Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mattj 1037 days ago
I've built one of these based on the instructions and use it daily (and love it!), but the tone of the site is pretty reflective of the project overall. It's definitely a really impressive hack and I appreciate all the hard work that's gone into it, but could really use a little more user-facing empathy.

I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to someone else - and if I was doing it again I'd probably spend a few hundred more (than the gaggia + parts cost) and just buy an off-the-shelf machine with the same feature set.
2 comments
giulianob 1037 days ago
They recently updated it with an official vendor for a [PCB kit](https://www.peakcoffee.cc/product/gaggiuino-v3-kit-set-gaggi...) that (I believe) includes all of the internal components needed. I did the lego build w/ tons of soldering and ordering parts off Aliexpress. This new kit should make it much easier for newcomers. You still need to know what you're doing and it's not for everyone. A machine with similar capabilities is something like the Decent at $4k.
link
schwap 1037 days ago
I'm curious about what off-the-shelf machines you would compare a fully modified gagguino. Granted, I don't have one so I'm only going off the feature set listed on the page, but short of a Decent ($$$$) I can't think of any competitors with features like flow profiles.
link
drrotmos 1037 days ago
Well, there's no cheap competitors with (automatic) flow profiles, but there are competitors with automatic flow profiles. ACS Vesuvius, Rocket R nine one (although IIRC this one is actually pressure profiling, not flow profiling), Synesso es.1, Sanremo You to mention some.

If you're looking at manual flow control, basically any E61 group machine can be outfitted with a needle valve for flow control, and a bunch of machines come with one installed from the factory, like the Lelit Bianca. There's also machines like the Slayer 1 group and La Marzocco GS/3 MP.

Gagguino is very cool, and if you're just pulling espressos and not too many back to back, it should be plenty of machine. If you're doing more than a couple of milk drinks, or pull lots of shots back to back, or want to connect it to plumbing, it's not as great of a machine. The fact that you started out with a small single boiler with a vibration pump starts to show.

link
roflyear 1037 days ago
The Met will hopefully be shipping early next year which will have these capabilities.
link