More grinder advice

[davidd]

Having followed the previous discussion with great interest, I am still at a bit of a loss as to which grinder to buy. Having just bought an Alpenrost, I am hoping to try lots of different beans, in lots of different grinds, for espresso, drip, and caffetiere (plus any others that cross my path). The Mazzer is much too big for my kitchen (hope it was a TMC'er that one the one on e-bay over the weekend), and the Isomac Pro. looks just the job, but seems to have some queation marks regarding strength/reliability. Is the La Pavoni Jolly Lusso worth looking at? (Or any other suggestions?).

[MKSwing]

La Pavoni Jolly Lusso worth looking at? (Or any other suggestions?).

Hi, the La Pavoni is a good grinder, gives a equal grind and is able to cover the whole range of coffee grinding. But I hate it. Why ? Because the perfect grind is always between 2 presets. I am so angry about it that I decided to use my Zassenhaus manual grinder instead. Plus this trains my arm muscles

[phil]

Having just bought an Alpenrost

Really?

[moccafaux]

MKswing
You can easily convert a grinder to stepless, IF you dont need to re-adjust it continuosly over a big area.
If the necessary adjustment is to be done only in the range of tw or three clicks, do as follow:
Unscrew the upper carrier and remove whatever pins, levers, springs there are to lock the steps.
Smear an amount of beeswax on the threads, you may have to experiment how much thread will be covered.
Screw the carriuer back, if it gets to hard to turn either remove some wax or gently heat the metall with a hairdryer. Then bolt down to the required setting.
Small changes in the adjustment can now be made and the wax wil fix the position spot-on.
Works on my Gaggia MDF since months.

[davidd]

Phil. Why the 'why' regarding the Alpenrost. As I explained in another posting, I would have loved a Hottop but .... (i) I don't have the room (ii) Spending that much on a (first) roaster would have Mrs.d dark roasting me - in small pieces, and (iii) It's a birthday present from herself (a 'hardly used' e-bay special), so how could I say 'no'? I'll give it a try, and having smoked out the kitchen a few times, perhaps she'll be pleading with me to trade it in on a Hottop. The grinder is to replace a small, bladed (nasty) beastie with three settings, and I thought the La Pavoni would go well with my 'Professional'.

[MKSwing]

and I thought the La Pavoni would go well with my 'Professional'.

Ok, that's what I thought for my Europiccola and now I regret. And the Pavoni grinder is not so good looking.
Btw, I forgot another thing that makes me mad... the channel from the burrs to the doser is long and flat, it can contain about 10g of grounds that never fall in the doser, really bad engineering. Believe me, pick a manual Zassenhaus until you have money/room/wife authorization to buy a stepless burr grinder like the mazzer.

[MKSwing]

Unscrew the upper carrier and remove whatever pins, levers, springs there are to lock the steps.
Smear an amount of beeswax on the threads, you may have to experiment how much thread will be covered.
Screw the carriuer back, if it gets to hard to turn either remove some wax or gently heat the metall with a hairdryer. Then bolt down to the required setting.
Small changes in the adjustment can now be made and the wax wil fix the position spot-on.
Works on my Gaggia MDF since months.

If I do that my wife will very hard, you know.

[simonp]

and the Isomac Pro. looks just the job, but seems to have some queation marks regarding strength/reliability

I have had some issues, but I am assured by the supplier that it is in general very reliable, so maybe I have just been unlucky. When it is working it does grind very well. Given my experience, I would go for the Iberital that uses the same burrset, but has a worm drive adjuster to give very fine control, this is what I fitted to my Isomac.

I have just purchased a secondhand Rancilio Rocky, for a bargain price, from someone who has just bought a shinier Rocky. I though that given my problems a backup would be handy. It will be interesting to compare the grinders, particularly the adjustment level. I'll post my findings

[phil]

I have just purchased a secondhand Rancilio Rocky, for a bargain price, from someone who has just bought a shinier Rocky.

Ah, the TMC grinder merry-go-round!

If you'd have been more decisive you'd have got the shiny one at a knock-down price!

[simonp]

If you'd have been more decisive you'd have got the shiny one at a knock-down price!

Ah, yes, but I couldn't make the decision until I had the new part for the Isomac .
Steve did offer to let me have the shiny one for what he paid you, but I felt that as he got in there first, it was unfair, so had the non-shiny one at an even more knock-down price .

[moccafaux]

MKswing. Thats one lovely "smiley". Did I make some lewd/sexist/ageist remark by chance? Maybe your wife is beeswax-o-phobic? It works, honest!
Phil. Can we add thad said smile to our vwindow, please?

[MKSwing]

MKswing. Thats one lovely "smiley". Did I make some lewd/sexist/ageist remark by chance? Maybe your wife is beeswax-o-phobic? It works, honest!
Phil. Can we add thad said smile to our vwindow, please?

I just wanted to use those smileys and found your solution a little tricky.

[phil]

Re smilies, I can add new ones to the forum list if:

1. I like it
2. Someone sends me the image file
3. I have assurances that the image is freely available for use, and so in using it we will not be (however inadvertently) "stealing"

Cheers

Phil

[MKSwing]

I have to ask about the point 3.

[moccafaux]

Tricky?
No, cheap and ingenious!

My christmas-wishlist:
- Hottop
- Mazzer Mini
- professional espresso-machine
- a new and healthy body.
I would even consider and settle for a rich wife!