Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and have a question regarding my equipment .
I just upgraded to a Cellini's from a Silvia. I also purchased a rocky grinder. Am I wasting my time with this grinder on this machine? The grinder is only two months old and the shots taste great. Thank you for your feedback.

Are you wasting your time? No.

Were the better choices for a grinder? Yes.

Can you get good shots with the rocky? Clearly.

Should you return/sell the rocky and get something like a Vario? I would.

felixnyc wrote:...and the shots taste great.

Then you are on the right track. I found with time the Rocky needed some adjusting but nothing crazy. I did the teflon tape mod (search forums) to make it kinda stepless and was able to grind finer which was sometimes helpful and provided more control.

Over time (1.5 years) I kept my eye out for used Mazzers on eBay and eventually upgraded to a Super Jolly. I found that the change in grinder really did improve my shots on my old Silvia. The Rocky is in my office now and I use it to make some wonderful coffee with my Aeropress at work.

Thanks for the feedback. Since the rocky is new I am going to try and sell it while I shop around for a mazzer. I have been told that I should not have any trouble selling the machine. Thanks again.

HB wrote:Why the rush to upgrade?

I will have to agree with Dan. I currently use a MD40, which is a beefed up version of the Rocky and believe me, you can pull very good shots with that grinder and machine setup.

Yes, you really should consider the teflon tape mod, or something along this line to stabilise the upper burr if you can detect any movement. I have done it on the MD40 which made a huge improvement.

A simple test to do to check is the burr is loose is to run the grinder empty and then find the point at which the burrs start contacting by screwing in the upper burr. From that point, back off the burr by one adjustment notch, this is your zero-not-to-exceed-point. From that point again, back off the burr by one adjustment notch, and push down on one side of the upper burr (finger push - about say 10lbs max.). The burr should contact when pressed but should not when released. Back off one more adjustment notch and repeat the side pressure. This time there should be no contact between the burrs. If there is contact, it means that there is "excessive" looseness (backlash) in the burr threads and adding teflon tape will reduce this backlash.

This is the procedure I used on the MD40. I have added teflon tape (tightly applied) until the backlash was within one adjustment notch. It is possible that the Rocky is a little more flexible and may not allow to reach that point but it is a good goal to aim at.

One thing with the teflon mod; if you move the grinder adjustment a lot you probably will need to re-apply teflon occasionally as the teflon will migrate out and the burr threads will become loose again. Unfortunately it is not a permanent fix.

Another thing to look at, is the centring of the lower burr. I have found that mine moved out of centre at one point. This reduced the quality of the grind a lot. Fixing this is as simple as loosening the burr screws and positioning the lower burr correctly. Easier said than done though. It took a lot of tinkering and patience but I ended up with something that looked visually centred. When verifying the lower burr centring, do it at a slower speed than max. Just before it stops is best. When it is spinning at max speed it will look centred but when it slows down it may show off centre. I cannot offer anything better than visual for this, but only this visual alignment improved the consistency of my grinder a lot.

After these easy modification /adjustment the MD40/Rocky is a very capable grinder and can produce very good grind for any good espresso machine.

clumeng wrote:...I did the teflon tape mod (search forums) to make it kinda stepless and was able to grind finer which was sometimes helpful and provided more control.

How, adding teflon tape on the threads made your Rocky kinda stepless? Reading this make me wonder if I misunderstood the teflon mod completely (it wouldn't be a big surprise since I probably did not read everything available)!

Whale wrote:How, adding teflon tape on the threads made your Rocky kinda stepless? Reading this make me wonder if I misunderstood the teflon mod completely (it wouldn't be a big surprise since I probably did not read everything available)!

These threads popped out from a Google search:

My cheap and easy stepless Rancilio Rocky mod... [FAQ]
Stepless mod for Rancilio Rocky- a cleaner approach

I believe there are a lot of clever ways to achieve stepless function on the grinder.

Thanks again, but I was fortunate enough to sell it for what I paid for it and have a macap m4 on order.

felixnyc wrote:Thanks again, but I was fortunate enough to sell it for what I paid for it and have a macap m4 on order.

That is also a very fine grinder. Congratulation.

shadowfax wrote:I believe there are a lot of clever ways to achieve stepless function on the grinder.

I fully agree with this, and there are even a few other ways that I saw in other places. But I was questioning how the "teflon tape mod" transformed the Rocky in a stepless. Maybe it was just a typo from Clumeng.

Nevermind I just understood! If one removes the step lock pin and puts enough teflon tape such that it creates significant friction than you get a stepless Rocky. Please correct me if this is wrong.

I actually tried this but found that the adjustment became similar to a Mazzer type which I do not really like. I found it stiff and hard to manipulate. Also the tape does wear down and becomes loose after a while.