Are Cunill Tranquilo steps sufficiently small? (suggested mods included)

[quiltmaster]

Do you think the steps on the doserless Cunill Tranquillo are sufficiently small enough to consistently get a good grind when you frequently change the type of beans. Is there a thread that reviews this grinder?

[JR_Germantown]

I think they're sufficiently small, but not ideal. You pay much more for ideal.

I use a range of about four, maybe five clicks for mine. That is, the click for fresh Monkey blend is about five notches from the one for almost-old Donkey decaf blend.

I'm not aware of a review thread here.

Jack

[RAS]

After getting rid of my Cimbali Junior grinder, and waiting for my new Cimbali Max-Hybrid grinder to arrive, I pulled out my trusty Tranquilo, and have been using it for about a month. For fun, over the Christmas break, I decided to make a couple changes - one of which was to convert it to stepless. If you've got a Dremel tool, it's super simple to do.

The button that is pressed down to allow the adjusting collar to be turned has a small "nub" (for lack of a better word) that, when the button is released, engages the indents on the adjusting collar. I used the Dremel to grind this nub away. You're left with a small flat surface on which I stuck a piece of adhesive-backed rubber (I used the very thin stuff that is found on a sheet of rubber bumpers - between the bumpers). Now, when the button is released, it doesn't "look" for a indent - it simply presses against the underside of the adjusting collar, and the spring is pretty stiff.

I also put some plumber's tape on the upper-burr carrier threads. This removed any play (if there was any) and made it a smidge tougher to turn the adjusting collar. This additional resistance and the nubless setting-button, and, viola! Stepless. The whole operation may have taken 30 minutes, and it works like a charm.

With a couple mods, this really still is the bargain grinder.

[DigMe]

I'd really like to see a head-to-head of this and the Le'Lit PL53. I'm very impressed with the grind quality of the Tranquilo but not the mess and static.

brad

[RAS]

You know, I've been shocked at how little static I've been having with mine. And we've been having lots of very dry, static-y, Santa Ana winds lately. What I'm thinking is that it is, in great part, coffee dependent. I've been using Paradise Roasters Espresso Classico (which I roasted) and SM Monkey blend, both of which are very chaf-free, and Full-City roasted (lighter roasts seem more static prone, at least for me).

Another mod that I made was to put a very thin piece between the funnel and grinder body - actually, I used a piece of a road bicycle inner tube that I sprayed with 3M aerosol epoxy so I could attach it to the funnel. This may have somewhat isolated the funnel from the grinder and made is less static charged - just a guess. One thing that I know that is does is "decouple" the funnel from the grinder body which makes the grinder quieter (most of the noise comes from the funnel vibrating). Once it was stuck onto the funnel opening, I used an Xacto knife to cut out where the exit chute is.

The comparison would be interesting - from what I can tell, the Cunill seems to be built more solidly, and will outlast me. Though mine doesn't, and hasn't, gotten a lot of use, I'm amazed that the burrs show no wear.

[DigMe]

You know, I've been shocked at how little static I've been having with mine. And we've been having lots of very dry, static-y, Santa Ana winds lately. What I'm thinking is that it is, in great part, coffee dependent. I've been using Paradise Roasters Espresso Classico (which I roasted) and SM Monkey blend, both of which are very chaf-free, and Full-City roasted (lighter roasts seem more static prone, at least for me).

Another mod that I made was to put a very thin piece between the funnel and grinder body - actually, I used a piece of a road bicycle inner tube that I sprayed with 3M aerosol epoxy so I could attach it to the funnel. This may have somewhat isolated the funnel from the grinder and made is less static charged - just a guess. One thing that I know that is does is "decouple" the funnel from the grinder body which makes the grinder quieter (most of the noise comes from the funnel vibrating). Once it was stuck onto the funnel opening, I used an Xacto knife to cut out where the exit chute is.

The comparison would be interesting - from what I can tell, the Cunill seems to be built more solidly, and will outlast me. Though mine doesn't, and hasn't, gotten a lot of use, I'm amazed that the burrs show no wear.

The one I used also left quite a bit of grounds in the chute and up in there at the burrs.

brad

[quiltmaster]

Thanks everyone. A "friend of a friend" is selling a very slightly used one for $150. The Tranquilo's build quality seems great, although it has flat burrs and conicals seem to be the hot new must-have. Then there are always pesky those little details like static and clumping to consider. I've only seen one other in the wild, and it was the older version and covered with coffee dust, usually a sign of static problems. She'll be back Tuesday, so I'll probably pick it up anyway.

Thanks for the mod suggestion, but I'm all thumbs with power tools. My sister gave me a Dremel a few years ago and it's never been out of the case. The power screwdriver is about as adventurous as I get.

Again, thanks everyone!

[RAS]

The one I used also left quite a bit of grounds in the chute and up in there at the burrs.

Yeah, more grounds do stay around burrs than I'd like, but a quick pulse of power pushes most out, and what you grind for a shot will be fresh.

As far as coffee in the chute, that's of the Tranquilo's greatest features - how darn easy it is to scoop those out. I use a flat, thin piece of plastic that has a slight curve (it's actually one side of a plastic hair clip - which hasn't ever been used for its intended purpose!) which gets just about all the coffee out. I then use a foam paint brush to get all the coffee out of the funnel - also works great.

I just received my Cimbali Max-Hybrid which seems to be an amazing grinder - but one thing it cannot come close to is the simple and quick routine I've developed with the Cunill. And using the WDT, I've had some fantastic coffee using the Cunill (I've been amazed at the extractions, and how long it takes before some shots to go blond).

[jesawdy]

You know, I've been shocked at how little static I've been having with mine. And we've been having lots of very dry, static-y, Santa Ana winds lately. What I'm thinking is that it is, in great part, coffee dependent. I've been using Paradise Roasters Espresso Classico (which I roasted) and SM Monkey blend, both of which are very chaf-free, and Full-City roasted (lighter roasts seem more static prone, at least for me).

I agree that static seems to be very coffee dependent. We are having very cold and dry weather here at the moment and some coffees are perfectly fine and others a disaster when I grind/dose them from a Mazzer Super Jolly.

Nice mods on the Cunill Tranquilo grinder.... I've moved this over to the Espresso Gear forum as the discussion has turned this direction.