Wood Side Panels

[calehman7]

Hello Forum.

I was wondering if anyone makes wooden side panels for the Vivaldi? I know that Clive Coffee makes them, but you have to buy a machine from them in order to purchase their wooden side panels.

Thank you for your time...

[Dom_P]

I did find this one link over at HB when I was thinking about it

http://www.home-barista.com/marketplace ... di#p383564

[AndrewC]

Like many of you, I fell in love with the custom side panels from Clive Coffee. Over Christmas holidays a couple of years ago, I used all the tools in my father in-law's woodshop to put a pair together. Although I own the Rossini (single boiler), the Vivaldi shares the same chassis.

The photos show the process I undertook. First creating a template of the profile, then rough cutting the shape using a band saw onto jointed bird's eye maple. Then I traced my template using a router with guide bit to get the exact profile. I sanded down the front and rear to create the bevel which exists on the stock resin using a belt sander. The most challenging step was tracing the interior extrusions to match the frame, metal trim, and multiple bolt locations. Once traced, I used a palm router to achieve the correct depth. I took the easy route by using recessed allen nuts to secure the panels instead of imbedding the nuts.

Since the wood only cost $40 and the electricity was free to me, it was a rather inexpensive project.

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[lowellw2]

Very very nice work. I find the recessed allen nuts to be a great visual highlight (sorta like a G3) and could really make getting the panels off a simple matter. Did you secure the bolts somehow to the inside of the metal panels? Now if I just had a nice CNC machine (and my old Vivaldi) I would attemp this also. You probably got a little tired of routing out that big cavity. For those that want to mimic the Clive Coffee style I guess one could imbed some super magnets into the wood panels.

[caf4brains]

The wood looks great - nice job! What did you use to finish the wood?

[AndrewC]

For the mounting bolts, I used the same four holes in the frame that the plastic panels fix to. The one inch bolts I used fit the holes without modification.

I've been playing around in Sketchup/AutoCAD by tracing a photo of the stock panel. I'll let you all know if I can get a CNC design drawn. Turns out my local Ottawa library has a 3D scanner to use for free, so I might just head over there and give it a go.

I finished the maple with a light stain; it didn't need much to bring out the grain and features. The gloss comes from a food safe salad bowl finish, so that no splashes of espresso go to waste :)

[Lav]

Hi Andrew - just got my hands on a 5 years old S1VII, and it is red. Not really my color
I quickly found Clive and their super wood panels, and then thought I might be able to do it my self - then saw your post. Did you succeed with the scanning? Any AutoCad drawings, dwg, dxf or scan files would be a great starting point - happy to get anything

[lowellw2]

I just noticed Chris Coffee has wood panels for sale.

[Lav]

Think I read somewhere that it's the same supplier - 450$/pair.... but then you save a lot of time, and all the fun

[lowellw2]

Well I think $450 is pretty steep but getting a piece of wood large enough can be a challenge. The maple Andrew used is very nice. If I get another Vivaldi I might try to do panels in mesquite which can have interesting grain patterns. There's a lot of it available here in Texas and several mills cut nice sized slabs. However, one could cut a smaller piece and join them in a bookmark fashion which could be very impressive. Being retired my time is worth about 11¢ an hour so I could probably make myself think I could save a lot of money. Matching the handles would be also required.

[slo]

I dropped a cast iron skilled on one of my plastic side that resulted on a small crack.
It is very small and barely visible but it always bugs me.
I asked for a quote on a pair of replacement Plastic panels from CC. They quoted me $300.00 for a pair. It stopped there.
I figured that I eventually would buy a used machine to recycle parts and the side panels...
For me $450 for a set of Walnut panels is relatively cheap compared to a plastic replacement set. I am very tempted but my wife does not seem to like the wood too much. I might try them anyway and risk her disapproval.

Clive coffee always refused my repeated request for quotes since I am in Canada.

[AndrewC]

LaSpaziale design looks just as beautiful in 3D!

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[Lav]

As you said - beautiful!!


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[residuenyc]

I dropped a cast iron skilled on one of my plastic side that resulted on a small crack.
It is very small and barely visible but it always bugs me.
I asked for a quote on a pair of replacement Plastic panels from CC. They quoted me $300.00 for a pair. It stopped there.
I figured that I eventually would buy a used machine to recycle parts and the side panels...
For me $450 for a set of Walnut panels is relatively cheap compared to a plastic replacement set. I am very tempted but my wife does not seem to like the wood too much. I might try them anyway and risk her disapproval.

Clive coffee always refused my repeated request for quotes since I am in Canada.

I'm expecting a set of wood panels to arrive very soon and I'd be willing to sell the plastic panels if you are interested.

[residuenyc]

Got the panels installed. If you still want the plastic ones...

[slo]

The image does not work for me...
But if they are black we sure can talk.

[lowellw2]

Got the panels installed. If you still want the plastic ones...

I like the sharper corners of these panels better than the more rounded ones I've seen before. To my eyes they highlight the machine. However, we each have our own tastes.

[Lav]

I tend to agree with you Iowellw2, however the edges might be more vulnerable....
Residuenyc, I would love to see a picture of the inside surface to figure out how a DIY panel should look. Did you install them yourself?


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[residuenyc]

The panels were purchased from Chris' Coffee. I probably got one of the first batches produced. They have a few different color choices; I selected the dark Sapele. I don't believe it's the same maker as Clive Coffee. I'm happy with the appearance though the tolerances aren't exact and it took me quite a while to get everything fitted. I had a few extra pieces that I could not figure out how to reattach such as the black plastic side screws where the plastic tray is removed and the metal brackets on the side of the cup warmer.

[Lav]

Thanks a bunch! This is just what I needed to get on and they are certainly not made by Clive if you look through this "promotional" clip: http://www.vimeo.com/54059789
It's interesting that Chriss decided to skip those almost impossible-to-get-to plastic side screws.... and instead made a bracket to fix under the cup warmer plate. And then only use those screws under the machine to fix the lower part of the panel. That way you don't need any of the plastic screws. But is it then as sturdy as could/should be? Time will tell

[Lav]

Decided to follow the Criss concept - getting close, just need the curvature on the outside and cutouts for the feets

Panel drawing ed.0.7.png (51.19 KiB) Viewed 71019 times

Edit: Updated with latest edition....

Last night I took this picture - as you can see she's just waiting for those panels....

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[Lav]

Came a little further down the road. As for the outer surface I made an exact copy of the plastic panels i.e. the big edge fillet. I think I would like to decrease the radius a bit.

[Lav]

And here the assembly with brackets ready to mount.... well, I think I need to leave the desktop now and try it out for real

[Johnney]

Decided to follow the Criss concept - getting close, just need the curvature on the outside and cutouts for the feets

Panel drawing ed.0.7.png
Edit: Updated with latest edition....

Last night I took this picture - as you can see she's just waiting for those panels....

Bariata light.JPG

Hi Lav,

Would you mind sharing how to install those lights on your S1? Looks so attractive

[Lav]

Johnney, I use the DIODER from IKEA - have a read here on how to install

[DougC]

Came a little further down the road. As for the outer surface I made an exact copy of the plastic panels i.e. the big edge fillet. I think I would like to decrease the radius a bit.

These posts are amazing! I'm close to purchasing a mini vivaldi through Craigs list and I thought I was the only one to consider making my own sides :). Lav, you've taken this several levels further! Did you ever have panels milled based on your drawings? If so how did they come out?... if you were successful and they look great could I use your drawings to go to a local CNC routing shop? Thank you so much for your efforts!
Sincerely
Doug

[Lav]

Doug, I'm happy you like it. Actually I didn't get much further.... Half a year ago I found some 2"x20" wood planks that I decided to use, but got stuck because I couldn't chose between having it milled professionally or try to do it myself :)
When I get home to my workstation in about one weeks time I will send you a PM and we can take it from there.


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[mopiko]

are these for sale? anyone successfully re-created one?

[s1guy]

Do any of you guys have cad drawing of the panels you'd want to make available? I'm thinking of getting a set made up but I don't have the drawing skills to draw one up.

[pev]

@s1guy

I've got part way into making some up. I've got as far as doing some accurate imagery of the outline into autocad but haven't had much more time recently.

[fricofman]

Hi Steffen, do you mind sharing the 3d model files? hope the end results were great!
Regards,
FO

Doug, I'm happy you like it. Actually I didn't get much further.... Half a year ago I found some 2"x20" wood planks that I decided to use, but got stuck because I couldn't chose between having it milled professionally or try to do it myself :)
When I get home to my workstation in about one weeks time I will send you a PM and we can take it from there.


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[nickatpsu]

I’m going to have a try making wood panels for my Mini Vivaldi. If anyone wants to share files, please PM me.

I have the hardware, just need to make a decent program.

Wish me luck!

[PaulJ]

Have a Dream coming this week and one of the items on the list for an upgrade would be wood panels to match the kitchen. Does anyone have CAD files that they would be willing to share?

Thanks,

Paul

[AZemov]

Hi! I want to ask for model files for making panels. I agree to purchase it for a reasonable fee. Thanks

[Pinguy]

Hey Guys;
I have a MutiCAM 3000 with an automatic tool changer and do CAD files for my pinball company. I'd rather cut someone's CAD files rather than starting from scratch. Ideally I'd like to cut a file that has been tweaked to near perfection but am also willing to do some test cuts in MDF which would allow you to test fit and make changes to your CAD until its perfect. Afterwards we'll source some cool wood and rough cut panels for both of us. I live on teh east coast of Canada so there is some cool wood here too, I also have a furniture maker on staff that is always sourcing some very unique wood so who knows what we could make. I think it would be fun and something different than my usual pinball related CAD drawings. I could CAD this myself but it looks like many of you are almost there already so why reinvent the wheel?

If anyone is interested please drop me a message.

Thanks
Mike

[Sharp]

I think I recall someone posting a CAD file here at some point but couldn't find the post quickly:/