Plain Stropping - Looking for Advice

[David Barnett]

SWMBO says she may allow me to get one of those; she wants to know more about it. She wants to know about the quality of the espresso and how many shots it can do at a time.

She said we can get one if it does decent shots. (just play along)

Tell her it's not just the machine—it starts with high quality freshly roasted coffee—I roast my strictly hard bean (SHB) Tarazzu in a doggy bowl with a heat gun. See? Right there you'll save enough to get at least an optically reasonable Chinese knock-off of my Olympus SZ60 espresso machine on an articulated boom.

One of these days I predict you may wake up late at night, go to your micro machining room and imagine that you see me there in the room attempting to steal the zoom-boom micro scope.

That would be the Cold War B&L SK, which would serve you well.

GRATUITOUS GLOAT ALERT: I got my SZ4 head off eBay with the SK boom stand that cost our government a hefty four figures in the early 1960s—weighs a ton, extends to a 4½ foot radius which covers a lot of taped-together U2 recon photos, and when updated with modern synthetic damping greases*, moves as smoothly as the yoke on a Gulfstream II. Set me back $150 + 60 crating and shipping. Add a cold halogen illuminator with dual gooseneck fiber-optic spots or an LED ring-light and now you're cookin' with gas.

But... but... but...

it is only a dream
it is only a dream
it is only a dream

"... and here's your large coffee, sir... and please pull to the side and we'll bring that Egg McMuffin right out to you."

*Terrific for hand plane adjusters—box and cabinet hinges, too.