Espresso-Outfitters is always open to new ideas and in fact, at times takes the initiative to build prototypes that push the boundaries in design and function. With this four foot espresso cart we've used aluminum sheet metal for it's surfacing with the traditional black trim.  "Ignore" the castors, the cart is just resting on a souped up floor dolly for now, adding an aluminum base frame with low profile Colson castors is scheduled to be put in place in that area.  We have several other ideas we may incorporate within this design to make it stand out more then the rest as well, and of course, we are always open to suggestions.

Updates:

April 23, 2005
As you may have noticed, we aren't building this cart at lightening speeds, but are making progress.  We always put side projects like these to the side when "paying" orders come in, but it looks like we have a couple of days to take a breather and put a bit more time into this one.

We Found a designer surge protector at our local Target, it's design was a perfect match for the cart it's going into.  This particular one was originally designed to simply rest on the floor, so we had to mount it to it's own removable back plate to place it in a more appropriate area.  As you may have noticed, there is a slight color variation in the interior panels, with this experiment, we've used only one layer of bender board in order to form the radius, we've opted to make up for the thinner material by applying a specialized waterproof carpenters glue to the inside area that wasn't covered up by the jig.  The final structure is sound, but we've opted to keep the 2 layer minimum for carts above the micro standard lines since we still needed to reinforce the edges in order to make up for the larger expanse.

We mounted the the base frame and it's castors keeping things scaled down in this area in order to reduce the counter height as well as keeping things lighter considering we are adding onto this one in unique ways, we're planning ahead knowing someone is going to have to physically move this around as well as likely, be loading it  from a truck or trailer.  Going this route also keeps the costs down for the end buyer, "Yes this cart will be for sales after it's completed". Without committing to any particular internal layout, we are keeping the divider removable, also, have opted to mount a regular counter with extensions onto it "photo's coming soon" so that what we build onto it after this point can also be assembled and added into other carts with similar layouts after the fact.

April 24, 2005

We've posted a couple of shots showing the progress made, in this case with the counter, we are using 3/4" plywood for it's base compared to the 1" verola of which we normally use for the mini standard lines.  One of the obstacles to overcome going this route is getting the rubber bumper to not push into itself where the extensions and counter ends, with the larger material, this isn't a factor, so we are going to make adjustments with our procedures in order to accomplish this.  So far, the cart is only weighing in at only 130 lb., which makes one of our goals we set out to do fall right in line.

April 26, 2005
We've reached the end of this spree of design exploration for a short while, as always, the direct requests for production take precedence, so this cart will have to be set aside for now.  We are leaving you the updates in graphical and text format.

We've decided it's time to add storage space while keeping the "awning" type of look in tact.  Your logo and/or menu being upon this platform will be easily noticed and can house extra lighting as well.  Current photo is set up just to show generally how this system will look when it's completed, we simply rested some scrap aluminum tubing just to represent what should be there, similar to stacking a deck of cards, so nothing is joined, or mounted in any way.  Future plans are to weld a flange around the posts, give them a permanent high end finish; The height we've settled with is a bit smaller then normal but just within the standard doorway confines and is most ergonomic for the operator, the posts themselves will rest upon the outer edges of the upper "not shown", freeing up valuable counter space as well as not needing to retract in order to be moved.

Check back later for future sneak peaks from the shop, we'll post more photo's of this cart as we progress with it.