Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

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Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby Belgik » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:11 am

...won it on Ebay and it arrived yesterday, which evening I did a first cleaning. Man, did that thing stink for the deeply embedded staleness! Taking it apart is a rather straightforward matter, and putting it back together proved no problem. I soaked (in fact, boiled) the metallic parts
in a strong solution of ..I think it's called "Micave" or something.. grouphead cleaning powder, after having first scraped off the oozy gunk from everywhere. Phew... Anyway, now everything is quite clean, and the grind-adjustment coil spring is oiled.

I will yet use some metal sandpaper on the visible metallic parts, some metal-cleaning paste I use on my motorcycle on the exterior aluminium and other metal parts, and sand off "splintery" edges and the old varnish off the surfaces, and re-varnish the old wooden "bodywork", so I expect the old Zass to be in a nice "restored" (NOT new!) condition thereafter.

Question: how does one go about sharpening burrs?
What are the no-no's?

The grinder works well, but I want to reach full turkish/greek coffee"powder" grind, and that may be more difficult (I've only ground a bit of uncooked Thai rice till now, and the grind is not "powder"...)

Thanks any useful tips there..
ECM Giotto maquinas, Macap M5 grinder, reconditioned Zassenhaus manual grinder,
Thor tamper, Britta filtered water, cheap vacuum cleaner, Hottop "basic" roaster, green beans in stock.
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RE: Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby bruceb » Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:42 am

I've never heard of anyone successfully sharpening Zass burrs. If you are able to do it please document with pictures and describe the process for us. Thanks very much.
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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RE: Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby GeorgeW » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:42 pm

I managed to tidy up the burrs on my Zass using a fine grinding stone in my Dremmel. Worked fine but one must be careful in not generating too much heat.
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RE: Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby Belgik » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:36 am

So far, I have dropped the idea of sharpening the burrs: it grinds easily to espresso standards but I have yet to seen if I can reach anything near turkish coffee powder standard. In the meantime, I have sanded, varnished, re-sanded, re-varnished, polished the metal parts, put it all back together with (bottom) new nails and wood-glue, (top) new copper screws. Looks shiny but not new: showing her age, with ample dignity.
ECM Giotto maquinas, Macap M5 grinder, reconditioned Zassenhaus manual grinder,
Thor tamper, Britta filtered water, cheap vacuum cleaner, Hottop "basic" roaster, green beans in stock.
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Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:44 am
Location: Antwerp-Brussels axis

RE: Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby Fatboy_007 » Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:23 am

I have just received a similarly 'old' Zass via ebay, any chance you could post some pics of yours so I can see what I can expect to get after I have a real go at mine. ;-)
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RE: Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby kingseven » Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:10 pm

Is ebay the only choice for buying in the UK?
http://www.jimseven.com

I'll never own too many items with which to enjoy coffee.
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RE: Old Zassenhaus hand grinder...

Postby bruceb » Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:11 pm

Well, I've got a couple I would happily part with if anyone is interested. I don't want to make a profit from them, just get what I paid for them. Please PM me for pictures and prices.
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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