[HN Gopher] CT scans of coffee-making equipment ___________________________________________________________________ CT scans of coffee-making equipment Author : eucalyptuseye Score : 249 points Date : 2023-08-31 18:35 UTC (4 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.scanofthemonth.com) (TXT) w3m dump (www.scanofthemonth.com) | blamazon wrote: | I got a kick out of this passage: | | > At times, Fourth Wave innovations verge into the realm of | obsession, making you wonder how much real difference all of this | precision makes to a cup of coffee. At the end (or beginning) of | the day, coffee is a ritual. More than mere caffeine delivery, | these technologies enable a multi-faceted sensory experience. | Exploring the complexity of its flavors and aromas has | transformed coffee from an article of consumption into an open- | ended object of scientific and aesthetic experimentation. | notamy wrote: | I love that way of thinking about it. I wish I thought about | more things as more than just the bland day-to-day they seem to | be on the surface. | fabian2k wrote: | There are certainly diminishing returns on many of the aspects | coffee enthusiasts care about. But when I started experimenting | with an Aeropress and some better coffee I found it interesting | that there were many fundamental aspects I could easily taste. | Temperature and grind settings can get very obvious quickly. | And also the difference between roast levels or some kinds of | coffee beans/preparation are not difficult to taste. And I | don't trust myself to distinguish any of the more subtle tastes | coffee enthusiasts talk about. | | But once you e.g get into arguments on whether high-end | grinders with conical or flat burrs are better you're far into | the diminishing returns that might not survive a blind test. | tomasGiden wrote: | Related, but not as fancily presented, the startup I'm at just | scanned a coffee bean in our micro-CT that we developed. It's | especially good for low-Z (like carbon and silicon) based samples | in contrast to normal X-Rays that see right through it (think | x-ray images of a broken arm where the tissue is invisible). | | https://exciscope.com/applications/food-and-packaging/ | C-x_C-f wrote: | Very cool as always! If I may be pedantic about the lede: | | > The history of coffee provides a rich index of global economic | and cultural exchange going back thousands of years. | | The history of coffee is less than 600 years old. | culi wrote: | If I may be pedantic in return | | > The history of coffee is less than 600 years old. | | The history of coffee being traded internationally is around | 600 years old. Coffee began being "domesticated" (more in the | Graeber "play-farming" sense of the word) at least 7k years ago | | Likely even longer before that given the dominance of the plant | in parts of Ethiopia. Today the few "coffee forests" remaining | are protected ecosystems by UNESCO | gaudat wrote: | I thought X-rays do not pass through metal? Like it shows up | opaque in clinical images. Suprised that they got a scan of the | moka pot. Truly amazing stuff. | mcpackieh wrote: | Metal blocks some x-rays but not all. The more x-rays you have, | the more pass through. When doctors are xraying people, they | use as little xrays as they need to get a good image of the | fleshy bits, so metal objects appear opaque relative to that. | ceejayoz wrote: | You can use a much higher dose on inanimate objects than you | could on a human patient. (See, for example, airport security's | ability to see inside your Macbook...) | chongli wrote: | X-rays are used a lot in non-destructive testing for welding | and also in civil engineering to look inside concrete and | rebar! | exabrial wrote: | Entire aircraft engines and rocket engines can in fact be | x-rayed (google image search awaits you). Granted if you stuck | your hand in there it would definitely get cooked. The power | levels are much higher. | | If you really want to dive down a rabbit hole, look up how they | image welds on pipelines... literally inject radioactive gas | between two cardboard/clay plugs and tape an xray film on the | outside of the weld for an hour or two. | kwhitefoot wrote: | Interesting images and a very well put together page. | | But a little off topic, I was struck by this: | | > With the powerful 1200 W heating element | | A typical European kettle is at least 1800 W, comfortably less | than the power deliverable from a 10 A, 230 V circuit. A typical | UK kettle would be more like 3000 W, such as this one (it seems | that all the kettles on that website are 3 kW): | | https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9363195?clickPR=plp:1:72 | cjs_ac wrote: | UK plug sockets are rated at 13 A, giving a maximum power | rating of 2,990 W. Kettles are consequently amongst the | highest-drawing household appliances in the UK. | | Back when there were only three television channels, the | National Grid planners used to pore over the Radio Times, | looking for popular programmes like the Morecambe and Wise | Christmas Special (21 to 28 million viewers in 1977), so they | could prepare for the demand surge of the entire nation putting | the kettle on at the end of the programme. | quartz wrote: | Related HN discussion about UK power demand surges due to | millions of kettles being simultaneously turned on during TV | breaks: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5018560 | Lapha wrote: | >UK plug sockets are rated at 13 A, giving a maximum power | rating of 2,990 W. | | Nominally, anyway. When the EU standardised mains voltages | they mostly did so on paper by fudging the tolerances, UK's | 240v +/- 3% became 230v -6/+10%. 28 years later and I still | see the mains voltage in the 240-250v range more often than | not. | [deleted] | cjrp wrote: | > ...the kettle reaches optimal temperature very quickly -- in | under three minutes | | That's too long to wait for a brew. | p1mrx wrote: | If you fill to the minimum line (0.5L) instead of the maximum | (1.7L), it will boil in under 1 minute. | | When buying a kettle, the most important specs are the | minimum fill and wattage (ideally 1500W in the US.) | blamazon wrote: | Any amount of time feels like too long to wait for a brew | ever since I got one of these: | | https://www.zojirushi.com/app/category/water-boilers-warmers | | (To answer the question an inquisitive reader may ask: the | keep-warm setting of the model I have uses about 25-60 watts | average at room temp 73degF/23degC depending on volume and | selected water temp) [1, pg5] | | [1]: https://www.zojirushi.com/servicesupport/manuals/manual_ | pdf/... | exabrial wrote: | Reduce the pressure! :) | crazygringo wrote: | I'm not sure what the point is you're trying to make? | | I'm sure you're aware that US sockets are 110-120V. The power | required by a European kettle would too often trip someone's | circuit breaker in the US, especially if any other equipment | were also plugged in (you usually want to stick to max 1500 W | on a circuit). | | Clearly the "powerful 1200 W" is in the context of equipment | designed for American residential sockets -- the page is | produced by an American company after all. | | (Which is why Americans don't use electric kettles nearly as | much as Brits/Europeans, of course.) | beojan wrote: | A heating element is basically just a resistor, right? Which | means if you run one on half the design voltage it'll draw | half the current it's meant to and produce 1/4 the power. | dgfitz wrote: | Half the voltage = 2x the amperage draw, not half, if I'm | not mistaken. | exabrial wrote: | [flagged] | tpl wrote: | They picked boring things to look at unfortunately. Not a lot | going on in Moka pot that you can't grok just by looking at and | taking it apart. Throwing a whole all-in-one countertop machine | might be cooler. | hex4def6 wrote: | Agree, although it was interesting seeing the porosity in the | casting in the new design. | hammock wrote: | And the aluminum shavings inside the chamber... | felipc wrote: | The point about the newer Bialettis being cheaper is absolutely | true. My mother has an old (>10 years) Moka that feels heavy and | sturdy. A couple of years ago, after accidentally leaving it on | the stove for too long, the bottom chamber and the filter basket | got a permanent burnt coffee taste, and we bought a new one to | replace it. That one was lighter and came with a significant | thinner filter basket, which I also attributed to either being | counterfeit or just they shipping cheaper versions of the product | to Brazil. | | Then, a couple of months ago, I was on vacation in Italy and | decided to get a brand new one as a gift, directly from an | official Bialetti store. To my surprise, the Mokas in the store | felt exactly like the lower-quality one we had bought in Brazil. | I didn't even buy the gift. | MarkMarine wrote: | You see a similar thing with the glass chemex. There is a | healthy market on eBay for pre-1980 models that were hand blown | from great quality glass. My wife got me one for a gift and the | difference in feel is remarkable. New ones feel fragile, this | feels solid and strong. I've broken two of the newer versions | and it's dangerous. The old one is still standing strong in my | house, surviving trips in my RV, and generally doing it's job. | I'm sure I sound like a curmudgeon but they don't make stuff | like they used to | anamexis wrote: | They still make high quality ones, you just have to | specifically get the "handblown series" (at 2-3x the price of | the regular). | | e.g. https://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/eight-cup-handblown- | series... | C-x_C-f wrote: | Bialetti has been on its last leg since 2015. They're drowning | in debt and (in the best case scenario) are headed toward | restructuring soon; in any case their future's not looking | bright. | tdullien wrote: | Any insights into what went wrong? | C-x_C-f wrote: | I'm not sure about the details. IMHO a contributing factor | is that they're a company historically centered around | manufacturing nearly indestructible appliances (even the | newer mokas, however flimsier, don't break easily); once | the market was saturated with the flagship product, there's | only so much profit they could squeeze out of selling | accessories and the like. | johnnyApplePRNG wrote: | They started making garbage quality products and their | brand recognition plummeted? Look at the mukka express for | example. [0] | | They did one thing well and succeeded for decades and then | tried to expand their business and failed miserably. | | I have seen crap quality bialetti everything. They make | pots and pans now too. | | [0] https://www.amazon.ca/Bialetti-Express-Cow-Print- | Stovetop-Ca... | void-pointer wrote: | It drives me crazy how V60 and Chemex are regarded as "modern" | when the Chemex is from the 40s and the V60 is a knock-off of the | Melitta 102 conical filter system, which was invented in 1936! | Fricken wrote: | 1936, that's the year the Charlie Chaplin film "Modern Times" | came out. | tokai wrote: | Isn't that modern in the sense of the modern movement in | design, and not modern as contemporary? | for1nner wrote: | > Compared to flat burrs, conical burrs also create a more | uniform particle size distribution, reducing the potential for | clogs and jams | | Well this is just...not true. Porlex musta sold them pretty hard | on Conicals. | exabrial wrote: | I've always thought that about conical burrs, but I guess I've | never seen anyone actually look at them under a microscope | either | GoofballJones wrote: | Just reading the headline I was like "why X-ray them? Couldn't | they just take them apart to see what's inside". But clicking on | the article made me go "Oh, I get it now. This is damn | interesting and very informative." | | Well done! | billsmithaustin wrote: | Moka pot rubber gaskets are replaceable. | murermader wrote: | The images on mobile behind the text lead to pretty low contrast | between foreground and background, making the text hard to read. | bragr wrote: | This site is probably one of the most clever bits of advertising | since the Will It Blend folks at Blendtec | supportengineer wrote: | Another company that made an indestructible product! | mlsu wrote: | This has to be a marketing exercise by the CT machine maker, | right? | | "We spotted casting issues with the new pot" "We can see the | density difference in the plastic" "We found aluminum shavings" | | For the right audience, this would definitely sell one of those | big fancy CT machines. | | Not that I'm complaining -- visuals, presentation, content is all | thoroughly interesting, speaking as someone with an Aeropress, a | Moka. Pretty awesome piece. | rx_tx wrote: | Correct, it's produced as a cool nerdy promo by a CT scan | machine company (https://www.scanofthemonth.com/about) | | Every article from them does pretty well on HN, understandably | so. | [deleted] | advisedwang wrote: | Yes, in the about us page they say it is "powered by" | Lumafield. | fabian2k wrote: | Nice images. It's probably too much effort, but for the grinder | it would have been interesting to compare the now rather old | Porlex grinder with the much heavier steel burr grinders you'd | get recommended today. Those are very noticeably heavier and more | massive compared to the Porlex, could be interesting to compare. | quickthrower2 wrote: | Those 4 items are a good coffee setup! | EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: | Nah, its all toys for lazy impatient kids. Real coffee needs | slow and thoughtful preparation in a cezve. | quickthrower2 wrote: | Them is the fighting words considering a moka pot is there! | trebligdivad wrote: | The 'nature' page on there is just lovely; including Romanesco | broccoli and pomegranate - just lovely. | munchler wrote: | I liked that page too, but did a double-take when they said | that the skin of a pomegranate protects it from "predators". | bowmessage wrote: | Incredible scans! | | > Removing used coffee immediately after brewing and storing the | AeroPress with the seal pushed all the way through the chamber | (as shown) can help minimize wear by reducing compression to | extend the gasket's life. | | But, that's not what's shown. Pushing the gasket all the way | through isn't possible unless the filter head is removed. | amatecha wrote: | Yeah I personally store mine with the filter head on, and the | plunger/gasket inner cylinder separate. Also other protip | (which may actually be in the instructions), I pour the hot | water onto the gasket before pushing it into the AeroPress, so | the material expands and will have a tighter seal. | angst_ridden wrote: | Proper storage is just pulling the plunger out entirely. | | Every few years, soaking the rubber seal in mineral oil | overnight then cleaning will restore flexibility (otherwise it | shrinks over time, reducing the quality of the seal). | | Unrelated: using paper filters is less eco-responsible than the | gold foil filter, but makes for better coffee. | bowmessage wrote: | Why is pulling the plunger out entirely necessary for proper | storage? I always just push mine all the way through so the | rubber isn't under any tension. | | Disagreed on the paper filters, I personally enjoy using a | metal filter to ensure the oils from the coffee beans are not | filtered out. I suppose it is all subjective. | joezydeco wrote: | When the plunger is at the end of travel and out of | tension, the cap won't fit on. | | I just tried screwing on my cap and it forces the plunger | back into the shaft, compressing it. | pavon wrote: | Yeah, so you just set it down cap up, not screwed in. | Takes up less space than keeping the plunger separate, | and is just as good on the plunger. | angst_ridden wrote: | That works too. I call it "proper" because it removes one | step _before_ I have coffee, which, no matter how trivial, | is a big deal for me in the morning. | | Interesting about the filter. I prefer super dark roast, | Italian espresso-grind coffees. The paper filters give me a | much smoother brew. Of course, as you say, taste is | entirely subjective! I'm envious, because I'd rather have | just one reusable filter rather than go through a stack of | paper discs each year. | semi-extrinsic wrote: | I've never maintained or replaced the seal on mine in over | ten years, and it still seals just fine. It's made from | silicone rubber, which is extreme durability even when | continuously exposed to temperatures above boiling or strong | acids/bases. As used in the AeroPress where it's just sitting | at room temperature indoors for 99% of the time, durability | is at least 20 years. | | I also use a metal filter, but just for the taste and | convenience of not having to buy paper filters. | | The eco-responsibility argument against filters I don't get. | Unless you drink extreme amounts of coffee, you use | significantly more paper in a day just going to the bathroom. | I hope people aren't using metal foil for that as well. | <insert seashell joke here> | pavon wrote: | My first one had to replaced after about 6 or 7 years. The | plunger rubber had gotten worn down, and the internal wall | of the brewing compartment had become blistered from hot | water (I used 170-185F water). The new one with different | materials seems to be holding up better. | totoglazer wrote: | Such a cool idea, and attractive images. However I'm kind of | disappointed they mostly picked things that are fairly simple, | transparent or openable, and look exactly the way you'd expect | them to inside. I assume some combination of cost & size drove | this. | | A vintage espresso machine with 1 group head would be more novel, | for example. | OJFord wrote: | And even that you essentially disassemble them and see how they | work through using them. I suppose a lot of people only know or | use one or two ways and may be completely unfamiliar with | others though. | amatecha wrote: | There are scans of other, more-complex objects on the site, | such as the Nintendo Game Boy series: | https://www.scanofthemonth.com/scans/game-boy-compendium | joezydeco wrote: | I actually enjoyed this one more, since it was used to point | out measured tolerances and problems with manufacturing (voids, | bubbles, untrimmed flash, shavings, etc). | jacobwilliamroy wrote: | You just reminded me there's a video on youtube of a guy | literally tearing a Juicero apart and it's hilarious: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cp-BGQfpHQ | somewhat_drunk wrote: | Thank you for posting this. I've seen it a few times already, | but I'm watching it again, and it's cracking me up, yet | again. | switchbak wrote: | Probably one of AvE's best videos. I was just chatting about | the peak Silicon Valley insanity that was Juicero yesterday. | | That thing was built like a Bugatti. And he's like "why not | use a roller instead of a press??". | mtreis86 wrote: | It really is, he is equally impressed and disgusted with | this one, a rare combination. Most impressively built stuff | isn't so wasteful. And most useless junk isn't nearly so | well made. | jacobwilliamroy wrote: | I think they were trying to turn food into a subscription | service? Having complete control over a person's food | supply sounds like an 8 million dollar idea. It still | sounds like a really bad idea, but I think that is how | Juicero was pitched to investors, rather than a spaceship | that squeezes bags marginally worse than a person can. | etrautmann wrote: | Even when first announced, it became a meme among friends | Juicero (and Ubeam) were peak Silicon Valley. | kens wrote: | Lumafield scanned a 1960s flip flop module for me, to help | reverse engineer some vintage NASA hardware. The module | contained a bunch of resistors, transistors, capacitors, and | diodes, encased in a 13-pin plastic package. These modules had | various functions and were used like integrated circuits, but | made from discrete components in the pre-IC time. With the | Lumafield scans, I could reverse-engineer the circuitry. | | My writeup: https://www.righto.com/2022/08/lumafield-flip- | flop.html | lostlogin wrote: | E-61! Second choice, Atomic stovetop espresso machine. | | With clinical equipment you can image all sorts of things | beautifully, but a hunk of brass won't generate any useful | images. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-08-31 23:00 UTC)