I'm using the (now suddenly famous) Hario Skerton hand-grinder, but so far only for aeropress and manual pour (V60). It's amazing and very consistent, and I've seen people pulling very good shots with coffee grinded with one, as far as I've heard (haven't tested it yet, just got it yesterday) it can go more or less as fine as turkish, so for an affordable, stylish option with a small footprint it's really something to check out!

http://www.gimmecoffee.com/Hario-Skerto...P82C7.aspx

+1 on the Kyocera.

Bought one to tide me over until I could squeeze a LeLit PL53 or equivalent into the budget, not sure if I'll ever move beyond it now that I'm 3 months in. I pull 6-10 doubles a week and don't really vary my coffee selection much, so rarely have to adjust grind. Has performed flawlessly thus far. Plenty adjustable in the turkish/espresso range, may not the best choice if you want micro-adjustability AND are constantly varying your coffee selection. Re-dialing in frequently could become taxing at a point. Some have mentioned issues with the grind adjustment nut drifting while grinding. I've not personally encountered this issue. The work-around has been teflon tape, I believe.

Yeh...I use teflon tape on the Zass to keep the adjuster knob from moving. That does the trick for me.

A good way I have found of judging how evenly your mill works is to use an Aeropress for brewing and then examine the puck afterwards. Here are two photos showing the difference. Both photos are of the exact same coffee (Aged Sumatran Lintong Peaberry '07 Crop roasted to full city +). The first one is done on the Zass mill I showed you above. As you can see, the puck is very well defined, integrated, and the grains compacted evenly. This is the mill I use for espresso:



This second image is the puck ground on an Enterprise #2...one of the mills I use for regular coffee. It's the one for my avatar. As you can see, the grind is very uneven with a definite dividing line between the coarser grounds and the finer:



Interestingly enough, there was really no discernable difference between the two coffees as far as how they tasted. I don't know if that says something about the state of my taste buds or if the Aeropress is just really forgiving or what...but...there ya have it.

BTW...I have ordered a Skerton mill for my own collection...

Thanks everyone for replies!
So far I managed to find a few vintage mills and ask about the grind possibility and cleanliness, and also turn a few down. I'm becoming also more knowledgeable thanks to kind advice of those who restored numberless amount of these nice machines. But it looks like I finally found one that will satisfy me.. we'll see.

Rio,
the wooden Zassenhaus looks very beautiful, can you say which model it is exactly? I had a similar shape pencil sharpener in my childhood (yet made of plastic) and it brings good memories.

Sondre,
thanks for the input on the Hario Skerton. The description on Sweet Marias says it has stepped grind adjustment. Have you already tried grinding for espresso with it? I'm afraid that with a stepped adjustment it will be a trouble to use it for this.

Tony and Ken,
thanks for the input on Kyocera! I wouldn't have thought myself on using the tape for resolving the eventual grind setting slippery, now I don't even have to worry if the grind setting really slips!

Pawel

CoffeeOwl wrote: Rio,
the wooden Zassenhaus looks very beautiful, can you say which model it is exactly? I had a similar shape pencil sharpener in my childhood (yet made of plastic) and it brings good memories.

It's called the Zassenhaus Grain Mill...but Zass no longer makes it. They haven't made it for many years. It doesn't have a model number anywhere. Here's what Sweet Maria's had to say about it when they carried it back in the 90s:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/zass.grainmill.html

Thanks! Another link I found about it: http://www.grain-mills.co.uk/html/zassenhaus.html
Looks like it's the same.
Seems they were pricey.

So, the winner takes ... the winner is this one: KyM hand grinder from an auction on ebay.de (see the hand grinder jive photo essay for more details)



Now after I do the homework of comparing the Mazzer Mini with it, and probably of conmparing Mazzer Mini with another bigger Mazzer, I will be ready to go along with the Kyocera.

Thanks everyone for your input,
Regards
Pawel

I found another one:

I've heard many good things about the Zassenhaus M175 turkish mill.
You can get them at Sweet Maria's for about $85.00.

I got a Zass Mokka from the 60's from Ron at peakantique (http://www.vintagecoffeegrinders.com/) via eBay for $80 (including shipping from Germany). It was fully restored and in beautiful condition. Creates fluffy, uniform grinds which make great espresso....and I get a good arm workout in the process! Linc