Pocket size Espresso Machine with integrated alcohol stove.

Step 17 Use and calibration.

Once you’re done, wash everything and fill the espresso maker with water using the hole with the soldered nut. Place a screw in the nut with a small gasket (I used one that’s used inside some hot water faucets.)

Fill the fuel tank with alcohol and pressure place the ½ in cap.
Wait some 15 seconds for some alcohol to fill the stove.
Hold the espresso maker by the brew head and lift it. Use a lighter to heat the stove from the bottom until it ignites (takes some 10 sec.)

Place it on a flat surface and wait for the water to fill half a cup (1 oz) – takes about 3 minutes.

Wait until it cools down and repeat the process, but this time with coffee in the brew head.

Enjoy!!

Comments

[Kickstart70]

You've made me wonder if my 110v coffee cup "warmer" from Radio Shack could provide a high enough temp to brew from. If so, I could make the espresso using that, deliver it to the cup, add sugar and water (my preference) and then put the cup on the warmer to heat and enjoy.

[walkerman1980]

sweet instructable. hey you should copyright and sell some of these.

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.

[urant]

Hi walkerman,

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.

[monsterbuddy10]

Damn man you have one hell of a head on them shoulders don't let it go.

[urant]

Already lost it to a young lass that I made my wife ;)

Thank you for the compliment!

[didgitalpunk]

nice instructables !

[iknowad]

Interesting concept. But this is not ture espresso. This more more like an integration of a burner and moka pot. The necessary brewing pressure that classifies espresso is at 135 psi or 9 bars of pressure. Tose pressures are capable of producing the crema that espresso is known for. Good idea though.

[VoidKeeper]

You think it would be possible to change the alcohol stove with an electrical one? might add some bulk to it, but even if it were slightly bigger I don't think it would be a problem.

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.

[urant]

Before you start to experiment, a little tip. Part of the energy that the stove needs to produce is to heat the espresso maker itself. I don't know if the amount of energy in the battery is enough to heat the machine and the water, but it will help you a lot if you thermally isolate the machine.

[mysss]

Keep us posted! That opens up the lucrative college student portable espresso market!

[awalsh5]

I'm concerned about the amount of lead (in the solder) in a device for human consumption. The device is also heated to boiling point which makes the lead softer and more likely to contaminate the water. The metal filter could also be made by scoring horizontal "v " shaped channels on one side then vertical channels on the other side. Where the channels cross would form very fine holes if the depth of the "v" is right.

[Ilan Voyager]

You're right about the solder problem. But it's easy to solve.

[cingersoll]

lead has been removed from commercially available pluming solder, hasn't it? Use silver solder?

[dmeans1]

Yes it has. It is also immune to the softening from the heat from boiling.

[urant]

Great idea on an alternative way to make the filters! (btw, I did use non-lead solder)

[KarmaAdjuster]

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.

[acoleman3]

refer to my post on copper to see my research findings on "copper poisoning".

[KarmaAdjuster]

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.

[urant]

Took you comments to heart, called a MD who's a friend and asked you to look at tje 'ible and give me her thoughts. I added an extra step in me intro.
Thank you for helping me make this a better 'ible

[cingersoll]

The coffee may well kill you at the same rate as the copper - a bit slowly, say, 60 years?

[bgmiller]

As building codes currently almost universally require the use of lead-free solder for potable water piping. This:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100672843/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

is commonly available.

[roboto123]

just use lead-less silver solder.

[stonescorpion5]

how about an action video.

[Kiteman]

Agreed - this is a fascinating beastie, but seeing it on the go would be a boon to anybody copying your idea.

[urant]

Sure!
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.

[nireves]

Nice build. I like the design process before each step, that overview is sorely lacking in many instructables. (Give us the big picture first!)

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.

[urant]

Yes, you are right and...well, " Pocket-size Moka Pot with integrated alcohol stove" does sound really cool :D

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