28/03/2015
Chapter Two: Hot Off the Printer!
3D printing is a lot more complicated than we thought and takes four main things. Creativity, an engineer, software, and the hardware.
Making espresso is a complicated procedure as well. The process requires fresh coffee, that is tamped into the porta filter. The porta filter is positioned in your espresso machine, then pressurized water extracts your espresso.
Brewing espresso requires grinding into a portable filter (PF) basket. The current accessory offered by Baratza holds the PF under the ground coffee discharge. Unfortunately, as the ground coffee hits the PF, some of it escapes over the edge and can leave some wasted grounds around the unit.
We wanted to create an accessory for the conical burr grinders that not only snugly holds the PF in the grinder, but also funnels the coffee directly into the PF. This would conceptually result in hands free, mess free dosing.
With our idea in mind we telephoned our friend, Bill Crossland. Fortunately for us, Bill is also a renowned mechanical engineer; the perfect guy to turn our creative idea into a 3D rendering. In order to do that, Bill uses a software program, that creates a 3D blueprint with specific dimensions. These drawings are used to communicate our specifications to manufacturers.
The hardware is the cool part. A 3D printer! Becoming a more prevalent household tool, Quinn is lucky to have a friend, Mike Aylesworth, with a printer on hand. A 3D printer could be compared to a computer controlled hot glue gun. This produces a delicate plastic bead that builds upon itself layer by layer. Mike fired up the printer, and the idea stored in our imagination began to grow into reality before our eyes.
This whole experience of designing and 3D printing with Bill and Mike has been an absolute blast. As you can see above, we are elated our creativity has resulted in a working solution to improve our morning routine!
Our accessory is going to complement the brushed metal finish of the iconic Virtuoso, but will fit the Maestro, Maestro Plus, Encore and Preciso as well. The plastic prototype has been most encouraging, but we need to check and prove the fit and feel that our customers will experience. The next step is to have a metal prototype made. Next week we will share our story of working with a local machine shop!