Matias Iturbides' Strad Is an Open-Hardware Fully-Mechanical Ready-to-Build Espresso Maker
Licensed under Creative Commons terms, this coffee maker respects your right to tinker even as it delivers your morning espresso shot.
Web developer and journalist Matias Iturbides is branching out into mechanical engineering with the Strad — a certified open-hardware mechanical espresso maker, released for all to build and with no electronics required.
"This espresso coffee maker and the documents and files in [its] repository are under Creative Commons CC BY-SA [Attribution-ShareAlike] 4.0 license," Iturbides writes of the terms under which his creation has been released. The files can be used to manufacture the part in CNC [Computer Numeric Control], injection [molding], 3D printing, or any other format."
Makers hacking on coffee machines is nothing new, and neither is releasing such modifications under open license terms. Over the years we've seen off-the-shelf machines upgraded for better accessibility or for automation with impressive granular control, vintage Goblin Teasmades getting a much-needed overhaul, and most famous of all the Gagguino project — recently expanded to cover upgrading the Starbucks Sirena, too.
Iturbides' project is different, though, and for two key reasons. The first is that it's entirely mechanical: there are no electronics involved, which may come as a surprise as a project from a web developer. The second is that it's a ground-up original creation, not an upgrade to any existing off-the-shelf device.
Those interested in building a Strad of their own can find the design files — in STEP and STL format, as well as a FreeCAD project for those looking to modify the design — and brief instructions in Iturbides' GitLab repository; the project has been certified by the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) under ID ES000049.