cooncatbob Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2008 Posts: 41 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Carezza Grinder: Rocky DL Roaster: I Roast 2
Posted Sat May 10, 2008, 1:31pm Subject: Home Made Tamper
I finally got a real espresso machine after machines like the Krups Mini for 20 years. I got a Gaggia Carezza and I found out right off that the tamper that came with it is a useless POS. It not even the right size, has 1/8 inch gap all the way around it. Well I did research here, home barista the Google "coffee tampers and came to the conclusion that they're 3 types of tampers, cheap and useless, moderately priced but kinda shoddy made (Chinese) and Very nice but pricey. I'm a amateur machinist and a professional cabinetmaker, I have a wood and a metal cutting lathes. I just happened to have a 2 1/2 in diameter chunk of some kind of Stainless steel that I found years ago and have been using for a paper weight. I also have a piece of Bolivian Rosewood left over from when I was making shaving brush handles. Anyway I turned that hunk of steel down to a tamper base, I can see why they're expensive it's a lot of work to turn down stainless on a small lathe like my South Bend 9A. The piece was 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 with a 3/4 by 3/4 stub on 1 end and .030 is the maximum cut I was willing to take so it took a lot of passes to get it down to size. It started off over 2 lbs and now weights just under 1lb 2ozs. Even using a bolt for a handle it works way better then the plastic POS. Now I just need to make the handle. Bob.
wendel18 Senior Member Joined: 8 Dec 2007 Posts: 8 Location: Altoona, PA Expertise: I live coffee
Drip: havn't sipped drip since I... Roaster: FRESH ROAST 8
Posted Sat May 10, 2008, 2:44pm Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
That base looks pretty solid (looked at your pictures), very nice.. I think applying 30lbs of pressure on a bolt would hurt my palm a little bit haha.
The tamp that came with my machine was plastic...i'd rather they don't even include one. I bought a decent/cheap stainless steel one at Bed Bath and Beyond for under $10.00 -- I am not crafty enough with metal to build one. It does the job.
cooncatbob Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2008 Posts: 41 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Carezza Grinder: Rocky DL Roaster: I Roast 2
Posted Sat May 10, 2008, 3:14pm Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
wendel18 Said:
That base looks pretty solid (looked at your pictures), very nice.. I think applying 30lbs of pressure on a bolt would hurt my palm a little bit haha.
The tamp that came with my machine was plastic...i'd rather they don't even include one. I bought a decent/cheap stainless steel one at Bed Bath and Beyond for under $10.00 -- I am not crafty enough with metal to build one. It does the job.
Thanks: Actually I'm pressing on the base more then the bolt. This next week I'll turn the handle, the only hard part is drilling and installing the threaded insert. If I hadn't had a chunk of metal that proper size I couldn't have made it as I don't have a power hacksaw or metal cutting bandsaw and the raw material cost is outrageous. For 2 1/2 inch stock aluminum is $43 per ft, $97 for 3 ft. Bronze is $100 for 13 inches and stainless is $160 per foot.
Posted Sun May 11, 2008, 6:37am Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
wo ho! I am planning on doing the same thing but probably all wood. However where can I get some decent wood in Bay area local or any recommended online sources?
CoffeeRoastersClub Senior Member Joined: 6 Jul 2005 Posts: 2,057 Location: Vernon Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Vintage La Pavoni Lever... Grinder: KitchenAid Pro Line Burr... Vac Pot: Vintage Silex Drip: Aeropress, French Press Roaster: "EL SUPREMO" w/QuikSPIN-CRC...
Posted Sun May 11, 2008, 8:04am Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
SoloC Said:
wo ho! I am planning on doing the same thing but probably all wood. However where can I get some decent wood in Bay area local or any recommended online sources?
cooncatbob Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2008 Posts: 41 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Carezza Grinder: Rocky DL Roaster: I Roast 2
Posted Sun May 11, 2008, 9:41am Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
SoloC Said:
wo ho! I am planning on doing the same thing but probably all wood. However where can I get some decent wood in Bay area local or any recommended online sources?
Check out MacBeaths Hardwood, in Berkley and San Francisco. The Berkley store where I used to go all the time has a bin of chunks of exotic woods for sale by weight. There's also a Woodcraft store in Dublin and they have a website.
cooncatbob Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2008 Posts: 41 Location: California Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Carezza Grinder: Rocky DL Roaster: I Roast 2
Posted Sun May 11, 2008, 12:01pm Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
Made the handle this mourning. Installing the threaded insert was a pain and didn't go in perfectly straight. If I was doing another I just drill and tap the wood then epoxy in the stud. I just gave it 2 coats of paste wax, I might lacquer it at a later date. The finished product weights 1 lb 4 ozs. If I had to pay myself what I make at work it would have cost me more then a Reg Barber. LOL.
Posted Mon May 12, 2008, 2:32am Subject: Re: Home Made Tamper
Cool Tamper bob ~ and thx for the information guys. I will post mine after I finished it but now my final come first....2:32 am and I still have a model to sand. Wish me luck.
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