
Long Weekend Odds and Ends
I had a long weekend, and a lot of small things happened in it. None of them is big enough for an entry of its own, so here they all are. Personal Maker Time I'm still working on the project I can't talk about yet. Soon. A small brass part for that project, on the lathe. The Espresso Machine On Saturday I opened up my Gaggia Classic espresso maker, which had stopped working. The power light came on, but it wasn't heating and the pump wouldn't run. A look inside wasn't particularly illuminating at first. But my friend Paul, whose hobbies include repairing, augmenting, and rebuilding espresso machines (yes, really), pointed me at a thermal fuse as a likely culprit, and a quick check with a multimeter confirmed it. I ordered a replacement. Inside the machine. The suspect, out of its sleeve. My brother called it an emergency repair, but I still had pour-over to get me through. It did take a few days, since I had to wait for the part. On Tuesday I put it in. The new fuse, crimped on at one end. Then the other. The finished repair. Back in business. ...