Hand (grinder) Jive - a photo essay - Page 11

[DiYeti]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 'mokka' denoted a grinder that would mill the beans into an almost powder form. I have both a PeDe 'mokka' and a Zass...and they both grind the gamut, from FP to a pull-choking powder. I use the PeDe for FP and the Zass for espresso - if only for the fact that a full hopper on the PeDe just fills the FP and full hopper on my Zass is good for a two scoop double shot. Lazy? Pffft.

I do have a question about Zass grinders. I've read that the 'signature' Zass handle is the curvy bit. Does anyone know if this is correct? I have a very old grinder that was in my Grandmother's family that has no identifying marks on it....but it does have this curvy handle. Thanks in advance.

[prof_stack]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 'mokka' denoted a grinder that would mill the beans into an almost powder form. I have both a PeDe 'mokka' and a Zass...and they both grind the gamut, from FP to a pull-choking powder. I use the PeDe for FP and the Zass for espresso - if only for the fact that a full hopper on the PeDe just fills the FP and full hopper on my Zass is good for a two scoop double shot. Lazy? Pffft.

I do have a question about Zass grinders. I've read that the 'signature' Zass handle is the curvy bit. Does anyone know if this is correct? I have a very old grinder that was in my Grandmother's family that has no identifying marks on it....but it does have this curvy handle. Thanks in advance.

I don't think the curvy handle alone says Zass. I have a couple old German grinders that I'm sure are not Zass and with very curvy handle. Zass has the rep but my Trossers have the street cred.

[Psyd]

Felt like we hit the jackpot yesterday - touring the junk stores in the Southwest and found 2 grinders in one store! A Trosser and a Guarantie - we haven't tried either yet.

Yo! You touristy types stay outta the thrift stores! Go back to the malls and the resort gift stores like yer s'poseta!

(mumblegrumble hard enough to find a decent hand grinder muumble Idahoans snowbird rasstagrabinskinierve wait til I get to Idaho this summer, mumble...)

[orphanespresso]

LOL! Now that we have bought them all...well...not ALL (2 AZ cities left, and we passed on a few, here & there...) You are MOST welcome to come to Idaho to look for some! We never shop in Boise, or Coeur d'Alene areas, so they're all yours.... Arizona seems to be a hot bed of hand grinders (concluded after a study of the origins of ebay listings) Must have something to do with retirees moving to the area! We are parenthetically, somewhat professional 'finders of things' as we've been in the finding business for 15+ years. So far our tally (only stepless West German Hand Grinders): Bullhead City - 2, Phoenix & surrounds - 5, Tucson - 1. We passed by one that we should have bought in Phoenix, at the Brass Armadillo mall, white West German with flower decals, stepless, in about the center aisle, one row left maybe, towards the front of the store. Also, an Armin Trosser in a case at the first antique store in Tucson, as you head east from the interstate. Shoot, can't remember the name of the store.... Ha Ha - when you factor in the travel expenses, our cost for the grinders is ONLY about $400 each! Ah, the joys of having a quest!

[Psyd]

Also, an Armin Trosser in a case at the first antique store in Tucson, as you head east from the interstate.

Head east on what Road? Ya know that the interstate bisects Tucson both N-S an E-W, right?
Details count, and store color might be important.

[pallen]

This thread inspired me to pick up a great-looking Dienes Mokka off ebay. $45.95 + shipping seemed like a great deal.



It grinds fine enough to choke my Saeco Via Vaneto, but It wobbles a bit more than I would like when I'm grinding. I'm happy with the grind quality, I'm just concerned about the burrs wearing from too much travel in the shaft.

You can see in the photo below where the hub that is supposed to hold the shaft has drifted around a bit.


Does anyone know what holds that in place and how this could be tightened? From looking at it, it appears to just be pressed in place somehow. It doesnt appear to be threaded or anything like that.

[pallen]

UPDATE:

I have figured out how to tighten a loose shaft on the PeDe.

First, remove the assembly and take out the burrs and shaft. I flipped it upside down so I could see the underside of the top hub that holds the shaft in place. You can see that the hub is basically held in place by the bent out metal tabs that have been folder back and hammered down.


To tighten the hub, I figured I just need to hammer the tabs back down. A 6" long 3/8" socket extension is just about the right diameter to do the job. I centered it over the tabs and tapped the other end with a hammer.


Now there is almost no play in the top of the grinder shaft. Be warned, however, I can no longer close the lid to the hopper on top as I apparently was a little too agressive with the tapping. I'm ok with the tradeoff. I would rather not have a functioning lid and a more consistent, longer lasting grind.

Anyway, I hope this helps save a grinder from the heap somewhere out there...

[oofnik]

Well, it's about time my hand-made hand grinder prototype gave me some problems!
Recently I've had issues with the main bearing (highlight red) seizing up. I think it's mostly due to my decision to do away with the intermediate bearing that was present in the original design. My guess would be that the larger diameter allowed the force pushing downward from the bottom burr on the adjustment shaft to be distributed over a greater distance, reducing friction. My bearing isn't very happy. It's been making squeaky noises and seizing up during grinding more and more often until the adjustment mechanism couldn't handle the torque and gave way. Well, I fixed that part, but now I need to figure out what to do about reducing bearing friction. I don't really have access to machinery at the moment, so I was thinking I could just lubricate it with something like graphite powder, most commonly used to de-squeak old locks. Any other suggestions guys? Thanks

[pallen]

hmmm. thats a tough one. I bet you could find some sort of true bearing to put in there for a permanent solution. In the meantime, you could try some of that Food-Safe Lubricant. It might also help to polish the mating surfaces to reduce friction.

[ira]

Any other suggestions guys? Thanks <image>

Well, a ball bearing of the right size dropped down the hole might work a treat. The've been used for the bearings on inexpensive turntables for years. It would help if the end of the shaft is hardened but it's worth a try if nothing else better comes up.

Ira

[oofnik]

Thank you both for the suggestions. I just went out and bought a bottle of graphite lubricant and shot a little puff of it in there, and that did the trick. Super smooth now, even better than before.

[chicory]

I finally won an auction at a price I was willing to pay, and ended up with three grinders for the price of what a new Zass Turkish would cost (if they were for sale... ). One is a PeDe that is in very good condition:



It's finest grind is still fairly coarse, but I do not have an espresso setup to test it. It works OK for an Aeropress, and an electric moka pot. The next one I am trying currently is not a Zass, but it is a turkish grinder:



The only markings on it are "Istanbul 6" and four crescent moons each with a star:



There is a closeup of the burrs above. Here is one more:



The whole thing is very rustic looking, and "hand-made" in appearance. I did quite a bit of cleanup work on it, and now it works well enough to turn coffee beans into powder - suitable for greek/turkish coffee. Takes quite a few cranks to do a full load however. No biggie - I hate being in a hurry in the morning. I am working on adjusting the grind a bit coarser - towards espresso and seeing how even it stays. The last grinder is a Zass:



It is in good working condition, but would need some work to improve its cosmetics. I cleaned it up to where it is ready to grind coffee but have not tested it yet. When I get done with choosing a grinder I will be selling at least one of these... if anyone has any information on these I'd appreciate it!

[orwa]

Hi,

The Zassenhaus turkish grinder has been available for some time again. I ordered mine after waiting for a long time and I finally intend to start getting the most out of my Pavoni professional. However, since the grinder has been again available, both in some of the American websites as well as in a lot of the European/German websites, I was confronted with other options from Zassenhaus, with virtually no information about the technical differences. Mainly there has been the model 156 ES SW, which is called espressomühle (espresso grinder) rather than kaffeemühle, and the model 159 NI, which has the same arrangement as the turkish grinder but in a larger, modern design (here is the page on their German website that shows all the models: http://www.zassenhaus.com/html/body_kaffee.html).


(The images above were taken from http://www.zassenhaus-shop.de)

I did not trust the last model because it was considerably cheaper and named kaffeemühle rather than espressomühle or mokkamühle (turkish). However, I was so much into the other black model because of its many advatages over the turkish model (if the grind quality was similar), mainly the ceramic hopper chamber, the larger beans capacity, and the more practical design. I e-mailed Zassenhaus both in English and in German asking bout the most appropriate model for someone owning a lever but they don't ever respond to e-mails, henceforth I went with the turkish model, being the most trusted option.

[IMAWriter]

Actually, when they changed the signature requirements I couldn't fit the coffee pot quote anymore, so I had to come up with my own. I admit that it falls a little short...

[snipped]

PC

I find your signature quote more than adequate!

[Psyd]

Mainly there has been the model 156 ES SW, which is called espressomühle (espresso grinder) rather than kaffeemühle,

Ehm, that may very well be the issue I have with my recent purchase I've discussed in this thread and I'm wondering if y'all know of some way to identify one from another post factory. IS there something I could look at to identify a burrset that is adequate for espresso in a Zass from one that is only acceptable for coffee use?
If you have an answer, maybe it's best on the other thread? Useful here? I dunno.

[petunia]

Hi,

I have a new Zass open-hopper model (161 I believe), and after reading through this thread (whew!) I decided to try Peacecup's greeting card doser. (First I'd tried a folded paper plate as a funnel, but the grounds still wanted to either stick to the plate or go rushing down into the PF all at once, depending on the angle.) Anyway, I didn't have a greeting card handy, so I cut up a heavy-duty manila folder. Here's the problem: after a few seconds of tapping with this doser, nothing more comes out. The coffee seems to be packing itself against the manila and staying there instead of falling down into the triangular "dosing chamber". Would glossier paper (like from, oh, I dunno, say, a greeting card? ) fix this? I'm also wondering if the drawer on my Zass holds less than the one in Peacecup's video... when I first started out and was fiddling with dose and grind, I was easily overfilling the drawer.

Over the weekend, I dug through our assortment of paper plates and tried the funnel thing again, then decided to use a chopstick to nudge the grinds down the "chute". Ended up using a plastic plate, and found that whacking the sides of the plate with the chopstick provided just enough agitation to move the grinds along bit by bit. (It also makes a lot of non-electric noise, which is kinda fun for me though I can't speak for the other inhabitants of the house.)

If only I'd thought of using one of those plastic plates as a greeting card doser substitute before I ran out.

Slight change of subject: Psyd, the tag on my Zass says Kaffeemuhle, FWIW.

[Psyd]

Slight change of subject: Psyd, the tag on my Zass says Kaffeemuhle, FWIW.

Hey thanks, Petunia! I'll look at mine again...

On to your problem. I've been collecting hotel room keys since they started using the disposable credit card styled keys,It started sort of inadvertently, and just steamrolled. With the 156's narrow drawer, I use one of the narrower keys and just leave the end exposed. With the 161, if a regular sized credit card or key won't cover it, look for a gift card to somewhere where you're about to spend a few dollars, and buy the gift card first. F'rinstance, if you're going to the drugstore to buy a prescription, or shampoo and razors, or whatever, first buy the equivalent amount in a gift card, and make your purchases with the gift card. The plastic bits that accompany the giftcard tend to be rather large, and can be custom cut to work with your grinder drawer!

[peacecup]

I "laminate" the card with plastic shipping tape. We didn't have much of a static issue in Juneau, but I'm not sure what it will be like in a drier climate.

[IslandAddict]

Does anyone know anything about the Zassenhaus 159 NI model pictured a few posts back? It's a contemporary cylindrical design in stainless steel and acrylic. I'd love to get a Zassenhaus for use a portable/backup grinder, but the traditional wood boxes just aren't my style. I can't find anyone who sells the 159 NI.

[farmroast]

Finally pulled the trigger on ebay for a Peter Dienes knee mill. I've been watching for well over a year for one in decent condition for a reasonable price. The faint number on the bottom appears to be 658. I've taken it apart and cleaned and buffed all the metal and burrs. Really like the Cherry wood and will refinish it someday but the finish is ok for now. Any idea of the age?
farm