Sheeeeeeet metal part 2 - unboxing

All of the sheet metal parts showed up in a nicely packed box yesterday.

The drip tray insert is just laser cut for the moment. I wanted to check it for the fit before paying for the custom tooling required to stamp the holes.

The drip tray itself is pretty much good to go like this. There is a slight difference in the finish at the corners where the discoloration from the welding was buffed out, but this is actually more visible in the photo than it is in reality. 

The warming shelf - ready to go except for the system for retaining it in place.

The cup warmer rails.

The backsplash, ready to be installed.

... and the cover. This is the most difficult part of the lot because of the radiused corners at the back. Those have given me much pain both to model in cad and in finding a supplier able to make them. 

A test fit of the cover and the drip tray...

... and, following a complete disassembly of the machine, a test fit of the the backsplash and cover.

Sheeeeeeet metal part 1 - from the factory floor

SHEEEEEET METAL!

Should be here in a week or so!

Shakerato

Over the last six weeks I have been making some progress plugging away at the firmware for the controller. As anticipated, the code for the human interface is both more complicated and voluminous than the code required to control the actual machine itself. I've got proof of concepts done for both halves of the code (i.e. the menu system and the state machine) and now I'm working on putting them together. 

I'm also waiting to get the first batch of sheet metal in. I went through about ten suppliers before I found one that had the required tooling, was willing to do the prototyping and make a small run. I should have some pictures in a few days. I finished up the package of cad drawings during a trip to Italy where I had some great (and some not so great) coffee. The best was, of all places, in terminal 3 at Rome Airport at a generic chain café. That is one of the things I love about Italy - the last time I was there the best coffee I had was in a gas station by the side of the highway - great coffee is normal. While I was in Rome, I made the trip to Caffè Sant Eustachio. 

This place is great. They have a two-page(!) menu of bizarre coffee drinks any one of which would be enough to draw the crowds. Their signature is Il Gran Caffè (speciale). They make it behind a privacy screen to stop you seeing how they do it (nor will they tell you if you ask ;)). I believe the technique comes from Naples where they take the crema from the start of the pull and whip it up with sugar before putting it back on the rest of the espresso. The result is an inch of sweet, creamy crema mouse on top of a great espresso. That, along with a pastry from the counter opposite the bar and you are totally set for sugar for the day.

The star at the bar, however, is the "Shakerato" which is made in what has to be the most hilarious machine I've seen in a while:

Iced coffee and milk go in a cocktail shaker that sits in the stainless steel receiver. Then the machine shakes the crap out of it for two or three minutes. And it's orange. What can I say? I want one!

Shakerato II - revenge of the tumbler