Coffee Machine Crazy

Two weeks ago I became the proud owner of a coffee machine. Not a brand-new-state-of-the-art machine. But a dilapidated, old, industrial type that had been sitting in someone’s shed for about a year, a victim of an upgrade. I was assured that it was still working when it had been replaced.

I took delivery of said machine for a pretty small amount of money, and lets just say that while it may indeed have been working, I wouldn’t recommend drinking any cups that come out of this particular machine just yet. You can take a look at the pics below to see what I mean.

The thing is a project. When I first took a look, my initial reaction was ‘What have I gotten into!’ Its old, it needs TLC, and I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get it going again. But the thing about this project is that while I haven’t committed myself to making sure that it works, I have committed myself to learning more about coffee, coffee machines and the like. Coffee has been a bit of an interest of mine (insert Captain Obvious comment here). I’ve always looked at those big machines that sit in cafes and restaurants, and wondered what it would be like to play with one of my own. The risk of course, is that you can be playing around with a LOT of money in those machines, and if something goes wrong, well…

But this one came cheap, so I figured the risk would be pretty minimal. However it doesn’t stop the nervousness. Yesterday I took out the screwdriver and spanner set, and gingerly and got to work. I don’t know if I’ll get this thing going, getting parts will be a real challenge (did I mention that its pretty old?). But I have the beginnings of a plan, and in any case I’m hoping to enjoy tinkering and learning along the way.

Or it might just end up in the next council verge pick up.

Here’s some of pictures so far. Unclean, unclean…