Handgrinders

Lacehim

on 1353048809:

Well, I picked up a Spong #3 this week for $40, in good condition (still with most of the sticker and the gold lettering/trim) but lacking the grind tray.

You lucky bugger!  I've been looking for a #3 for ages, just can't seem to find them at a reasonable price, and in a reasonable condition.

JamesM

My first hand grinder was for portability, Hario mini slim. It failed after a few brews (the inner shaft just turned inside the plastic burr carrier). I sent it back and the shop sent me a new replacement which did the same thing. Certainly not user error. Just really poor manufacturing. The metal shaft has these "pressed ears / tags" that turn the burr carrier. The 'tags' just aren't big enough to not turn inside and strip the plastic out. My second hand grinder a Porlex mini. I LOVE this hand grinder, it's stainless steel, sexy, fits inside aeropress for travel and grinds like a boss! Funny, it's made very much the same as the Hario, but just seems of much higher quality. I still use it regularly. The Spong is interesting. I can't say I'm a collector but I stumbled across it somewhere and started reading up on it. The more and more I read the more I wanted one. I found one locally on gumtree and went for a look. She was asking $65. The pictures looked good in the advert. The fact that the gold paint was still on it was a treat. I emailed her and asked her if the crank turned, she said yes, so I went for a look. When I walked in the door she had it drying on the kitchen dish rack, she'd washed it. It was really clean. BUT as you can imagine, you wet them and they rust up. As I was looking at it, she said "you can take it for $40". WOW, I was going to bargain her down to $55. hah. There's no place for it in the kitchen sadly as I have two small kids who will play with anything within reach, and a "mostly-understanding" wife who would kill me seeing it attached to the stone benchtops. So it's mounted in the garage at the moment. Still easy to get to and use. I love how beasty the thing is, and how easy to use. drop beans in and crank, It's VERY easy and pretty fast. It retains pretty much NO grinds inside. On the weekend I enjoyed a couple of syphon brews and Aeropress brews all with spong-ground coffee If I "stumble" across other sized spongs I might have to check em out hahaha

BLrdFX

Very lucky indeed!  I regret selling mine 25 years ago...

Lacehim

on 1353291715:

If I "stumble" across other sized spongs I might have to check em out hahaha

From what I can see the smaller ones need more cranks (smaller burrs) to grind the same amount of coffee.  They range from #0 to #4.  Personally I'm looking for a #3, so keep you eye out for one for me!

JamesM

indeed, the smaller ones take more grinds. the 3 has a massive 4" burr, the '2' is far smaller. As for physical grinder size, it's really not that big on the bench.

C-man

will it grind exact enough for espresso machines?

JamesM

on 1355724244:

will it grind exact enough for espresso machines?

apparently yes, although I've not tried this, it would be difficult to get it grinding that fine I think... Does a great consistent grind for filter brewing

Lacehim

Well yesterday I cleaned my Spong #2, rather easy really and I pulled a shot.  Only had to pull one, it was perfect!  Go figure that!  I used this guide http://www.home-barista.com/grinders/spong-coffee-mills-grinder-for-23rd-century-t16165.html and I only cleaned it, I didn't soak it to remove the rust, put some oil on it, and dab of grease as required where the adjustment meets the burrset. I put 16gms in, ground it fine, use my OE funnel to ensure it actually went from the container into the basket, a quick WDT to make sure everything was distributed evenly, tamp and pull.  I was using the stock double basket that came with the Achilles (the one that no one actually likes) and I got an amazing shot, no channelling either!  Sweet. I'm on the look out for a #3 now, mainly because you have to do something like 100 turns on this thing for a triple basket!  You get a work out that's for sure,  but for a handgrinder it's amazing how good it is!  Why aren't they still making these things?  I would like a red one!

C-man

Welcome to hand grinding, when did you get that? Now you should be able to "feel" the difference between soft and hard beans, softer beans usually like a finer grind, lighter roast and lower extraction pressures, so it seems to me anyway.

shape_shifter

...and I got 'looked down on' when I said there is nothing wrong with a spong, I still think I've had my best coffee from one of them.

WiredArabica

/delurk I'd just like to make the observation that these forums are dangerous places.  I seem to have won a spong #3 on a popular NZ trading site, looks to be in fairly good condition from the photos, can't wait to get it here and have a look inside...  Better roast another couple of batches of beans for the weekend  ;.

Kelsey

Great to have you on board WiredArabica! What are you currently using as a grinder?

WiredArabica

on 1359442432:

What are you currently using as a grinder?

Cheers for the welcome Kelsey. Currently using a Mazzer SJ as my main espresso grinder, and the Breville Smart at work for manual brew. I'm hoping that the Spong will work adequately for manual brew methods - Chemex and CCD in particular.

Kelsey

That's a serious big grinder you've got - what espresso machine is paired with it?

WiredArabica

Breville Dual Boiler.  May look at upgrading at some point but it's doing everything I need at the moment.

Kelsey

You *could* upgrade from that, but only for bling factor - or if leveritis strikes.

WiredArabica

on 1359450255:

You *could* upgrade from that, but only for bling factor - or if leveritis strikes.

Haha very true.  I'm interested in the concept of a lever but I've lots to learn before that ever happens.  Quite happy with the BDB really, it's just easy to live with  :coffee2:

Kelsey

That's something many of us forget - wether balance between excellence and ease!

JamesM

thread bump. SPONG & CO has announced their return. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but their web site http://spong.co is live, but not featuring much yet, and their social media is ticking. See what happens!

Brett H

on 1367904218:

thread bump. SPONG & CO has announced their return. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but their web site http://spong.co is live, but not featuring much yet, and their social media is ticking. See what happens!

Holy crikey.  I'd be very interested in one of these if they'd just add a motor and a dosing funnel...  :pan

shape_shifter

I've got three (one a never been used Salter) but you can never have enough Spongs  :thumb:

hiphipharar

on 1367904218:

thread bump. SPONG & CO has announced their return. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but their web site http://spong.co is live, but not featuring much yet, and their social media is ticking. See what happens!

You see heaps of placeholder sites, usually displaying when someone makes a typo in a URL or try to access a disused domain. I couldn't find any indication from my search that Spong was returning but I would be happy to be proven wrong. I have a Spong #2 (Salter) and it's brilliant for my manual brewing needs.

JamesM

wow, sorry about the URL, it was working only a few days go. WASN'T a place holder, was an actual spong web page... They're on facebook and twitter too.

shape_shifter

James what are the links for FB and twitter?

Kelsey

https://www.facebook.com/SpongCoffee

shape_shifter

Thanks Kelsey, found and liked  :thumb:

JamesM

looks like http://spong.co is working again... I asked them what went wrong, they were not aware of a web issue. Oh well... Looking forward to seeing the product range. Will it be the original Spong's re-produced, or some new stuff too? I'm looking forward to buying some grind tray's... I have none.

hiphipharar

on 1368146066:

looks like http://spong.co is working again...

Nope - I'm still getting the Pagoda page. spong.co.uk is unrelated as is spong.com.

shape_shifter

I found them here http://www.spong.co/

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1368163368:

I found them here http://www.spong.co/

All that was needed was a forward slash after .com/ KK