We Made A Modular Espresso Machine 

There should be an option to pin this to the top of the comment feed :) Amazing work, looking forward to hearing more!

Where are based/from Chronova?

Hi Jane, we’re based in Hampshire, England.

You could easily make a activated charcoal water filter from this.

I am appalled to see that you are charging £750 for one of these units, not even assembled, or with a base or handle! That’s almost double the price of the aram and the robot, which are almost identical to your designs… plus, that’s the kickstarter price, so there isn’t even any guarantee that you’ll send the products!😢 how can you possibly justify such an outrageous price?

thought the same thing xd

We will reach out to him and see if he’s interested. Thanks for the suggestion!

There's little to no chance he will, he doesn't do Kickstarter projects as far as I know, Lance Hedrick might though.

@@nathanfauvette2151 He's reviewed or participated in a few.

@@weatheranddarkness I believe the kickstarter campaigns he has reviewed are mostly posted years/months after the product has been released. If not mistaken, he reviews product variations that the end consumer receives to have an accurate user experience

It's the same theory as a torque wrench. Which in a way is the same concept as how a mechanical dial gauge works too, just with parts at different scales.

I think this was used in early torque wrenches

Or Lance Hedrick for that matter

Its a copy of Spinspro, a manual helix espresso machine.

Actually, there seemed to be even an earlier version. Aram Espresso Maker, it was featured on James Hoffman channel. Its identical to this, even in shape.

Certainly looks like it, I read the kickstarter page, some forums, and watched the youtube videos and couldn't find anywhere that mentioned the material.

Bothered me too. Radius at the ends of the thinned section is a must

Hi Christopher, we’ll be offering several tiers ranging from DIY kits priced around £750 up to £3000 for personalised machines. One of the middle price tiers will be a finished machine for around £950.

@@chronovaengineering Thank you for a clear answer. It really helps us dreamers!

@@chronovaengineering Though I really think this is going to be great product, it's above my current budget. But it's a beautiful design!

@@chronovaengineering The pricing is very close to established market options which have established parts back-up and no PTFE chamber. I'll have to pass although it's interesting to say the least. Good luck.

Hi Username, we have some additional temperature tests planned, from which the detailed results will be published on the Kickstarter page.

@@chronovaengineering Super appreciate it, thank you!

I stopped using ROK espresso lever machine because of the lack of pressure gauge and poor temperature stability. I’m now using Flair 58 equipped with the heating element and fitted a temperature probe to make sure I’m pulling a shot at 94C. And even with all that, there is quite a learning curve and tricks to use for the heat consistency. Also, I highly recommend using a puck screen. Lever machine destroy the puck when transferring the water from top to bottom. Else you end up with crazy channeling and a dirty mess to clean. Love the screw system but I can already see it will most likely be too slow when priming the piston (losing heat and time) and then purging after. Manual lever machine are quite time consuming when used regularly.

They're too expensive for anyone, period. $1200 is robbery unless you consider this an object d'art. You can get an excellent pro-level machine with a manual lever for that money.

@@paulie-g Not for poor people, that's for sure. But they will sell thousands nonetheless. The kind of people who spend three grand on a boiling water tap aren't going to blink an eye at this. Once one person in a wealthy circle buys one, they'll all have to have one.

£750.

@@Plan3tBob And makes coffee worse than a $15 french press LOL

@@evrythingis1 :( Shame it is so expensive too as I love the idea of what it is and how it's made. However I couldn't justify the cost and if I did go for a manual it would likely be something which is on version 3-4 by now to iron out the kinks.

Absolutely!!! This is fascinating!

Thanks Superbanaan! “My Coffee Show” put out a first impressions video from the London Coffee Festival if that helps: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GxTDefOAEN4.html We’ve requested a review from several other UK coffee RU-vidrs but we’re still waiting to hear back from them.

@@chronovaengineering you need James Hoffmans approval for sure.

They're charging $1200 for it, so my guess is a big, fat "no". Yes, it's well-engineered and well-machined, but the price is insane.

Except it literally is a gauge, it's just packaged to be more aesthetically pleasing. Flexion-based gauges have been used for quite some time, the only new thing here is how its packaged, and really the only reason why it'd be potentially worthy of a patent in the first place. If it's even patent-worthy then, as it's just flexion and lever amplification, the actual patent is probably for the machine as a whole, especially as how the gauge is an integrated part to the lever arm itself and not a separable device, of which then it would be patent-worthy; and probably what allows the machine to exist without infringing on similar machines' IPs. Preheating cups is also fairly common practice, as to not thermally shock what you're brewing, if you're drinking the brew straight. Look at Eastern methods of brewing tea, _everything_ involved gets preheated and rinsed, modernly some derivatives of these brewing methods also have a 'tea pet' of which changes color depending on temperature. Coffee, and really anything that is hot-brewed, should be treated the same way, as to not produce unfavorable tastes; much similar to how brewing too hot or too cold will affect the brew itself. Although I'd also argue that coffee is much more sensitive to temperatures and shock if you're drinking plain coffee, this is also why people will commonly add creamer and sugar, to offset any off-tastes; similarly, this is also why cream and sugar is added to tea, though modernly this hails from a period where pre-modern compressed tea would've been nearly undrinkable without cream and sugar, the basis of this comparison is the bitter notes that both coffee and tea can produce, though coffee can also produce sour notes if not at the correct temperatures. The only real time this isn't relevant is if you're making espresso-based cold drinks, where there's such a disparity in the volume of ingredients that the milk base will cover any off-tastes produced by blanching fresh espresso and really only leaving tasting notes from the brew and crema; you see similar things with fresh milk teas, though milk teas are also typically a much stronger brew to retain the tea's flavor that would otherwise be almost entirely masked by the milk, so it's not a direct comparison, but also shows why espresso is used instead of typical coffee for these drinks. It really just depends on what you're drinking and how you're drinking it, but in reality it's far better to keep everything at similar temperatures during the brew and letting it slowly come down in temperature as a whole to your preferred drinking temperature, even if doing so is more effort and a 'waste' of energy.

Thank you! We preheat the cup. Since espresso cups are so small, it takes very little energy to do so.

Hi Kevin, thanks for your support! The Kickstarter is now live and accepting pledges: www.kickstarter.com/projects/chronovaengineering/epoch-the-modular-manual-espresso-machine

Thanks for your comment David. We opted for the counter-clockwise lock to maintain compatibility with La Pavoni portafilters, which also lock this way. Great suggestion re bulkhead mount. We will look into that if there is enough interest.

It's just this one. The competitors are a lot cheaper 30-50%. This machine looks very nice but it is way to expensive.

We’ve tried both Acetal and PTFE for the liner. The examples you see in the video are the latter. PTFE is ideal because of the low friction properties but also its dimensional stability when submerged in water. We certainly considered ceramics. The challenge would be manufacturing them to the required tolerance. Thanks for watching!

Hi Stefano, we have some further temperature tests planned and we’ll publish detailed results on the Kickstarter page. Right now, the thermocouples we used were located above the piston and in the cup, so the direct brew temperature will be somewhere between those temperatures. Many manual lever machines lack sufficient insulation to maintain high chamber temperatures but our chamber is walled with PTFE, which is a very effective insulation material.

@@chronovaengineering super!

Hi Daniel, the campaign is now live on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/chronovaengineering/epoch-the-modular-manual-espresso-machine

Hi Leonid, the max volume is approximately 90ml.

Hi warmooze, our machines are compatible with La Pavoni portafilters, which lock right-to-left.

Hi Nick, thanks for watching and for your questions! 1) The distance from the bottom of the portafilter to the base is 83 mm, which we thought was enough space for a standard espresso cup and a scale without being excessive. However, we understand that some might want to use particularly thick scales or a larger cup, so we are intending to include a riser block that would sit beneath the bottom of the pillar as an optional add-on. 2) Flow profiling is similar to many other manual machines. You can target a particular pressure at certain time intervals but otherwise, we have had best results partly using the pressure gauge but also using tactile feedback. If you notice some channeling starting to occur, just back off the pressure slightly and, inversely, if the flow is smooth and you are feeling a nice consistent resistance, you can push a bit harder. We like to taper the pressure off towards the end of the extraction as disruption of the puck during extraction makes channeling more likely. Ultimately, it takes a bit of experimentation to get the absolute best out of it, and in our opinion that's half the fun! Hope that answers your questions.

@@chronovaengineering Thanks for your considered reply. The riser block is a great idea. How can you tell if channeling is happening while you pull?

Hi Tom, yes, one of the optional add-ons is a riser block which increases the clearance under the basket.

Hi Dusan, the cylinder liner is food-safe PTFE.