Dan,
Dan, what an ingenious solution! And I got a good chuckle about you changing the color of the cups to suit your mood! Also, I took note of your pristine equipment---not a grind to be seen. I'm so glad to have the link.
Thank you for pointing out the more important issue with the Vario. I didn't realize that none of the espresso grinders can return to the exact previous espresso setting once the setting is changed. That seems weird to me, but then I don't yet understand how the grinder mechanism works.
I thought the Vario might be different, but I think you're saying that it's the same issue with the Vario, even if it's a high tech electronic setting.
So that just leans me even further toward the Virtuoso or Maestro dedicated to coarse grinding and deal with the espresso issue, both grinder and machine, later. BIG THANK YOU, Dan!
After seeing your photos, I realized where some of the misunderstanding about my questions lies. The Compak K3 that I've been using is doserless. That was recommended by Chris' Coffee because I'm doing primarily filter/French press brewing. The rest of you probably all have doser grinders, so the exit chute goes into the doser. My exit chute does directly into the cup I use to catch the ground coffee. When I talked about the trough at the top of the exit chute, I meant a trough at the top of the throat of the exit chute, something like what Randy Glass is showing in his photos, which are in the link you (Dan) provided about the paint brush. I've been using a brush similar to Randy's, but mine is curved and I use it from the outside bottom of the trough to the inside upper part. His brush is bent and can be turned 180 degrees so the bend works both from the inside going down and the outside going up the chute.
As an aside, Cilio makes a curved natural bristle brush that I just ordered. Here's the link:
http://www.storehousecoffee.com/bristlebrush.htmlTo Bob_McBob: you've summed it up very well. It comes down to the Vario vs two dedicated grinders, one for coarse and one for fine. That underscores what everyone else said.
You've all helped me avoid an expensive poor choice that would have cost me money, time, and frustration.