vext01

Hi,

I've been using a Delonghi Dedica for years with the pressurised basket and found that it makes pretty good coffee (to my untrained taste buds).

Recently bought an unpressurised basket and handle for it, but having trouble getting good coffee out of it.

I'm grinding much, much finer that before (still using a cheap electric bur grinder). I've found this is the only way to get crema. If i go one step finer on the grinder, the coffee machine cant even pump water through the grounds.

Using about 10g of coffee and tamping hard to create pressure, but even with that little coffee I'm just getting very strong and very bitter coffee. Extraction time is about 30 secs.

If I grind coarser, there's not enough pressure and you get an acidic coffee with no crema. Adding more coffee doesn't appear to create more pressure. Tamping harder doesn't seem to make much difference.

I wonder if anyone here has mastered good coffee with this machine.

May try my hand grinder next time. Could be the grinder is too cheap.

Cheers

Hi again,

Just to say thanks to this community for the help with the Ever Ready 1912 boot sale find I posted the other day.

The blades arrived yesterday and I had a very nice shave with it this morning. A very close shave in fact, closer than my prior daily driver the Edwin Jagger DE89.

I also like the big feedback this razor has and how it reverberates down the handle. Feels serious!

Anyways, thanks to everyone who helped me find the right blades! Shave on!

Hi folks,

Been shaving my head with DEs for years. The shinier the better!

Well, I just picked this razor up at a boot sale, knowing basically nothing about vintage razors. It was cheap, and I like the ornate handle, so "why not?", I thought.

However, I tried a DE blade in it and it didn't fit. Does anyone know the name for the blade this accepts? I assume it takes a SE blade, but a standard one looks too skinny.

I've seen people on the Internet talking about "Gem" blades. Not much comes up for that when I search UK suppliers, so I wonder if there's another name for them?

Maybe you can't get them any more...

Any advice? I'd like the give it a spin.

Cheers

Hey,

I was wondering what folks use to quickly send a file or a link between your PC and android phone in a lightweight and self hosted way.

Currently I use syncthing to copy files around, but I'm looking for something more immediate, and quick than doesn't involve searching for folders in a file manager.

Example use case: Send a file from PC to phone. Notification pops up on phone, tap it to access.

(PC runs OpenBSD)

What lightweight software do you guys use?

Stuff I tried so far:

• syncthing
• xmpp
• tox
• scp and termux.
• magic wormhole
• telegram saved messages

Stabilo may not be a name you associate with fountain pens. It wasn't for me either, but I was curious when I saw an image of a wooden Stabilo Flow fountain pen.

In fact Stabilo have been making fountain pens for some time (their "Flow" range) but perhaps because prior designs have been a little "student utilitarian" there's been little focus on them in the community. The Grow range though, is a little different.

https://www.stabilo.com/uk/climate-neutral-fountain-pen-stabilo-grow/5171-1-41

There are three different designs, each with a different wood and coloured band:

• oak/green
• beech/blueberry (pictured)
• cherry/plum red

In my opinion the combos are all very attractive, but the oak/green model works best. I bought the rollerball version of the oak model for a friend, hence I have the beech one.

The pen is marketed as being eco friendly.

The pen body is made from wood and eco-plastic (bio plastics and plastics with sunflower seed hulls apparently). The plastics are ok. There are a few seams visible in places, but it's not awful. The clip appears to be metal and has just a hint of wobble where it's attached.

The pen posts well with a soft friction fit.

The pen takes international standard cartridges and when you screw on the section there is an affirmative click to confirm it's closed properly. The cap is snap on.

The nib itself is a small steel nib. It writes very smoothly. I was surprised how well. Note however there are no nib options.

All in all, I think its a decent pen, and it's not expensive at around the £20 mark. It would be a nice first fountain pen for a beginner, competing perhaps with the Lamy Safari and Pilot Metro.

I inked up a Kaweco sport today.

Initially I took a half used Kaweco cartridge out of a Kaweco Perkeo, but it was so loose fitting, I was scared to use it in the Sport.

So I tried a brand new Kaweco cartridge. It fits better, but boy does it feel precarious. The converter seems to hold in place a little better, but not by much.

A search online suggests it's not just me that finds this disconcerting. There are reports of the cartridge detaching when out and about and some are reccommend putting a spring in the barrell to hold the cartridge firmly in place.

Faced with this design floor, I wonder why Kaweco don't improve the fit of the cartridge in Sports series. They've been in the game a long time and should know how to make a better fitment. In fact I know that they know how, because the fitment on the Perkeo is really good. Not as good as some other pens I own (e.g. Sailors), but still leagues ahead of the Sport.

Can anyone here relate?

EDIT: and yes, I know, they released piston fillers recently, but they are quite a bit more expensive.

More like "Junk shop opens in former Wilko store"?