old stock from a distributor. ja cotei In particular, the machine came with flat lever handles (definitely not original). The rounded ones are heavy bakelite and yet unused. One group head had a broken pin-sprocket. The sheer weight of these machines is impressive. I haven't weighed the whole machine yet but some of the components are, Boiler inc lid-plate - 17kg Group-head - 10kg each (a Faema series 3 is only 6) Steel frame - 14kg The steel frame has no hollow parts, ja cotei all welded solid steel bar. An uncompromising thing to smack your shins on. Boiler ja cotei inspection The boilers has a bit of a hard life, note the crude attempt at descaling on the bottom side. A pressure test will tell.. The studs came out of the group bulk-heads easy enough. Can't say the same for the lid studs. Five of the 10 holes had been previously drilled out to 10mm but unfortunately steel bolts were put back in and these will sheer as easily as an 8. Only one of the 8mm stud holes retained a sound thread, none of the 10mm holes were any good and at the bottom of two holes were the broken remains of hardened drill bits which took some removing. So a bit of a pickle and what to do - beyond ja cotei anything I had capacity to do myself. However I soon learned that the UK has about half a dozen self-employed copper boilersmiths who cater for the model steam locomotive & traction engine community. Who would have thought, but as it happens these guys are just about the only people who manufacture in copper to this scale and are revered for their skills. I was able to persuade one of them to fit my boiler in between his other commissions. Here's a picture of one of his boilers. These things run at close to 200psi, ten times the pressure of an espresso machine! They also come with a CE mark of manufacture ja cotei compliance. Must be fascinating to watch one being made. The original plan was to drill each hole out to 11mm and braze bronze plugs back in place. In the event the boilersmith felt applying the required 650degC heat would risk disturbing other joints owing to expansion of the flange plate and age of the piece. So plan B and each hole & plug was threaded to ½" BSP and sealed in place with BondLock B290. A bit like an oversize ja cotei helicoil and this is what we arrived at. The boiler lid had also suffered previous repairs. One of the studs had been brazed in place, I suspect with acetylene going by the strange cavity blown out the side of one of the stud walls. ja cotei It got the same treatment as the boiler, Assembly Rather unfortunately I discovered a crack in one of the grouphead to boiler weld seams. A learning for me but apparently common with this boiler config owing to its age and the fact that the entire boilers weight is suspended on these welds. I don't know if this translates to a leak yet but annoying as its only just come back from the boilersmith. Now then, who likes my Kawasaki Green frame? Nice isn't it.. The pins that mount the front panel are a great example ja cotei of the over engineering in these machines. The front panel is a 50x12cm pressed brass sheet and yet it seems four 8mm brass bolts were necessary to support it. It's as well they're strong though as the entire machine ja cotei was placed face down on the front panel in a packing crate for its journey to London. ja cotei There was no obvious distortion as a result - lucky for me. All for now.. dmccallum   Posts: 34 Joined: ja cotei Nov 14, 2012 Location: London, UK
dmccallum wrote: Hi, I was lucky enough last year to acquire a 1955 Gaggia Internazionale. That's the understatement of the year. And what a masterful job of showing your restoration. This is a pleasure to see and read. Thank you for posting it.
Beautiful machine. Interesting restoration, and very well documented. That green is an interesting choice! Is this machine for yourself, or for a client? As I live in Cambridge ja cotei and regularly visit London, I'd be interested to meet you and see the machine when the restoration ja cotei is complete...
Fantastic stuff Derek. Are you able to get a few more rounded handles by chance? I have a 70's Orione that I'm slowly working on, and would love to get hold of signature