It’a detained by magnets so it doesn’t get in the basket and interfere with spreading out the grounds. Needs a clean up with a lick of sandpaper, pretty stupid but these things cost like 50 bucks /shrug
I’ve been meaning to make one that molds to my grinder to prevent grinds flying all over the counter.
Just FYI, you can find metal dosing rings with magnets for as low as $3 on AliExpress. I’m sure yours fits better though!
Huh, didn’t consider aliexpress. I have an old lever machine with a non standard basket size (49 mm or something) so idk if they exist for it. I can see one with a brief search, but it protrudes down into the basket to locate itself which is a bit inelegant.
I know it’s probably sacrilege, but I avoid the need for one of these by grinding half a dose, tamping a bit then grinding the rest and finishing the tamp. I’m using a Breville Barista Express so couldn’t (easily) use one of these even if I wanted to.
I’m curious how you retain the magnets in it? Are they printed in, or mechanically added later? (I know very little about 3d printing, this just came up in my top-6-hour feed)
I’m not really a coffee wanker so I don’t know one way or the other what tamping halfway would do. I just want to be able to dump the grounds in, shake, and tamp.
The magnets are just push fit into little holes in the bottom. I just tap them in with blunt nail and a hammer.
I haven’t done much with magnets, but I saw one model where you pause the print halfway through, drop magnets into the holes, then continue the print and they get sealed in Amontillado-style.
Pop the magnets into the paused print.
The magnets: "Hahaha. This is a fine joke, good sir!’
Resume print
Magnets: “Yes, a very funny joke indeed. Wait, sir, where are you going! Sir! SIR!!”
Walk away knowing that neither you nor anyone else will see those magnets again
Oh God imagine being 3d printed alive into your casket
Worst part is it taking forever for it to print the casket around you, and you’re just lying there unable to do shit and just watch the casket close around you in ultra slow-mo. Like being buried alive with a tea-spoon for a shovel.
3D printed parts are NOT food safe.
In general, yes. But the contact here is minimal. I wouldn’t be worried.
You can find dosing funnels for ~$12 on Amazon. Still overpriced but eclipsed by the investment you made in the espresso machine.
I have a non standard old timey portafilter.
Pet peeve, a coffee machine isn’t an investment. Not in the literal sense and the creepy corporatisation of language is weird. It’s just an expensive toy that makes me like life a little more :) I actually got an old europiccola because no electronics (bimetal strip and heating coil aside) means I can keep this thing working indefinitely.
A lighter will tidy up the stringing without making the mess that sandpaper will. Just don’t linger too long or the part will warp. It should take less than a second to make the strings disappear with a lighter.
Heads up, make sure you use food safe filament for this. And I would still be rather wary of excessive micro plastics in my morning brew
Hey, that’s neat! I use a scrap piece from a previous employer. It’s a 2inch tall stainless steel combiner ring. Definitely not as cool as yours and definitely not light enough for magnetic holds. You win lol
Yeah but yours isn’t made of plastic so I think we can both find things to be pleased about.
Thanks for the kind words!
Oh, for sure! It is annoying having to hold it as I work with it. But, I don’t have a 3D printer, so I did what I could with the tools at my disposal. I am happy with it :)
If it’s at all magnetic (I know some stainless isn’t) then you could probably just slap a neodidlium magnet on either side to hold it. Or you could make something to locate the phlangey things on the portafilter and attach them to the outside of the ring? Could even be as simple as 4 nails with the tips ground off?
I have neodymium magnets from another project. I should do that. They’re about 2cm in diameter, but I can probably cut them to size.
Super cool! Great job. You can eliminate that seam by changing the position to random in Cura.
Microplastic speed run
Do you really thing that coffee grounds brushing up on something sheds significant amounts compared to like all the plastic you touch and then eat after not washing your hands? Or the Teflon in the rain on our crops? or storing food in plastic containers particularly during heating or freezing?
I’d be more concerned about takeway coming in shitty plastic containers that stain (indicating mixing on a molecular level) than coffee grounds touching a piece of PLA.
Yes, absolutely. Coffee grounds rubbing up against rough 3d printed plastic is going to act like little grinders pulling off bits of of plastic directly into the grounds.
Not to say that we all haven’t already lost the microplastics speed run. I am concerned about the things you listed, but yeah, I wouldn’t want anything 3d prone to be so close to so many small hard moving pieces of food.
3d printed plastic isn’t much worse than other plastic. The grinds aren’t under any force.
Have a look at a printed part under SEM and you’ll see it’s quite smooth and cohesive. Coffee grounds are light and fluffy, they don’t grind plastic.
I think you’re not basing this on any scientific investigation.
To each their own I suppose
He could just run a flame on it to melt whispy plastic strands down
Please keep in mind that you need to seal that print before you use it with food. Because of the layers, there’s are a ton of places for dirt and bacteria to hide that are impossible to clean. Additionally, depending on what kind of nozzle you used, heavy metals can end up in your print which you don’t want to then leech into your coffee. General advice is to just not use 3d prints first good, but if you really want to you should coat them in a food safe epoxy before using.
This is good advice.
On the bright side for OP, his part should (hopefully) only come into contact with dry coffee grounds so some of those concerns are lessened.
In other applications – sealant or not – I can only imagine pouring hot coffee over a PLA part would not be a recipe for success…
