I always seem to have Portafilters lying around on the kitchen worktop, partly because I have a couple of them (the original Gaggia filter, and a naked PF), and partly because I tend to leave them off the machine after cleaning. Some kind of wall mount seemed like the solution, but I did a quick search and didn’t find anything suitable, so decided to have a go at making one.
Wood seemed like a natural choice, to avoid damaging the Portafilter, and being easy to work with. I started with some 45x45mm scrap soft wood, and routed out two 70mm diameter holes (I made a temporary MDF jig for the router to cut this radius). Then I routed slots for the Portafilter handles (about 19mm for the standard PF, and 16mm for the naked PF) as shown below:
The next stage was to chisel out some slots to accommodate the “ears” on the Portafilters. This was pretty easy for the naked PF, but it took a bit more work to shape it to suit the original Gaggia PF, mainly due to the big flared handle on the PF. I put a 45 degree chamfer on the lower front edge of the block, to make it easy to insert/remove the Gaggia PF.
Having finished the wood work, I sanded it smooth and treated it. After searching for a suitable “food safe” coating, I settled on pure Tung Oil. I didn’t thin the first coat (to avoid mixing in any toxic thinners/solvents!) and it worked out fine. I applied three coats at 24 hour intervals, sanding lightly between coats. Each coat was applied with a brush, left for 20~30 minutes, then the surface was wiped clean with a rag.
Here’s a view after the final coat. It seems to give a nice smooth finish, and is apparently resistant to water, alcohol etc. Time will tell how well it lasts in daily use!
Here’s a top view showing the recesses needed to accept the “ears” on the Portafilters. The left side is for the original Gaggia PF, which needs a very large area removed to allow it to be lifted in/out easily. The right side is for the naked PF and needs a much smaller recess:
Here’s a view of the two Portafilters slotted into the wall mount bracket. Now I just need to drill a couple of holes and mount it! I’m planning to leave this for a week or so to cure properly before using it in earnest.
Here’s a final update, showing it mounted on the wall with a couple of 8×2½” screws: