Recently picked up a used SJ. It needed a really good cleaning--it was so gummed up with old coffee grounds that the motor wouldn't even turn......Don't cha love the UPS brown color?!? I may repaint at some point.....

I'm not a fan of dosers, so one of the first things I did was take it off my SJ. I read several threads here about doserless mods. I couldn't bring myself to spend $150+ on the factory doserless funnel and backing plate--even $80 for the aftermarket ones like you see on Feebay seemed like way too much money for a simple SS funnel and I'd still have to spend another $35 for the backing plate. I read several of the threads here about modding the stainless steel fudge funnels. While cost effective, it seemed like a lot of work. I figured I'd head to our local big box home improvement store and see what I could find.

The pics below show what I came up with. I really like the glass funnel for a couple of reasons:

1. It's static-free.
2. It's easy to remove and easy to clean. It's fluted on the outside, but totally smooth on the inside.
3. It fits just about perfect in terms of filling my MCAL deep portafilter basket under it using the stock portafilter holder.
4. It was cheap ($4.25) and easily replaceable (it's a replacement glass bulb shade/cover found in most lighting departments)
5. The stock plastic Mazzer doser lid fits!
6. I really like the way it looks.

Cost Breakdown:

Glass bulb shade: $4.25
Doser backing plate: $2 (I used a $2 aluminum No Tresspassing sign. It took about 45 mins to fabricate using paper and cardboard as a template)
Wire support for glass funnel: $.62 (2' of 12 gauge copper wire)
Doserless chute: $2 ($1.49 for copper 45 degree fitting, $.49 for rubber grommet/washer
Grey Silicone sealant/caulk: $3.49
Total cost: $12.36

I use a cheap 58mm tamper as a weight on top of the grinder chute both to stop pop-corning, and to help feed the beans into the burrs. I'm usually only pulling a few MCAL double baskets at a time, so I see no need at all to use a hopper--I can easily fit 18g of beans at a time into the grinder chute. If I ever decide that I do need a hopper, I'll go with the $9 stainless steel canning jar funnel.

Ingenious conversion !
But why did you see the need for a "funnel" of any type ?
You could simply extend your tube down to the PF holder.

That's 1" copper tubing, and I'm afraid it would get clogged too easily if I extended it. Also, the force of the grounds being ejected from the grinding chute would more than likely make a mess as I tried to direct it into a PF basket. As it is, I have to remove the 45 degree elbow and tap it out into the glass funnel to keep grinds retention down (which takes 5 seconds as the elbow just slides in and out of the rubber grommet. I did think about hooking up a flexible piece of hose like aquarium tubing, and I may try that. I'm thinking that any form of plastic is going to create static, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to use a glass funnel. Plus, it just so happens that the bottom of the funnel lines up perfectly with the MCAL 49mm double basket so things stay neat and clean without a lot of grounds to clean up.

Here's what I do with my Major. The spout (from Espresso Parts) angles down more than OP's, and it certainly cost a little more, but with the OE Ipanema funnel it makes for a very clean and elegant dosing solution. I do believe the OE funnel is the most under-rated piece of espresso equipment out there.

Sorry, just had to rotate these for you...

T

Anyway you could post a link where the glass shade is found?

Just about any hardware store carries them. Be sure to get one that is smooth on the inside and this helps eliminate grounds retention.

wsfarrell wrote:Here's what I do with my Major. The spout (from Espresso Parts) angles down more than OP's, and it certainly cost a little more, but with the OE Ipanema funnel it makes for a very clean and elegant dosing solution. I do believe the OE funnel is the most under-rated piece of espresso equipment out there.

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I do like that one a lot. Are you able to provide a link to it or more detail?

Sorry, not 100% sure I understand the question. A link to the funnel? The Major? The espressoparts mods for the Major? Happy to help if I can.