If you already have a variable speed power drill, with just a couple dollars in parts you can run your grinder with "drill power".

Parts list (from Home Depot):
1/2" hex nut coupler
Socket Adaptor
3/4" socket


Mounted on the Pharos shaft they will look something like this


And finally, well, you know the drill:


Notice that quick release vice clamps make a cameo in the last shot, I got them so that people who aren't used to hand grinding could "earn" their coffee by grinding their own shots while visiting. They happen to also make the drill much easier to use.

The thing I like about this solution is that you don't even have to remove the handle, and if you wanted you could just leave the coupler and socket on all the time and use a socket wrench as a handle!

This is fine if you want to devote a power drill to Pharos grinding, but it happens that I scored an ice cream maker for $3 at a Goodwill, high torque low RPM motor, practically silent. Once I figure out how to couple the shaft to that thing we will be in business!

The ice cream maker motor should crank the Pharos just fine! Good project

Is it possible to swap ends of the shaft so that the handset is below the body of the grinder? That would make it easier to mount the motor.

the beans are gravity fed and the bearing on the bottom is not long enough to grip so I doubt you could modify to grind from the bottom without changing something significantly.

As to the motor, the biggest concern I would have with mounting a large permanent motor is that in order to get all of the grinds out you have to give it a shake. It doesnt take much, just a quick jiggle can easily bring it to .1-0 g retention but it def needs a shake or you will have like 3+ gram sitting in the funnel...

VDD (aka voodoodaddy) has a mod that moves the bottom burr and bearing up on the shaft to allow for a grounds catcher. If you did that and then DID NOT cut the shaft off you would have a perfect place to attach a motor.

Ideally my final solution will basically be a "motorized grinder stand" where the socket covering the hex nut coupler will be the only connection from the motor to the burrs, meaning you would be able to remove the grinder easily from the stand. Also, the Ross Droplet Technique has pretty much removed my need to do any Pharos spanking to get the grounds out.
This is an intriguing idea, however I'm too chicken to try it with my own Pharos

dominico wrote:Ideally my final solution will basically be a "motorized grinder stand" where the socket covering the hex nut coupler will be the only connection from the motor to the burrs, meaning you would be able to remove the grinder easily from the stand. Also, the Ross Droplet Technique has pretty much removed my need to do any Pharos spanking to get the grounds out.


This is an intriguing idea, however I'm too chicken to try it with my own Pharos

I dont have to spank it but I find I do still have to jiggle it. How do you do it without giving it a jiggle?

If you do not have it mounted then I would guess you naturally jiggle it slightly as you unplug it, but when mounted even with rdt it still needs a jiggle, just because of the grinds resting on the slop and on the back of the shaft, as it seems to me. Perhaps doing one of the waxing on the funnel mods might eliminate the jiggle entirely though, or you may have some other technique?

No, you are right, I still have to jiggle it a little bit. Perhaps I was just assuming that without the plug in it would all fall through without the jiggle. Bad of me to assume without trying first. The "directly into the portafilter" functionality can be a later phase, perhaps (just thinking out loud here) a small blast of air through the burrs after the grind...

I have never used a Pharos, so cannot relate to how much "torque" is needed ?
But, rather than use the large drill as a power source, wouldn't one of the smaller Li powered screwdrivers be a neater , more ergonomic, solution ?
But I also like the idea of the separate motor "power base" to stand the grinder on.
How about using a base from a food processor ? ..plenty of torque, speed control, and "pulse" facilities !