Handgrinders

Lacehim · May 2011

Hello,

I have been considering a handgrinder for my lever machine. The machine is fairly portable for an espresso machine. Any suggestions to point me in the right direction?

There seems to be a variety of handgrinders out there, old and new but I really don't know what is good and what is not.

Koffee_Kosmo · May 2011

Try the aluminium chute mod on the K6 first Its 0.5mm thick sheet, and can be cut with scissors Available at better hardware or craft shops (sometimes other metals are available) If that does not work I have 6 box type hand-grinders in very good condition that I dont use, and I can sell one to you KK

shape_shifter · May 2011

If you can find a Spong they are brilliant, really hard to find though and nope I'll never give mine up ;D

beanflying · May 2011

Both the Kyocera and the Grindripper (grinder) will do espresso grind for my Pavoni really well, there are also the Hario (mini) and the Porlex which I haven't used but apparently work well. In the hand the Kyocera or the Hario (mini) are nicer but the Stainless finish on the Porlex might suit better. The Grindripper will need to be ground into a non attached container unlike the others then dispensed into the PF. The interesting and odd one out of recent times is the Orphan Espresso 70mm conical burr grinder. Still not sure I like the lower hopper but the rest of it is nicely over engineered

shape_shifter · May 2011

I now have two spongs and one Salter spong ;D I love my spongs ;D

Lacehim · May 2011

Did you win the sprong off ebay?

shape_shifter · May 2011

Lacehim, yes I got one Spong, No.1 and the Salter off ebay, the Spong from here and the Salter from the UK, both are complete and the Salter is brand new

Anger I wish, people don't know what they have sometimes.

beanflying · May 2011

Nothing wrong with buying an expresso or even better an exxpresso machine or grinder ;D Muat add a spong or similar to the collection sometime

Lacehim · May 2011

Lucky bugger AM. I've been looking for a 2 or 3 preferably. Some seem in good nick, but others a bit tired looking. Can these spongs clean up ok with a little tlc? Shape shifter what's the salter like? Is it a copy of the spong? What's the quality like?

shape_shifter · May 2011

Lacehim the Salter looks like an identical copy, probably made under licence from Spong. The box looks very very old. I'll be able to tell you more when it arrives

Lacehim · May 2011

Where do you find em shapeshifter? All the ones I see in the Uk are no postage oversea due to weight.

Would love a no3 or a no2.

Koffee_Kosmo · May 2011

on 1305541199:

Where do you find em shapeshifter? All the ones I see in the Uk are no postage oversea due to weight. Would love a no3 or a no2.

I found a #2 on ebay Canada $12.50 + postage http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Marswell-2-Hand-Table-Meat-Grinder-Mincer-Top-Opens-/370495140594?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item56433b32f2 KK

Lacehim · May 2011

That's a meat grinder #2 KK. ;D I've never used a spong, but I've read a bit about them and they seem to be good for espresso, and would look great in the kitchen. Problem is overseas postage. I found an ebay UK #3 Spong but it's about 2.5kg!!!!

From what I've read the main diff between 1, 2 & 3 is that the lower the number the smaller the burrs. I would love a #3, but would settle for a nice #2.

shape_shifter · May 2011

Here is a great thread on Spongs from HB. It goes to show that you can match a hand grinder with a machine without having someone put you down for it ;D http://www.home-barista.com/grinders/spong-coffee-mills-grinder-for-23rd-century-t16165.html#p191823 The Salter is actually younger than the Spong, the Salters bought out a section of Spong, they continued making the Spongs, under the Salter name, for a short time and then ceased production. I highly doubt we will use the Salter, it will just be a show piece

askthecoffeeguy · May 2011

I highly recommend the Turkish Hon solid construction brass finish with conical steel blades - its designed to grind fine enough for Turkish coffee coffee (although it is adjustable) - and is only $35 from Naturally on High - in High Street, Thornbury, Vic (although I've seen them retail for more than twice that elsewhere) I took mine on holiday recently and teamed it with my stovetop and home roasted coffee and I enjoyed better coffee than what many cafes were offering while we were away I word of warning though I always use the finest setting and it takes ten minutes of grinding to create enough coffee for a double espresso! Cheers Pat

Lacehim · May 2011

That's a great bit of info shapeshifter. I read that a while ago and that's why I would love to try a no.2 or 3 as they suggested. Not many locally, and I don't know if they can be revived. Some look a little rusty and rough, others look like new. Loads in the UK, but 3.5kg and postage is a killer!!!!

hazbean · May 2011

Just joined here, looks interesting. I guess some will recognize the name from other places ... It's taken a while, but I've come to appreciate Spong over the last few weeks. A Spong 2 first came into the household (forgotten how) years ago, but I took a quick look at the "soft" burrs, said this'll never work, consigned it to the Grinder Graveyard, and went back to using my favourite Zass (the hand grinder gets used almost every day for syphon, Chemex etc -- just like manual grinders for manual brewing). More recently a no 1 arrived. I thought it looked cute so put it on the bench, then eventually started using it, and was quite impressed with the results. With a bit of practice the grind level can be adjusted consistently (more easily than on Zass and similar). I bang the grinds in a diffuser basket out of an old teapot in order to get rid of some fines, but actually there aren't a lot (IMHO it does make a difference though, especially with syphon). After seeing this thread a few days ago, we remembered the no2, exhumed it, pulled it apart (a couple of the screws needed help), cleaned up the rust etc and got it going. It's now sitting on the bench having turfed the no1. It works very smoothly, less effort needed with the bigger burr (even though it isn't that much bigger, and its footprint on the bench is a not a lot more than the no1). It can stay for a while, at least until we get a chance to clean up the no1, which probably needs it. There is also another Spong in the collection. It's round, and came from the UK. It's obviously made by Salter, as it's in the same style as a Salter pepper mill. Marked "QC1" on the bottom. The adjustment mechanism on this looks pretty solid, looks like it should keep the burrs firmly in place. However after looking up some pictures it was obvious that the previous owners had re-assembled it incorrectly, and also that a ball bearing that's supposed to go on the end of the shaft is missing. So when I find one of those will try it out. The burr looks to be the same design as on the "real" Spong. I'm looking forward to giving it a go. With the cast burrs, although I'm now convinced that they work well, I'd still be a bit wary of wear in a heavily used one. Below are a couple of pics of the QC1, you can see some wear spots fairly clearly.

Koffee_Kosmo · May 2011

on 1305548659:

That's a meat grinder #2 KK. ;D I've never used a spong, but I've read a bit about them and they seem to be good for espresso, and would look great in the kitchen. Problem is overseas postage. I found an ebay UK #3 Spong but it's about 2.5kg!!!! From what I've read the main diff between 1, 2 & 3 is that the lower the number the smaller the burrs. I would love a #3, but would settle for a nice #2.

I will PM you with a proper find of #1 , #2 coffee spong grinders Dont say I am not looking after you KK

Lacehim · May 2011

Thanks KK for the PM. Still looking... If anyone spots a No.2 or No.3 in good nick, please let me know.

Gra · May 2011

on 1305676939:

Thanks KK for the PM. Still looking... If anyone spots a No.2 or No.3 in good nick, please let me know.

Spong No.2 Cast Iron Conical Burr Coffee Grinder SUPERB UK Spong No.2 Conical Burr coffee grinder. This can be mounted onto any bench/ledge easily with the clamp at the bottom, or it can be wall mounted. It has large conical burrs and is made of... $129.95 Sorrentina Coffee Online Cart0 Cheers Gra..

Lacehim · May 2011

on 1305766549:

Spong No.2 Cast Iron Conical Burr Coffee Grinder SUPERB UK Spong No.2 Conical Burr coffee grinder. This can be mounted onto any bench/ledge easily with the clamp at the bottom, or it can be wall mounted. It has large conical burrs and is made of... $129.95 Sorrentina Coffee Online Cart0 Cheers Gra..

Cool, thanks Gra. I might email him about it. He only had #1s in stock last time I looked.

Gra · May 2011

on 1305773238:

on 1305766549:

on 1305676939:

Thanks KK for the PM. Still looking... If anyone spots a No.2 or No.3 in good nick, please let me know.

Spong No.2 Cast Iron Conical Burr Coffee Grinder SUPERB UK Spong No.2 Conical Burr coffee grinder. This can be mounted onto any bench/ledge easily with the clamp at the bottom, or it can be wall mounted. It has large conical burrs and is made of... $129.95 Sorrentina Coffee Online Cart0

LOL... How are ya going Gra... Been quite ?

Been a bit crook with this Polymyalgia rheumatica for the last month trying to get a happy medium with the meds. I have checked in now and again to keep up with what's going on, I will just have to get my self motivated again. Try posting a wile back and add pics but could not get more then one to show and then when I went to edit every thing turned to crap so I deleted it and chucked a wobble. >:( ;D ;D Cheers Gra..

Lacehim · May 2011

My little sis says she's happy to bring one over from the UK, so now I just have to find one over there. They have plenty baggage allowance so no issues there. 50 pounds postage is just insane, I would rather give her the 50 for her job as my courier!

So, now it's down to a #2 or #3? I'm leaning towards the #3, bigger burrs and less work grinding the coffee has to be a good thing.

Lacehim · May 2011

Nearly had a spong 3 in my sights but the auction ended at 5am and I thought it was at 5pm! Doh. Went for just a tad under $100 but used as an ornament for 30 years with the occasional grind, looked in great nick and even had the grinds tray! :o

shape_shifter · May 2011

Lacehim you need to get Auction Sniper up and running, we use it for everything that finishes at stupid hours.

UNM · June 2011

While perusing another forum over in the UK (thanks Lacehim), I see I can get new porlex for 30 uk pound. Worth getting? Price seems fair (just under au$45), but I haven't done much research.

beanflying · June 2011

Locally the Porlex is $75 at Market Lane so the price in the UK is a good one. Just with these type of grinders (Hario, Kyocera, Grindripper) they do suffer at course grind settings for brewed methods. At Aeropress, Moka or Espresso grinds they are all pretty good.

Brett H · June 2011

on 1306564784:

Lacehim you need to get Auction Sniper up and running, we use it for everything that finishes at stupid hours.

But what happens if two auction snipers hit the same item??? Does your hand grinder suddenly go for Mazzer money?

shape_shifter · June 2011

;D Brett, no idea, maybe it would come down to microseconds, you still put a maximum bid in, so it won't go above that anyway.

UNM · June 2011

Well, I ordered a couple of Porlex grinders and an aeropress - bought a second to get over the threshold for free shipping - I reckon I can sell it back here at cost and they are presumably small and light.

hazbean · July 2011

A brief report on cleaning up a Spong No 1 grinder. A friend asked us to do this after she retrieved it from the garage and found it completely jammed. These are easily disassembled, two screws on the back, easily removed for this one. Below is a picture of what was inside. Lots of black ooze, especially in the base of the burr (next to the body in the pic).

This looks awful, but in this case removing it only took a few minutes. We then used a steel brush etc to tidy up the rust and it was looking pretty good, as in the second pic.

This pic shows what they are like inside. The burr is standing up (the handle screws into the end). The burr carrier (the body of the grinder, below the funnel) is just behind the burr. It's a nicely designed burr, in pretty good nick in this example. Below middle is the back of the grinder. This shows the pressure plate (with indent in the middle of it) over which the base of the burr fits. This holds the burr in place to maintain a given grind adjustment. In front of the burr are the two scews that hold the grinder together, and the L-shaped adjustment screw that goes in the back. Note the locking nut on this -- it is neede to hold the grind level in place, and is sometimes missing (take care if buying secondhand!). There are some more pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/haazbean/SpongGrinderRenovation

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