If I try to grind 18g of malabar gold into my 18g VST, it overflows...not with 18g of Ethiopian. So I have one button set for 9g. I grind twice to get to 18g, but level and compact a little in between by shaking and tapping it once on the counter. No overflow issues then.

Another idea about stabilizing the PF...how about putting a spare group gasket under the PF and on the arms? Might end up being a little tall though.

Eric

itivino wrote:Quick update - was able to improve the grinding by turning the portafilter perpendicular to the arms. Still a a bit less precise than most seem to get (+/- 0.5), but an improvement. Still have the issue of dealing with a small basket and overflowing

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I just got my Sette 270W yesterday and am impressed so far. Seems like it's still settling in and I'm still getting used to it, so I'll withhold specific comments about espresso grinding for now. I will say that I have already equaled the taste of my favorite local cafe with their coffee, which I haven't been able to achieve with my Rocky or PeDe grinder in the last few weeks. I had originally intended to use it for all brew methods, but I'm not sure how I expected to make use of the weighing mechanism while single-dosing and switching beans and grind settings all the time. I suppose I'll keep the hopper full and only use it for espresso and keep the Rocky for brew grinding because it's just so convenient. I did grind up 80g and make a good 40 oz brew in a Bonavita BV1900TS this morning though.

I also want to share a "mod" idea that I haven't seen elsewhere. My biggest annoyance with the grinder is how light and easy it is to move when adjusting the grind. I see others having weighing issues when it isn't perfectly stable. My suggestion is to secure the grinder to the counter-top with Bostik Blu-Tack. It's well regarded in audio communities as a mounting option to reduce speaker reverberation. It keeps things very secure and can be removed with a twist later on without damaging anything. I use it to attach portable arcade sticks to this makeshift arcade cabinet platform thing I built, and the sticks behave as if screwed in - they don't budge regardless of how you abuse them. I've attached a picture of my application. There's no shaking now, and changing grind settings is a pleasure. It will be even more stable after it sets for a bit. I'll take it up tomorrow to make sure the Blu-tack hasn't spread to the vents and probably adjust placement a bit.

*Edit - I moved the Blu-tack under the feet. I was afraid it would show as it spread, but it's not bad. YMMV.



*12/21/16 Edit:
Some people have used generic sticky-tack with good results. My experience has been that Bostik's product has superior holding ability, but it may not be necessary in this application.

More importantly, in my subsequent posts you'll see that I have incurred some damage to the plastic burr housing, and perhaps to the burrs themselves. I believe this is because I used the stability afforded by the blu-tack to forcefully change the macro grind setting while beans were in-between the burrs, and this pushed something out of alignment. This was a silly thing to do to avoid wasting a bit of coffee. Please don't make this mistake. Follow Baratza's instructions from the manual:

"While grinder is running, rotate the macro setting until close to desired grinder size"

^
^^
Would a sticky silicone mat not suffice and be easier here ? My concern with your mod is throwing off the level of the grinder.

I don't have any suitable mats on-hand to try, but I imagine some may be beneficial. The Blu-tack squishes down evenly and becomes very thin. It effectively self-levels and mates the object to the surface.

Here's a video of the result. You can easily adjust grind sizes with one hand without needing to brace it with the other this way. It doesn't budge. You can't see the display very well, but I set 14.0 grams and got 14.3. I'm still playing with the forks. I may change the offset as mentioned earlier in the thread, if necessary.

(Headphone warning - Sette Grinding)
https://goo.gl/photos/v5M7xUZxavHfx3qMA

You can see the Blu-Tack from here, but it's not noticeable from eye-level.

2 questions for the Sette 270 users...

1. Does your macro grind adjustment adjust a total of 31 steps?

The current 270W I have does... The 2 prior 270Ws, the original purchase and the 1st replacement did not. They seemed to only have stops every other step.

2. When the hook is moved to the left, do you experience scale instability?

When the hook is to the left, my 270W will not hold at 0g after taring if any load is put on the arms...seems randomly = or -. Seems i that position, something is touching the load cell. straight and to the right, it is rock solid at 0.0g.

Thus far I am very happy with the latest 270W. It seems to weigh spot on, and doses very close within ~0.1g. At coarser grinds, it misses by more ~0.7-0.8g, but for Chemex, dosing accuracy is not as important...and I would rather have the offset calibrated for espresso.

Compared to the Mazzer Mini, I believe this is a definite upgrade. I can see it in the fluffy non-clumpy grind, see it in the pour from a bottomless PF, and definitely taste it in the cup. I'm done single dosing, and at some point in the near future will probably get rid of the Mazzer Mini.

As for grinding for Chemex, I am pleased with he grind. I don't see a lot of fines, and on a setting of 23-25, depending on the coffee, seems to brew a nice cup. That being said, I was using a Capresso Infinity for Chemex, and it generated a ton of sludge, IMO.

Eric

lefty69 wrote:...They seemed to only have stops every other odd step....

Clarfication question: Are you saying there were only stops at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc or are you saying they were as far away as every other odd number -> 1, 5, 9, 13, etc. That seems a bit far to have between steps.

My current 270W has stops at 1,2,3,4...31

The prior 2 seemed to only stop at 1, 3, 5, 7...31

Eric

Got my 270 today, it's very, very fast. It's not as noisy as I thought it would be, but it is noiser than my Mazzer Major.. that said, no more thwack thwacking so I guess that's an even trade off. I'm not able to test it as espresso (yet), but for V60 it's doing decently. I don't agree that it feels like a throwaway appliance, it's pretty hefty and the adjustment mechanism is really robust.

Looking at @Itivino issue, in W model can we bypass the built-in weight feature (grind just for time, not weight) ?

I mean, if you have problems with the scale as this user report or the scale end up not working in the future, is the grinder obsolete ?

Demian.