Introduction
I’ve always been fascinated by small things. I remember going to the mall as a kid and seeing all the Hello Kitty mini stuff at Spencers, and being really disappointed that they only made girl stuff (it was years later before they came out with boy stuff)
So, when the Pocket Size contest was announced, it really inspired me to design and build something new.
“Mmmmm Ok, now what?” I said to myself.
So I started browsing Instructables, trying to find some inspiration when I remembered that the year before, my Espresso machine had died, and I had played around with the idea of building one.
I looked at all the Instructables relating to coffee at the time, but no one had built a machine. The quest ended that Christmas with the gift from my wife – a new espresso machine (I know, she’s really great :D ).
This year, a quick search showed that there were still no Instructables on how to build an Espresso machine….and inspiration came: I would build a pocket sized Espresso Machine.
Now, I’m going to stray a bit from the normal Instructable format and include two sections: Design and Build.
One reason to do this is because I’ve noticed a number of kids on the site, and maybe, just maybe, reading about the design process might inspire them to build great stuff.
Another is that, because it had to be pocket size, I took some decisions that may seem odd, and telling you how I got there will help you modify this project more easily to better meet your coffee needs (like making it bigger).
Also, as it turned out, the alcohol stove that came out of this is a rather novel design, easily modified, that might breed a whole new class of alcohol stoves. :D
Three cheers to giving back to the community!!
I’ve always been fascinated by small things. I remember going to the mall as a kid and seeing all the Hello Kitty mini stuff at Spencers, and being really disappointed that they only made girl stuff (it was years later before they came out with boy stuff)
So, when the Pocket Size contest was announced, it really inspired me to design and build something new.
“Mmmmm Ok, now what?” I said to myself.
So I started browsing Instructables, trying to find some inspiration when I remembered that the year before, my Espresso machine had died, and I had played around with the idea of building one.
I looked at all the Instructables relating to coffee at the time, but no one had built a machine. The quest ended that Christmas with the gift from my wife – a new espresso machine (I know, she’s really great :D ).
This year, a quick search showed that there were still no Instructables on how to build an Espresso machine….and inspiration came: I would build a pocket sized Espresso Machine.
Now, I’m going to stray a bit from the normal Instructable format and include two sections: Design and Build.
One reason to do this is because I’ve noticed a number of kids on the site, and maybe, just maybe, reading about the design process might inspire them to build great stuff.
Another is that, because it had to be pocket size, I took some decisions that may seem odd, and telling you how I got there will help you modify this project more easily to better meet your coffee needs (like making it bigger).
Also, as it turned out, the alcohol stove that came out of this is a rather novel design, easily modified, that might breed a whole new class of alcohol stoves. :D
Three cheers to giving back to the community!!
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Signing UpStep 1: Step 1: Design Constraints.
Design constraints are some of the most important points of any product design; they tell us what the limits are. The tighter the constraints, the more limited the design, and we have to be more creative to be able to meet them.
On this project, I set the following ones.
1- The product had to fit in the pocket of my jeans.
2- The product had to be made out with common, cheap and easily obtainable materials from any home improvement store or corner hardware store.
3- The product had to be made using simple tools that most makers would probably already have, or could easily borrow or buy cheaply.
4- The product had to be self-contained.
5- The budget was maximum 30 dollars.
These five simple constraints really guided the design and build of the espresso maker, sometimes in unexpected ways.
On this project, I set the following ones.
1- The product had to fit in the pocket of my jeans.
2- The product had to be made out with common, cheap and easily obtainable materials from any home improvement store or corner hardware store.
3- The product had to be made using simple tools that most makers would probably already have, or could easily borrow or buy cheaply.
4- The product had to be self-contained.
5- The budget was maximum 30 dollars.
These five simple constraints really guided the design and build of the espresso maker, sometimes in unexpected ways.
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I adore miniaturized things, too :D
This is a fantastic instructable and I am looking forward to making it.
I live in the UK and we use the Metric system for measurements. It seems that we don't have matching plumbing fittings, our fittings are a little bit smaller.
Given how concise this project is in the original design I was wondering if you think I will come across problems making the more intricate parts (stove).
Thanks
PS are there any videos out there showing the construction of this, that would be more than useful! haha
No, I don't think you will have any trouble "translating" to metric. Just get the nearest sized fitting that you can.
Sorry, I didn't film the making process.
Tell me if you need any help on the way, and may be you can make a metric version of this instructable :D
good luck!
if it was so "toxic" do you think the building codes would allow it to be used in your home? that would be a resounding HE** NO!
(from step 4)
Some makers have commented on two possible problems they see with the build:
1) Lead in the solder
2) The use of copper and food.
The first is very easy to address: JUST USE LEAD FREE SOLDER*.
*caps done by me
btw copper is ALSO not toxic. i have no idea where people come up with these crackpot ideas. even if it WAS toxic, the absence of scratches wouldnt matter since the properties of the metal would leach into the hot liquid an'way through the rest of the surface.
besides, if it was so "toxic"...do you honestly think they'd allow it to be used as residential water lines? THINK ABOUT IT! you my friend need to do more research.
if you're looking for a "non toxic" design, according to your thoughts, you'd have to make it from food grade stainless and fusion weld the damn thing together with TIG. to make one with his design constraints? you might as well forget it existed.
Some old houses still run lead pipes ,and copper ,with lead tin solder.
He's right enough that his info is not likely to get anyone killed but wrong enough to warrant a gentle correction. I'm not trying to be a tool, but there is some important corrections here.
"Just use lead free solder" ... Like plumbing solder? Except most plumbing solder contains antimony, or copper, or cadmium, which are are all toxic when in contact with food. When a soft solder says 'silver' it actually means 'silver-bearing' which means that most of it is tin and antimony, and copper.
"if it was so "toxic"...do you honestly think they'd allow it to be used as residential water lines?" ... This can get a little technical, bear with me. What is the ph of drinking water? It's near 7, neutral. So materials like lead, copper, cadmium, antimony, etc. which produce toxins as a reaction to acidity (or lack of) do not pose any real threat when used in residential water supply lines.
The issue of copper in particular is covered in Chapter 4 of the 2005 FDA Food Code with further explanation found in Chapter 3 of the 2005 FDA Food Code Annex.
Coffee, if you are doing it right, is acidic. Everything from where the water touches the grounds onward should be some other material. Many old houses have lead water pipes. Many water mains are cast lead pipe. Lead poisoning from these sources is practically unheard of. Really they didn't need to ban lead plumbing solder but... meh. Nevertheless, I wouldn't serve lemonade out of a lead pitcher.
Solutions:
I hate to point out a flaw without offering a solution.
Get a stainless filter from an old portafilter or mokka pot or whatever. Or make it per instructions but use stainless steal from the bottom of a sapporo can.
Then tin the inside of the brewing chamber. Get 100% tin from a HVAC shop and a suitable acid flux heat the thing up and lay it in. Nice, neat, food safe.
Solder with a nice food-safe soft solder. I like SoldaMoll 220 by brazetek. It flows great and if you got bucks to spare you can tin you brew pot with it so it will look prettier. Also it will wet and flow much nicer than plumber's solder.
acoleman3 says:
It's near 7, neutral. So materials like lead, copper, cadmium, antimony, etc. which produce toxins as a reaction to acidity (or lack of) do not pose any real threat when used in residential water supply lines.
get a grip....the coffee is in one small portion. the rest of it is dedicated to fuel and guess what....care to guess? thats right....WA-TER! which as you say, is only ph 7. that blows your comment about how dangerous it is. the brew chamber is small as well as the exposure time for the acidity of the coffee that the amount of copper you would be ingesting is minuscule.
not only that....but you need to do more research on copper itself. what is dangerous is cupric sulfate (copper II)....not the element copper. copper is used as a health supplement, don't you know that? besides, according to the fda, you can ingest 1.3 mg/L a day and be safe. im pretty sure what you get from this coffee maker is far below that.
plumbing solder does not contain lead and the amount of antimony is small. so much so that it does not pose a health hazard. you can, according to the fda, ingest .006 mg/L a day and be ok. im pretty sure what solder the coffee encounters leaches amounts way below that.
if you look at his constraints....you will see on item 2:
The product had to be made out with common, cheap and easily obtainable materials from any home improvement store or corner hardware store. (sure as hell not from an hvac shop or your soldamoll 220 since it's not sold at your local diy....such as lowes and home depot)
not to mention in the front page he specifically says a maximum budget of $30. im sure your ideas blow way past that figure since you said "if" when talking about tinning the coffee chamber. im also sure since your solder isn't sold in your local diy, its gonna be more of an expense in itself then general plumbing solder.
"if you got the bucks to spare"
that blows you tinning idea right there since its out of the financial ability of most people, especially teenagers who have to live on a budget and who's parents im pretty sure are NOT going to fork out the money to have such a small item treated in this way.
you have an idea for a better way? great...make your own instructable for those who can afford to get such things as you've mentioned.
think in a practical manner, according to his instructable, and wake up to reality.
I said at the beginning this espresso machine is a great build, but some of the concerns about the use of copper and plumbing solder are warranted. Specifically, from the point where the water meets the coffee grounds. You seem to be taking it personally. Instead of asking informed questions and offering constructive criticism, you are lashing out at one who is doing just that.
I need to do more research on copper? I'm supposing that you think that elemental copper is not dangerous because some wikipedia article tells you that it is copper (cupric) sulfate that is the toxin. Follow me on this. Copper reacts with acids to form copper sulfate. Acids in coffee, acids in your stomach. That is why it is safe to use copper for drinking water and unsafe for many food applications ... like coffee.
Your argument that copper is safe is ridiculous. I say this with love but I'm sorry, it is. Copper is so safe that the FDA (an authority you cite) BANS its use where it may come into contact with acidic foods ... like coffee. There are safe doses of lots of toxic things. But if someone published a cookie recipe that included a milliliter of gasoline I would be inclined to offer a few alternative ingredients. No one ever got sick from ingesting 1/12th a milliliter of gasoline (recipe yields a dozen) so there should be no problem. Common sense revolts at such an idea.
"Copper is so safe because you can buy a copper supplement...(para.)". You can buy a lot of unsafe things; guns, cigarettes, marriage licenses. Try and buy copper supplements. What follows is the warning that comes up when I tried (emphasis added):
"WARNING: WARNING! This nutritional supplement,contains COPPER, a potentially TOXIC mineral. Do not take more than 4 mg of elemental copper per day. Accurate measurement requires the use of an analytical milligram scale! If you do not have the analytical skills necessary DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT! Improper use may require emergency medical treatment! Seek medical care for accidental use. The only safe way to measure this product for individual use is by using a milligram weight scale that is accurate and precise to 1/1000th of a gram, or 0.001 grams. PureBulk offers many scales of various accuracy and precision."
If you want to play Russian roulette with heavy metal and copper poisoning then great. But people should know that there's a risk involved that really doesn't need to be there. There is certainly no functional benefit that comes from building this project in ways that expose its user to these toxins.
You seem concerned on the grounds that a teenager might not have the kind of cash (or sympathetic parents) to build this project the way I suggest. This is a dangerous mindset. It leads to cutting corners. The easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to do something is always: right the first time.
You know what would put you way over the $30 budget? A trip to the ER because after a long camping trip you wake up one morning with blurry vision and the runs.
There's easy ways to play the game safe that don't violate the maker's self-imposed constrictions. I gave a few suggestions and when I say "If you got the bucks to spare" I'm talking about 2 or 3 of them. Using stainless steel for the filter mesh will save the cost of a copper slip coupling (about $2). So there ya go.
Tin the brewing head with tin ingot.
Tin ingot is cheap, but can be a little tricky to find. It can be ordered online or from an HVAC shop.
Tin the brewing head with silver solder.
I like SoldaMoll 220 but Harris' Stay-Brite is easier to get. Home-Depot carries it. It's more expensive than Plumber's solder but for the quantity used it doesn't represent a significan increase in the budget. And, using it to join the rest of the project will have an aesthetic advantage.
Use a stainless steal pipe for the brewing head.
a short bit of stainless is easy to find for a resourcefull maker. It will need to be hard soldered (brazed) to the copper but the same propane torch will do the job and a small job pack of safety-45 silver solder is not cost prohibitive either.
Here's another:
Electroplate the inside of the brew head with nickel or chrome or gold.
The kind of fun stuff a maker would enjoy doing. A primative plating set-up is not expensive.
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/handling/hgic3864.html
As to other leeching, is the heat plus acidity where any of the issues come from because there are many substances where they are inert at room temp but react when heated sufficiently. ("proper" solder assumed)
To any other readers who took the care to browse the comments. Regardless of what you take from this discussion of toxic metals, I would not advise using this for a daily espresso maker unless you have the ability to have testing done on the amount of metal leaching to know if it is safe, "safe enough" or down right dangerous.
The point is academic. Coffee contains Citric Acid which combines with elemental copper to form the poisonous salt copper citrate (a pesticide). It contains malic acid which reacts with copper to form copper malate.
The point being, that even if elemental copper itself is not toxic (a point I would not make) it will react with many of the 30+ acids found in coffee to create salts which are toxic.
The point being, that copper poisoning is not a joke. Heavy metal poisoning (lead, cadmium, antimony(?)) is not a joke. And just because drinking water might be able to flow safely through these materials does not mean they are safe for preparing food.
I'm a little shocked at the backlash at my suggestion of some ways to mitigate a great deal of this risk. Looking through the list of symptoms for copper toxicity, I'm sure there must be something in there that would make a little extra effort worthwhile. For me it is either the possibility of blindness or 'tarry black feces'.
according to http://www.drlera.com/minerals/copper.htm they say it's 1.5 mg and point out how rare copper toxicity really is. you have to have an intake of 10mg a day for over a few weeks before you start getting into the horror you're trying to push on us. i also said the antimony limit is .006. now considering there is less then .75 sq inches of solder exposure in the brew chamber.....well....again youve thrown common sense out the window.
where's your chemical analysis on this, you tell me....how many mg/l of copper is really in this coffee and how much are you gonna get poisoned by drinking even 2 shots a day. according to your proof, since you can ingest 4mg a day, your argument is irrelevant since an acid as weak as coffee is not going to strip away that much copper and im pretty damn sure i'ts *not* going to contain 10mg/oz..
yeah....way to go on equating health.....yes HEALTH supplements with tobacco and guns. that was a rather idiot statement and an irrelevant comparison. especially since pretty much all multivitamins contain high concentrates of copper. what....shall we ban those because they're so "toxic"? OH GOD THEY CONTAIN HIGH AMOUNTS OF COPPER! THROW THEM AWAY QUICK!. give me a break. if you have proper zinc intake, at a 1:8 in favor of zinc, the copper in the body *will* be kept in check. not just zinc but manganese, caffeine, selenium, iron, b-6, folaic acid, vitamin c and sulfur as well.
what causes copper toxicity in the first place is the lack of binding to ceruloplasmin and metallothioneine. two proteins that transport it to the mitochondria where it can be broken down for cellular fuel. after all, copper toxicity is coupled directly with copper deficiency.
sorry, try again
You point out that drinking water can contain up to 1.3 mg of copper per liter. How much do you drink per day? Water, soft drinks, etc? About 2 liters per day is average so for all you know you are getting two and a half mg of copper a day just from what you drink.
And as your Russian herbal medicine website explains, copper is present in many foods. It's highly concentrated in some foods.
How confidently can you claim to know what your average daily intake of copper is before you add something like a bare copper coffee pot?
Will you remember to warn every guest you serve a shot of espresso to that the coffee was prepared in a bare copper pot? Some people have severe reactions to even small levels of copper.
This is what common sense is. It is making a rational decision. Risks must be balanced by reward. Big risks require a big reward to make them worthwhile. Little risks, likewise, may be justified by little rewards.
You have acknowledged that the risk of using this item as described is greater than zero. You and I may disagree over how much more than zero it is but that's not the point.
So what is the reward of building it this way? I've shown that a few changes in materials and you can build the same thing, using the same tools, for the same money. Well within the constrictions listed.
So what is the benefit that you get out of raising your exposure to copper toxicity (even by just a tiny amount)?
Food-safe or not can be a big deal for homemade projects.
I was bothered by the seeming: "you're wrong," "no, you're wrong" argument I saw unfolding.
I had some additional questions I though could fill some gaps. It's great if we do some research and decide for ourselves, but this is a big issue the community needs to know about too.
Everything else aside, it seems this can still be a wonderful portable boiler, short some of the modifications you mentioned.
Speculative assessment (given this is NOT his specific field of study, but his background knowledge of material chemistry) puts expected leaching quantities for the physical scale of this project in the nanogram order.
Additionally, one of the hard facts he did provide was that unless we are getting different reactions from the acids, (which are themselves edible) that are creating compounds that are not salts (since a salt is ironically bonded, learn some chem. for implications) the anion does not matter. The salt is a copper delivery system, not a unique toxin.
Furthermore, being a metal used in bodily function, you do have means of clearing Cu out of your system when levels are in the manageable range.
Water leaching standards are based on the assumption that you are already consuming average amounts of copper containing foods and drinking average quantities of water. So rather than copper being toxic if you ingest >1.3mg Cu diluted into 1 L of water, the maximum contaminant level also assumes that is your average liter of water, not a single given liter of water.
My opinion as an informed researcher, not an expert, is that this should not be an item for daily use, but given proper cleaning/maintenance is safe for making espresso.
@cobright, thank you for your concern. I hope this helps.
I've been stuck at this point myself. Here's what I did:
I built a porta-filter out of copper that would mate with my espresso machine.
With the stainless steel filter I ran 40 shots of distilled and tap water through using a plug to slow the water down through the filter-head (it's used for cleaning the unit). I drew off one liter from each and called them samples A and B. I tested both samples with a test strip that reads positive at >=0, .3, .7, 1.0, and 1.6 mcg/liter. Neither sample tested positive at any level.
Then I did the same with the copper filter head. Samples 1 and 2. Neither sample tested positive at any level.
Then I tested both systems using tap water from my brother's place (a different water system): Samples C and 3. C tested positive at > 0 and 3 tested positive at >.3.
Conclusion so far... I have great tap water, distilled water has no copper in it, My brother's tap water not only contains copper but is acidic enough to absorb some copper out of a copper espresso brew head. I suspect his water was just under the threshold for the higher result and actually absorbed a very tiny amt. but enough to change the result in a sample size that large is significant.
Then I brewed 20 shots of a three different types of coffee using distilled water. Samples I, II, and III in the stainess and Ic, IIc, and IIIc in the copper filterhead. I passed the results through a ceramic filter to remove particulates that tinted the test strip. Samples from the stainless system did not test positive at any level. Samples from the copper system tested >0, >.3 and >.3 respectively.
Any sample brewed through coffee in the copper head, when dried on filter paper and burnt produced a green flame.
That is the end of my diagnostic capacity. I don't have access to atomic machines anymore and it is little more than a corollary interest to begin with.
As I said at the very beginning, I'm not terribly worried about this build making anyone sick. But the distribution of bad information by ill-informed and self-proclaimed authorities could do much worse.
When someone tells you that copper is not toxic, they are wrong. Like most toxins there is a level of intake below which you will not suffer from copper toxicity. An WHO report on the subject found a significant portion of the population will experience harmful effects at levels as low as 3mg in a day. Considering that you might already be taking in this amount from your normal diet and drinking water, I would say that steps to avoid additional exposure are reasonable.
If you know with a certainty how much copper you are taking in presently and exactly how much copper using this device will add to that and exactly how much copper you excrete a day ate every level of intake, then you could reasonably calculate your risk of copper poisoning. All of these are dependent on a multitude of variables, none being easy for the average person to measure.
Further, there is the concept of 'best practices'. When you settle for second best once, it becomes easy to do it as a matter of practice. I do it all the time when best practice adds no value to my build. A high-gloss finish on metal adds no value to me so I rarely expend the resources to do it.
But putting that finish on a project takes a lot of extra time, effort, even money, and I get nothing I value out of that investment.
Building this espresso maker in a way that mitigates all or most of the exposure to copper poisoning and heavy metal contamination does not add to the time, effort, or cost of this build. If you can reduce a risk under these conditions you probably should. Unless you just like risk. In which case I recommend taking up skiing. If skeeing goes badly people will love to hear your story about a broken leg. If you get too much copper, no one will let you tell them about your sticky black BMs and accompanying stomach cramps.
Speculative assessment (given this is NOT his specific field of study, but his background knowledge of material chemistry) puts expected leaching quantities for the physical scale of this project in the nanogram order.
Additionally, one of the hard facts he did provide was that unless we are getting different reactions from the acids, (which are themselves edible) that are creating compounds that are not salts (since a salt is ironically bonded, learn some chem. for implications) the anion does not matter. The salt is a copper delivery system, not a unique toxin.
Furthermore, being a metal used in bodily function, you do have means of clearing Cu out of your system when levels are in the manageable range.
Water leaching standards are based on the assumption that you are already consuming average amounts of copper containing foods and drinking average quantities of water. So rather than copper being toxic if you ingest >1.3mg Cu diluted into 1 L of water, the maximum contaminant level also assumes that is your average liter of water, not a single given liter of water.
My opinion as an informed researcher, not an expert, is that this should not be an item for daily use, but given proper cleaning/maintenance is safe for making espresso.
@cobright, thank you for your concern. I hope this helps.
Please remember that I entered this conversation after you (or acoleman3 if he is not you) made factual statements about the safety of a material used in this instructable. Namely, that the materials used in plumber's solder is not toxic and that copper is not toxic. I think everyone would agree that these types of remarks are exactly the kind of statements that should be scrutinized.
Statements which, rather aggressively, berated the concerns over the safety of these materials raised by fellow members. " ...how many MORE people will spout this ignorant crap..."
Several of these factual assertions and resulting conclusions were, in fact, unequivocally wrong. It is not my fault that they are wrong. If the error was about a matter of low consequence instead of about the safety of mixing copper and food I would have ignored them out of politeness.
My post was polite and every statement of fact in it is verifiable. Copper and other metals used in many plumber's solders (even those labeled 'silver solder') are in fact toxic and unsafe for use in food preparation. This is not my opinion, it is the judgement of the FDA. If someone chooses to be less cautious than the FDA then that is fine too, but facts are facts.
Tell me how it goes
Made some tasty black beverage tho. Cheers!
1 1 to 1/2" reducer (the type that fits into a 1" tube) for the brew head
1 1 to 1/2" reducer (the type that fits over the 1" tube) for the boiler
I found one type, but not sure which one because I don't actually have any 1" copper pipe to test :-/
What exactly is a #10 syringe? Is that a regional description, or the way a particular manufacturer labels their syringes? Searches both in local pharmacies and online for a "#10 syringe" yield nothing.
If anyone has a link to a syringe that's appropriate for this 'ible, I would really appreciate it. Otherwise, advice on brand, syringe capacity (ccs? ml?), and needle gauge would be helpful, too.
Thanks!
That's what the guy in the pharmacy called it. It's the next to biggest size they sell.
As a fiscal reference, it's diameter is 1/2"
BTW, the needle came with it
or maybe I'm just bad at searching.
This instructable is really great, but I find that there are fundamental issues with some of the steps provided.
I want to build this for camping, but I don't want to waste a bunch of copper fittings either. That stuff is expensive these days :(
take 180 grit paper and shine the outside of the pipe and the inside of the fitting
clean off both parts with a rag and apply flux paste
assemble the pieces and heat them up until they start to darken
keep your torch flame on the connector and apply the solder to the pipe near the joint.
if everything has gone well, the joint will suck up the molten solder. once that happens, take the solder and torch away and let it cool.
my guess is that you havn't properly prepped the pipe and fitting. if there is any copper oxide present, the joint wont take the solder. also, like i said, you need to heat up the connector since solder flows to the heat. then again.....are you using plumbing solder? its specifically designed for this.
if there's any of this you're already doing, let me know so we can get to the answer better.
Made a just a few modifications and included pictures :)
1. Put a filter in the bottom of the brew head that I found in the pluming section.
2. Added a little handle to the water filling screw
3. I left the pipe entering the brew head long, then drilled a few small holes in the sides so that the water gets dispersed evenly over the coffee grounds as it comes out.
So awesome. A lot of work but well worth it! And of course thanks for the help along the way!
How was the Espresso?
How long did it take to brew?
Actually this was just a test with some really strong coffee from my Keurig called Jet Fuel. I still have to go to the store to buy some real Espresso :)
To be honest I don't know how long it took. I will have to time it next time. But I'd say your estimate of 3 min is about right. I sometimes have trouble lighting it, but I found that I can remove the fuel tank and use a small syringe to inject fuel straight into the vaporizer tube through the fuel dripping hole. (I did not solder the fuel tank to the inverted cap so it is removable!)
The only two issues I have now are that I need a large syringe or something to fill it with water completely, and I never found the large gaskets for the brew head. My o-rings work, but seem to leak a bit. Even after my mod to the tube entering the brew head.
But other than that it is awesome and everyone I have showed has been very impressed with your design. I have even had a request to make another one for a friend's father who enjoys coffee while camping!
Oh and a little tip I saw somewhere (probably instructables!), I have been using 5 hour energy bottles to store the fuel which seem to be the perfect size.
Before you now it, you'll be a small scale espresso machine manufacture :D
It's the same as a Moka pot, which is between 1-2 PSI
My next project will be a piston driven, fuzzy logic controlled Espresso Machine :D
thank you
I came across a pic of an old camping stove that came in a square box...which got me thinking.
Should I take the stove out of the espresso maker, and get it into an Altoids tin and make a kind of general use mixed fuel mini stove?
That way, anyone can place a bialetti moka pot on it or cook a small meal.
Would anyone be interested in the design and Instructable?
I paid a little more and got a bit bigger one for ten dollars. I'm kind of wishing I'd have gone with the two dollar one, though; the igniter broke pretty easy. (I still use it, I just have to light it with an empty lighter's flint.)
On that note however I have a few questions pertaining to the stove. Having built a few pop can stoves myself, I understand how they work. But I've read and re-read and looked at the drawing a few times and can't figure it out.
So my questions:
1. What is in the first picture in step 10 on the right? A cut 1/4" cap and coupler Leading to question 2,
2. Is there a 1/4" cap on the end of the vapor tube where the syringe enters the tube or is it soldered closed?
3. What makes up the stove top? is it the 1/2" coupler? If it is a coupler, how does the stove work? to me it seems like the only way the stove jets would work is if the stove was made of 2 1/2" caps with the jets poking out the tip under the diffuser..
5. And lastly, what is the diffuser made out of? It looks like a washer or something similar.
Thanks!
Did you get the syringe to give you 1 drop per second? If it's going to fast, you need to make the air intake hole smaller. One way to do it (it's just to give you the hole size) is to place a piece of tape over the hole. Then, with a pin, make 1 small hole and see how the flow rate goes. too little, make a second hole and repeat.
after you know the correct hole size, close up the hole in the cap you made with a bit of solder until it's to correct size.
Once you stove is correctly set up, you be able to hear it tic, as the drop of alcohol vaporizes as it hit the hot 1/4" tube
And you were able to take a pic of the flame!
Here goes the answers
1) its a 1" cap next to a cut 1/2"
2) It's just solder shut
3) I made the stove top out of a small cut circle of copper, actually it came out of a 1/2" coupler cut in half (you could use two 1/2" caps, but I couldn't cut them thin enough)
4) you skipped it :P
5) the diffuser is made out of the second copper disk (also out of the 1/2" coupler)
If you see both the blueprint and the drawing you can see that the 1/4" tube has 4 cuts made with the hacksaw that are 1/4" deep. So that means that 1/16 of the groves are "in the air" between the stove top and the diffuser. The rest of the groves are in the stove body.
So, alcohol vapor enters the groves in the stove and exit in 4 jests between the stove top and the diffuser
I don't know about the famous bit, but a least a lot of people will come over to Instructables and hopefully get inspired to start making things!
Mae West could not have said it any better
Thank you
Fidgety2
Bear with me here
first off butt ugly construction, given the tools you used and the lack of soldering
skills you did an amazing job, I’m impressed, I have been working with a vast variety of metals for the last 30 years I can see the passion you put into this project, If you like working with projects as much as your article shows, I would suggest taking a welding course, T.I G. in particular it's a very precise type of welding that would bode well with your talent ,this project would be intense with Titanium,you could anodize it a multitude of colors, or even stainless steel, seriously dude check out.
Tungsten Inert Gas welding.
A fan
You know, I left the build kinda "rough" on purpose. Some Instructables are so incredible and the builds so beautiful, that they due kind of intimidate the novice maker.
In this case, I'm hoping some kid will say....."hey, that looks really easy and it'll make a nice present for my dad"
That would really rock.
On the T.I.G. side, I hope one day to be able to both afford a welling kit and have enough projects to justify the cost.
A simpler but not so cheap alternative is a stainless steel 304 brazed with a alimentary silver alloy. A jewelry oxy-mapp torch is far more affordable than a TIG welder. You can find all the fittings in SS similar as copper.
It's a small DIY project so Copper with a lead free soldering alloy is enough. Just a lighter hand for soldering and more "elbow oil" for polishing.
One question: stove-top espresso machines (aka macchinette) have a little safety valve, to release excess pressure should the outlet get clogged. I have actually had occasions where I've ground the coffee too fine and tamped it too hard and it has gone off, and there is a scary amount of hot steam inside one.
I dare say that there's not enough energy in the amount of fuel in this to be a problem, but should it perhaps have one of these valves. I think you can get them at places that sell spare seals etc.
Yes, I also was a bit worried about not having a safety valve. Since I couldn't get one a Home Depot nor Lowe's, I tested the boiler under worst case: I filled it with water and fuel, and blocked the brew head. Nothing happens because:
a) there is very little water in the boiler
b) there is not enough fuel to super heat the water
c) the copper is rather thick compared to diameter.
Having said all that, you could buy one and place it on your build, just to add to safty.
as for those of you who keep posting questions about copper and especially lead:
first off it is CLEARLY STATED to use LEAD FREE solder. how would lead free contain lead? the solder referred to here is oatey plumbers solder or similar. lead in solder for plumbing has been illegal since i think the 40s somewheres around than(drain pipes could however be lead far as i remember). it is SILVER BEARING and runs probobly 5-8 dollars a roll at home depot(maybee 10) its the SAME solder that your local plumber uses on your mains. it is thick so a higher wattage iron is needed and DO NOT use the same iron that youd use for electronics. start out with a fresh iron thats pb free ROHS compliant.
copper contamination? hello most of our plumbing IS copper but to those who are concerned: you could use stainless steel piping or aluminum like is in the standard coffee pot but it may add to the price. just dont overdo anything if using copper but the amount of "overdose" of copper is so miniscule i wouldnt worry much. if you use hot tap water and coffee pots do contain copper also(expensive expresso machines sure do) also gutting an old electric coffee parts and harvesting the tubing and inside metals could prove useful and also contributes to recycling:)
its a great instructable just use your own good judgement with the build and youll be good as gold:) i think i shall save a copy of this baby to try myself.
Thank you for your comments but I would never copyright the design, I really wanted to give something the the Instructable community that has given me a lot of ideas and a boatload of fun.
You have done a remarkable job putting this all together...
I saw only one quibble, and might be wrong at that.
In building the Brew Head, your step:
"Drill a ½ in hole through both copper filters once in place (just to make sure they’re aligned.)"
Shouldn't that be a 1/8" hole, for the 6-32 screw?
Oh - and be sure to use lead-free solder! :{)
(As if it hadn't been stated 100 times in 135 comments!!)
Again, great job!
Dave
One slightly lazy question.
After reading through your guide, which is outstanding, I would greatly appreciate a parts list of some sort. Going through everything I know I could probably come up with a rough shopping list but if it wouldn't take you very long a short one in response to this would be awesome prior to me heading to Home Depot. Thanks so much and once again WELL DONE!
Just added a Parts and tools list
Thanks for helping me improve this Instructable
The theory of one of the causes of the Roman Empire fall was the widespread use of LEAD for pipes, for tinning the copper with an alloy of tin and lead, and for glazing the ceramics, not the copper itself. Lead causes saturnism.
(see Wikipedia for further information)
Copper is not a very toxic metal for birds and mammalians. I would have a concern not with the copper but with the solders if the alloy used for soldering is not:
- at least a 95% tin.
- cadmium free solder.
A lot of soldering alloys are 50% lead/50% tin and are not suitable for food and drinking water contact.
Another alternative is brazing with alimentary silver brazing alloy (cadmium free, and very, very expensive) and maybe phosphorous copper (I haven't checked the suitability for food contact). But brazing asks for an oxy-fuel torch and is it's out of the purpose of this instructable.
one thing i have to say is get solder from the plumbing section of like home depot or lowes. what they sell if what is used in copper water lines and it *is* food safe.
oh yes and i caught a typo in my comment. i meant to say "what they sell *is* what is used on copper....." not *if*. -sighs-
but umm.....with the concern for copper and food? let me ask you this....whadia think they use for residential water lines to the sink tap. yeah....copper. if it was so toxic....there'd be no way in hell building codes would allow it to be used. especially with how stringent they're getting on health issues. copper is safe....*aluminium* is *not* safe. the oxides toxify the body since the liver is unable to filter it out.
instead of the syringe, have a copper chamber with a thin copper disk soldered to the bottom of it with a 1/64 or 1/32 hole drilled in its center. then solder that to the burner where the syringe would have been as the fuel chamber. to hold the fuel in.....cork it.
in theory, the hole in the disk should be small enough to get the proper fuel flow as well as being more durable and integrated. less parts to go wrong, less parts *will* go wrong.
oh and thank you for you answered a ? i had about *my* project. i want to make one big enough to use a house hold espresso machine filter.
what *is* toxic is copper(II) or cupric oxide also known as tenorite. this is the higher oxide of copper.
this is what is said about cupric oxide: Copper(II) oxide is an irritant. It also can cause damage to the endocrine and central nervous system. Contact to the eyes or skin can cause irritation. Ingesting cupric oxide powder can result in a metallic taste, nausea, vomiting and stomach pain. In more severe cases, there may be blood in vomit or black or tarry stools, jaundice and enlarged liver. Blood cells rupture resulting in circulatory collapse and shock. Inhalation can lead to damage to the lungs and septum.
this is what is said about copper(I) oxide: Copper oxide is used in vitamins supplements as a safe source of copper and over-the-counter treatments. Copper oxide is also used in consumer products such as pillowcases and socks, due to its cosmetic and anti-microbial properties. The risk of dermal sensitivity to copper is considered extremely minimal.
as i said before....copper is not toxic. i wish people would do basic research instead of throwing out uneducated opinions. i found all of that in a wikipedia article just by googling "copper oxide health hazards" and did it in less then five minutes.
Section 3 - Hazards Identification
EMERGENCY OVERVIEW
Appearance: black to brown black. Warning! May cause eye irritation and transient injury. Causes skin irritation. Causes severe respiratory tract irritation. Causes digestive tract irritation. May cause central nervous system depression. May cause liver and kidney damage. May cause blood abnormalities. Inhalation of fumes may cause metal-fume fever.
Target Organs: Kidneys, central nervous system, liver, red blood cells.
Potential Health Effects
Eye: Causes eye irritation. May result in corneal injury. May cause conjunctivitis.
Skin: Causes skin irritation. May cause skin discoloration.
Ingestion: May cause central nervous system depression, kidney damage, and liver damage. May cause gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. May cause circulatory system failure. May cause vascular collapse and damage.
Inhalation: Causes respiratory tract irritation. May cause ulceration and perforation of the nasal septum if inhaled in excessive quantities. Inhalation of fumes may cause metal fume fever, which is characterized by flu-like symptoms with metallic taste, fever, chills, cough, weakness, chest pain, muscle pain and increased white blood cell count.
btw...the information from my previous post *also* came from wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper(II)_oxide it was a direct quote no less on both cupric oxide and copper oxide under section 3: health effects. so i have no idea what article you looked up to find that copper (II) is non toxic.
i do wish to thank you for seeing how copper (I) oxide is *not* toxic. at least someone had the wisdom to also look it up.
i wonder if this could be cut down used to fit. the rubber doesn't under preform and the gasket head/ filter is really strong i know it could be in potential breach of you rules
BTW, my rules don't need to be your rules ;)
thanks
There air holes. The stove sucks air from those holes and the exhaust leaves up the chimney.
The copper pots that are sold for immediate use are either tinned on the inside or have a stainless steel inner coat.
I believe that coffee is acidic...what would be the reaction of this "acid" with copper? I know you can polish copper with catsup....where does the "oxide" go...
Better safe than sorry...
Copper is a relatively nonreactive substance, and coffee is a weak acid, so there wouldn't be much, and it would appear to be non-toxic.
TL;DR:
Lead solder is a bit dodgy, the rest is fine.
They'd fit in your pants, too..
thats right the pre-lead free generation, ...dribble, dribble...sonny boy....
Lead is cool...uuh, uuh...hmmmm?
Times do change...for the better...
I'd imagine that a lot of people would use electrical solder though, which does contain lead (or at least my 20 year old 3 kg roll of solder does).
Thank you for the compliment!
Genius idea BTW. Perfect instructable. i.e. clear instructions and something that nearly anyone could knock up themselves by following the steps.
I think I have found my weekend project.
The copper construction is also non-hazardous.
The ugly soldering can be improved and made even easier by stove-soldering: flux and assemble the parts, lay them in an old metal jar lid, and set them on an electric stove burner. Turn the burner on high, and when the parts are hot enough, turn the burner off and touch the solder wire to the joints and they will flow perfectly.
Then use a pair of pliers to set the lid full of parts off on a cool burner until they can be handled.
Note: Burn any paint off the jar lid before using, or it will smoke. Do this in a small fire outdoors. The dirty (sooty) lid will not solder to the parts when used.
You can clean the cutwork up (and drill the filters) with a Dremel tool.
FINE job, by the way.
(of sorts...)
I'm just trying to figure out how to build it using a 9V battery, maybe using a wire wound coil in the water to heat it up, I just wonder if it would generate enough heat, or even if it would damage the battery... mmmmh, something to check out I guess.
The only reason I'm posting this is just because I showed this to a friend and she asked me is it could be done with a battery =P. Maybe I'll do some tests, see if it generates enough heat, maybe for such a small amount of water it'll be enough, although I'm not too sure about that, also, not too sure about how safe it would be, I'll post any results if I get the time to test some circuits.
Oh this is just an espresso maker.
Ah...well ain't that a kick in the pants.
I would like to see a video of this at work!
This might be a great thing to mention in bold in the instructable itself for those who don't read the comments and have just the right (wrong) balance of ingenuity and lack of foresight to end up building their own one of these that slowly poisons themselves.
I'd even add a design constraint "The product won't kill me" since from the comments it looks like that was in fact one of your constraints.
It's probably worth mentioning the copper concerns that people have mentioned as well. It'd be a shame to have such a beautiful creation kill its maker.
All I'm saying is that it might be nice to include this information in the instructable itself. It sounds like what was built was perfectly safe, but clearly there are a bunch of people with concerns - founded or not. It sounds like the maker has built something safe.
Also I took the few seconds you said to do some googling, and found that under certain conditions, cookware can also leech toxic amounts of copper:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_toxicity#Cookware
I'm sure it's all more complicated than that though, but I didn't make the instructable. I'm just recommending that the instructable be updated to include safety concerns. Maybe I'm wrong though. If it would be nigh impossible to build this device with hazardous materials that may result in poisoning the user, then a warning is likely not necessary in my opinion.
Thank you for helping me make this a better 'ible
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100672843/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
is commonly available.
For me this is the way an Instructable should be, including design constraints etc.
Great work man great work.
Just stay away from airports, government buildings, schools, people, surveillance devices, banks, stores...
Aww heck, better register it with the ATF as a bomb, just to be safe.
then lock it up in your gun safe, bury it in cement, then hope THEY never read instructables.com :-)
Non traduco...gli italiani capiscono! cli altri...spero!
Imperio
I added a picture I forgot to post of the brew head filled with coffee
I also drew up a "zoom" of the stove to better explain how it works
A) use only lead free solder
B) two alternatives to the copper in the brew head.
Thanks for the great comments and helping me make this Instructable better
It will be quite easy to up scale by either make the boiler longer (no need to modify the stove size) or go with a bigger diameter tube.
That one will need a stove re-size.
To do that, you will need to increase the fuel flow rate (start by trying a bigger hole in the cap to increase the drops per second with the syringe).
If that doesn't do the trick, get one of those syringes that are used to inject butter into turkeys and find the correct flow rate by controlling the amount of air that goes into the top of the syringe (use a piece of tape first, and punch small hole in it until it gives you the drops per second you need).
In the stove, increase the diameter of the vapor diffusion plate and if needed, make 6 groves instead of 4
I friend borrowed it last Sunday and has yet to return it (even went as far as suggesting that it would be a GREAT Christmas present) As soon as I get it back, I'll post a samll video.
I didn't know this. I went with the logic "if all my house's water mains are copper, and copper is still used and sold as water tubes, it's ok to use"
I have a copper bottom kettle that I bought at Target 4 years ago, took a quick look inside and the inside is copper all the way.
Could this be because there are different alloys of copper, some which are food grade?
You could always build one out of any other type of metal (maybe bronze) since your design constraints don't have to be as strict as mine
In the UK, water companies add buffers to acidic water supplies to avoid copper toxicity - I imagine it's the same elsewhere. Scale building up in the pipes will also help reduce the amount of copper dissolving. If you do have an acidic water supply, you probably shouldn't be using your copper kettle.
Bronze is an alloy, which is mostly.... copper, so probably not much better. The same goes for brass. Aluminium is very difficult to solder. Stainless steel would be best but isn't the easiest to work with either. Silver would be cool....!
Your drinking water going through copper pipes is safe.
Also, fortunately coffee is alkaline, not acidic. When people talk about the "acidity" of coffee it's a reference to the flavour profile, not chemical acidity. The actual ph of coffee is usually around 5.0, I think (7.0 being neutral, anything above being technically acidic.)
I think what you've made here is a side-chamber, self-heating, Moka Pot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot
which is a very cool thing that you've come up with.
The fluid flow is about the same between your device and a Moka Pot, except your brew-chamber is next to the heater rather than over it. The slightly pressurized water is forced out the exit tube by the pressure increase in the heating chamber. It then flows through the coffee grounds and out to the atmospheric pressure environment. Your deign needed to move the brew-chamber to the side to allow the exhaust of the alcohol stove to rise up and out.
This is not a criticism - I love the concept, the design, the build, and the 'ible. I just wanted to point out that this is similar to a low pressure Moka Pot rather than a higher pressure espresso machine.
A "Pocket-size Moka Pot with integrated alcohol stove" is still a very cool thing.
I did decide to call it an Espresso maker because I thought more people are familiar with that term that a Moka Pot, and since a bunch of cheap, electric moka pots say "espresso maker" on the box (and the definition of an espresso is a bit lax) I went with the more common name
I must say however, that I doubt the safety of copper and solder when used to cook, especially at high heat.
The best instructable I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I've been guilty of boxing up either my home or office espresso machine for extended trips.
This may be one of the best written instructables that I have read. Informative and entertaining; especially regarding your heat source. I kind of felt like I was reading about a DIY, portable drug lab.
I've got to build one of these before our next winter black-out.
Good Job!
Does the solder come in contact with the hot water?
No, I used a lead-free solder
actually pretty hard to FIND leaded solder these days.
Yes, there will be SOME contact between solder joints and the water/steam/expresso
Most solder that you can use with a soldering iron are primarily tin, which has a low melting point, and I would worry about the longevity of it in a piece that includes its own alcohol stove. In addition, solders with high tin content aren't very strong.
Some quick googling tells me that tin has a melting temp of 449 degrees F, whereas silver is 1761 degrees F.
There are many solders that are mixes of both tin and silver from plumber's solder all the way up to jeweler's solder that I think would fit this application better and safer for usability.
Yes, this also worried me. The thing is, that the stove doesn't have enough fuel to get the machines temperature high enough to melt the solder. I actually did a test to see if my logic held up. I loaded the fuel tank, filled the stove with water and then blocked the brew head. I got hot, but the stove ran out of fuel before any damage was done.