[SOLD] Versalab M3 custom built

Used espresso or coffee stuff you hope to sell or buy.
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Terranova
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#1: Post by Terranova »

Selling my custom built Versalab M3 grinder.





The chassis got front and rear panels in Stainless Steel, sides , middle and upper plate nickel plated to preserve the surface, all brushed but to get this finish it needed to be polished first and later brushed.
(aluminium surface wouldn't last in long term)
The upper funnel is made of Titanium Grade 5 Ti6AlV4 and adjusted for exactly this Ni plated middle plate .
Roman numbers CNC milled inside the middle plate and painted black, grinded, polished then brushed, sides are in a maritim finish (mirror polished)
Upper plate has been revised by CNC milling, to get a bigger premium SKF bearing fitted inside.
The 2nd SKF bearing is underneath in the "nose" . Both in a 90° degree position to the shaft, all holes for the 2nd bearing were made on a CNC milling machine.
The run out of the shaft (measured when fitted inside the upper plate) is about +- 0,003mm / .000118".
Funnel, Shaft , burr mount, handle all made of Titanium Grade 5 Ti6AlV4, 3.7154 ASTM (American Society for testing and Materials) fully biocompatible
http://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMa ... num=MTP641

Titanium Grade 5 is about 20 x more expensive than stainless steel and to get to this result, it takes 3 times longer than with stainless steel.
The tools to get the job done for Titanium Grade 5 cost about 20 times more than those for steel.
Polishing Titanium is much harder than polishing stainless steel, in particular to get this finish..

The Titanium shaft won't bent if a screw falls inside the burrs, a stainless shaft would be gone (bent) after a hit like this with 450 RPM
The conical burr set is DLC (Diamond like carbon) and TiCN (Titancarbonitrid) coated, the flat burrs are coated with a multilayer coating (Variantic) TiAIN with a TiCN finish.
Wet or dry, this coating even performs well on cemented carbide and high speed steel tools, so pretty much good enough to grind some pre broken beans flawless without a slow change in grind quality for many years and some 1000 lbs.
The burrs will be good enough for the next decade.
Before the coating these burrs have been on a flat grinding bench to avoid the remaining error source which wasn't in my hands so far.

Later they have been through a "seasoning in process" , working just perfect.
The surface hardness of 4000HV is nearly twice as hard as TiN (Titannitrid) but also fully biocompatible like everything else inside the funnels or any other part which is in contact with the grind.
No Aluminium on the inside at all.
The burrs have been lowered by 3mm, to have less retention around them .
The upper funnel got 3 static wipers made of 99,9% Platinum
A double moving wiper is fitted in the lower funnel all screws holding the burrs are made of Titanium Grade 5.
Retention is close to zero, again depending on the sort of beans or environment RDT required.
Dosing is optional also 2nd dosing +2nd hopper optional different versions are available, all hand made in a 2000 year old tradition) all parts are custom build (no plastic parts at all) The glass hopper is one of a kind and 100% hand made. The lid is custom made for exactly each glass hopper, the ring around the glass + the lid is a 3 hour job for a professional .
Lid got polished and DLC (diamond like carbon) coated, it will stay like this forever. The little handle on top of the hopper is also hand made in stainless steel.



The handle for the slides are made of Titanium Grade 5, looks and feels great.
10 bushings included with each dosing, (in black or white)
Depending on the bean sort, RDT required but no WDT, distribution is perfect.
there are no mechanical interventions in this straight out grind path, in translation the burrs are working parallel in the desired range.

If this grinder doesn't outperform your k10 , Nino or Robur when single dosing , in taste, visible extraction (blonding) and TDS, or if you are unhappy for any other reason till 2 weeks after arrival at your location, don't hessitate to contact me or just send it back and I will paypal your money in return. Just keep in mind, that you have to pay for the shipping costs.
Grinder runs with 110V or 220V (you decide) PF holder included (Carbon PF holder optional)
The belt is brand new, a slightly bigger transmission wheel has been fitted.
Due to the distance of the 2 bearings , the grinder can cope with much more axial force on the shaft than before.
The transmission wheels are plated and not just Aluminium polished for short term.
The hopper mounting plate is mirror polished and DLC coated, (you decide if you want it plated) slide is made of Stainless steel, polished and DLC coated / or stainless steel.
On top of the upper funnel there is a flange inside a press fitting , in combination with the TiAiN + TiCN (Variantic) coated anti popcorn cone, which is fitted by an O ring on the shaft, flexible in height setting popcorning is close to zero.
No "egg dropping", no stand still when grinding light roast.
I will give you my personal 10 year warranty on the construction, which doesn't include the motor (it is 6 month old), burrs, belt and bearings. (all brand new) also both bearings inside the motor have been upgraded with 2 premium SKF bearings.
I have no influence to these parts, but I will repair it for you and you just have to pay for the parts. Shipping costs will be completely paid by you.
Right now I doubt that you can get anything better for your money.

Shipping to the US is around $90 (DHL) with original VL box which is a very solid packaging.
Price tag is $ 4.930 (dosing optional and not included) which is not really negotiable, some changes can be made, a DLC transmission or so, but you should only buy this grinder if you like the design and details.
A "heavy duty" Carbon PF holder is also optional, flexible in height setting and also in torque.
Springs are inside the tower and only the fork is visible from outside. (+$380)






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TomC
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#2: Post by TomC »

Nice grinder Frank :D

Can you include the height of the unit with your custom hoppers in place for folks with shelf height limitations?
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pacificmanitou
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#3: Post by pacificmanitou »

Anybody want a kidney?
LMWDP #366

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beta14ok
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#4: Post by beta14ok »

Golly that's just lovely! GLWS

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Terranova (original poster)
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#5: Post by Terranova (original poster) »

The size from bottom till top with the smallest bean hopper (210g blue hopper) is 20,7" / 52,7cm
The other one (black) is ok for 350g or so and 23,03" / 58,5cm
Also some other versions available.
The original hopper is a bit bigger, but I am not sure if I will find the lid and the adapter.

pacificmanitou
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#6: Post by pacificmanitou »

Those hoppers are incredibly beautiful.
LMWDP #366

leonardo
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#7: Post by leonardo »

My Versalab drove me a bit crazy by dropping a big load of coffee when it was turned off. When the coffee dropped it would mess up the distribution completely.
Does this grinder do that ?

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Terranova (original poster)
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#8: Post by Terranova (original poster) »

The main target of this "no compromise" refitting was parallel burrs.

1) Power to the grind / Parallel burrs

2) No "egg dropping misery", so a very filigree double moving wiper was fitted with the diameter of 1mm, the original wiper always carried some grind in the angle when switching off the motor.
The lower diameter of the bottom funnel is extended by 2 mm to allow overdosing, this also helped.



3) Materials and coatings to make this thing look pretty cool, coatings, platings that you can leave the grinder in the garden for some years, but the surface would last.

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Terranova (original poster)
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#9: Post by Terranova (original poster) »

For an additional $800, you can have another motor fitted inside with 3 times the torque of the original.
Tooth belt drive and a carbon cover for the transmission.
+ a custom burr mount and adapter (Titanium Grade 2) to run the grinder with Mahlkönig EK 10 burrs for a maximum uniform particle size.
So you just change the burr mount and adapter (20min job) and you can swap between classic espresso and other brewing methods, or light roast a la EK 43 which is nothing magic, but just the burrs will produce a much more homogenious particle size.
Another inner conical is needed which is inclusive, also another switch to run the grinder anti clockwise for the EK 10 and clockwise for the DRM burr set. (all just an option)


Derekb
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#10: Post by Derekb »

Beautiful work Frank. I have seen it in person at Italyhound's Mecca of coffee otherwise known as his kitchen!

I wish I was sending you a message that I am buying it but cannot right now.

I have got to ask though, why are you selling it? And will you improve more examples in the future so I might have another chance to own one of these beauties?