Switching Macap M4 from stepped to stepless. DONE.

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TruthBrew

Switching Macap M4 from stepped to stepless. DONE.

Post by TruthBrew »

http://www.home-barista.com/forums/swit ... tml#p95861

Based on the initial post on the HB forums by "dorkboy" (thanks again!) suggesting it was possible to convert a stepped M4 to stepless, I also performed this mod... WORKED GREAT. I posted nearly step-by-step instructions and some pics as well.

So, for any M4 stepped owners who lust over a stepless, it's possible for around $40 plus having/buying/borrowing some simple tools. :bounce:
Futahaguro
Espresso
Posts: 60
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 8:20 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Switching Macap M4 from stepped to stepless. DONE.

Post by Futahaguro »

I'm resurrecting this post on here, rather than on Home-Barista since they closed the comments, because I just did this to a used La Spaziale Top grinder. My Top grinder was the 5 hole version so it was really easy. Anyone with some mechanical ability, a low speed drill and a few hand tools can do this. Here are my additional insights, with my caveat being that my grinder was completely disassembled because I wanted to clean it.

-Tools I used to take the whole thing apart and do the job;
--Milwaukee corded hammer drill (low speed works best for drilling in metal, I obviously didn't use the hammer function)
--1/4" drill bit (I was able to use a cheap Black & Decker bit and it worked fine)
--Phillips screwdriver (normal size and small)
--7mm wrench (to remove doser cover)
--5mm? Allen wrench (maybe 4mm, maybe 6mm, to remove doser from body)
--Motor oil in a little squirter bottle (it's what I had, cutting oil would be best)
--Centering punch
--Hammer

-The hardest part was aligning the stepless adjuster holes to the mounting holes on the motor body. I took the motor out of the housing and then I could place the stepless mount onto the motor body. Once the mount was on the body I then took a permanent marker, in hindsight I suppose you could use a wax crayon or something that can be wiped off, and made some alignment marks on the motor body and the stepless mount. I then removed the stepless mount and put the motor back into the body.

-With the motor in the body I put a piece of masking tape over where the holes were to be drilled so that I could mark the location.

-This step is where I messed up a bit. It is easy to match your lateral alignment marks but the difficulty is aligning the center of the holes. If you align the stepless adjuster to be pretty tight to the collar you will not be centered between the outside lip and inside lip of the motor body. This is what happened to me. What I would recommend is to use the lateral alignment marks and then measure the center of the inside and outside lips, similar to the hole that already exists for the motor to body mount. If you do that you should be able to hit the stepless motor mounts pretty accurately. Now mark the spots on the tape.

-Once you are confident in your alignment marks on the tape make a good centering punch for the drill bit on each mark.

-Now take the tape off and get your drill and oil ready. Put a few drops of oil on the centering hole and start drilling at as low of a speed that will move the bit. As long as you have a good centering punch you can push pretty firmly and the drill should not move, I kept the rubber feet on the grinder so it didn't move. You should now start to get some shavings as you drill through, it is aluminum so it is actually very easy to drill into it. As some shavings built up I would stop, wipe the hole and the bit and then add some more oil. I think I cleaned it three times before I broke through.

-Now put the motor into the body and check your alignment of the holes. IF you miss your mark, like I did, you can actually use the drill bit to "drill" sideways like a grinder. At a slow speed, and with my foot on top of the grinder, I could turn on the drill and move it up and down inside the hole to "grind" in the direction that I needed to go.

-Once I got the holes to line up I then wiped everything down and reassembled the grinder. The stepless mount covers my screw-up so who cares:) When you attach the stepless mount it can adjust in or out so I kept it tight to the collar so that I could not wiggle the top burr carrier.

There is a post somewhere about this process in which someone tweaked the stepless mount so that you could flip it back to make large scale changes quickly. I can see how that would be good if you did that often.
Expobar Office Pulser (12 years)
La Spaziale S1V1 2008+ (I just got it)
Rancilio Rocky Doserless (12 years)
La Spaziale Top Grinder (I just got it) (Macap M4)
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