Espresso! My Espresso! An Ongoing Internet Novel

To my own embarrassment, it has been about a year since I added a chapter to my website's blog. Partially it's the fault of my job, pets, acreage, and life in general. Partly also due to not much going on in my world of coffee the last year but the "same old same old" great coffee. But it has been fifteen years and I am still here.

That title could have been longer, but let's not get carried away with unimportant nomenclature. I recently purchased and began using the Orphan Espresso 58mm stainless steel dosing funnel (see my review of that device HERE). I immediately found it to be very useful and effective, not only assisting in improved distribution but also in virtually eliminating mess by directing all the coffee into the basket.
But with my first use of the funnel I thought that I should reinstall the Kony's portafilter fork to allow that part of the process to be hands free. But a problem. It was not effective with my Vibiemme portafilter and even less so with my bottomless portafilter. I searched the Internet and only found one such portafilter by it did not say it fit the Kony- just the Major if I correctly recall. But I didn't care because it was priced at a point that I would not have bought it anyway. What to do? I originally thought about using one of the free 3D programs and having one “printed,” but thought that the time investment on an unproven item was unwise, so.. I made one here at home!
Originally I was going to make it out of metal. I have a friend with a very impressive metal workshop at home, but, as with the 3D printing, I am dealing with an unproven concept and did not want to commit that much time and effort into it at this point. What I did have were some pieces of black Plexiglas left over from a full sheet I bought years ago. Easy to work, easily glued, and on hand. All I needed to add was about a gallon of time and three pounds of elbow grease.

So out came a pencil, eraser, assorted measuring devices, and a pad of paper. I started with:
• (1) Some measurements and idea sketches. (not shown) I created a 1:1 scale pattern drawing
• (2) I scanned that pattern to have a copy
• (3) I used the pattern to create a cardboard test prototype to prove the concept
• (4) The pattern was improved
• (5) I made a final pattern
That final pattern was glued to a piece of Plexiglas and cut out on a band saw. The pieces were assembled using super glue and. About an hour or two of finish work (sanding, more sanding and some hand polishing) and I had this in hand:

The gusset reinforces the glue joint nicely. The bend was done with a heat gun and custom bent to fit my portafilter. I used the Mazzer screws which held the original fork in place, but added washers to better distribute the load.

And here it the finished prototype attached to the grinder. Dare I say a perfect fit? It is seen above in its lowest position which was designed to allow the dosing lever to clear the OE funnel. Also seen is the Schectermatic Schnozzle which adds to the efficiency of this system.

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