Interlude: Shoot often or get screwed

I realized I didn't really cover the organizational aspect of this rebuild in too much detail, so I thought I would made a quick post to comment on how not to turn what was a fun and challenging project, into a junk yard nightmare.

The camera I used was a basic 8MP Canon Powershot 850IS. Nothing too fancy, but it got the job done by photo-documenting the tear down and general construction of the machine. The key was to take a wider shot of the machine from several angles of the parts to be removed, then switch to the macro setting (which looks like a flower) and get detailed shots of each piece you remove in the order you remove it. For the long skinny tubing that disappeared behind the frame wall, I took shots of both connection points one after the other so I would know where to put it back. The great advantage of our wonderful digital camera age is the nearly unlimited quantity of photos you can take with nearly instantaneous feedback on quality and framing of the shot. From inception to completion, I took 613 pictures of this espresso machine and it's assorted parts. They were worth their weight in gold when I began reassembly.

Apart from the symphony of brass nuts and copper tubing performing an aria of mechanical exhibitionism, there are a lot of nuts, bolts, washers, and screws inside a machine this size. Thanks to my pack-ratted-ness and frequency of breaking bicycle parts, I had several small zip lock baggies perfect for storing associated hardware. The snack sized zip lock bags would have also worked, but I was too lazy to go to the store. I also used a cheap plastic fishing lure divider with a snapping lid that I found in my tackle box. This allowed me to either label the bags or drop in the divider a post it note describing what the screws, or bolt assemblies belonged to. When I was reattaching the group heads to the frame, I just grabbed the bag labeled, "group head hardware" and reattached it. Same with the "pump motor mount nuts", and the "power box screws". Organization on the front end will save you screaming and hair pulling on the back end, unless you know... that's your thing.

Next post, I promise... the group head gaskets from hell!