I really like my Pharos -- quality-wise -- but I've found I don't use it much because of the grounds-removal challenge and its size. I tried a while back to make a much smaller version and found out that I am no machinist, not even at a amateur level Anyway, I thought I'd share how things went this time!

I ran across a place that does on-demand water cutting (bigbluesaw), and ordered a few plates that I thought could be fun to try out.



Then I put it together... three different ways:


Grinds into an old ginger jar lashed on with wire. Too horrible and really bizarre grind retention.



This one puts both the bearings on the top and pressure fits a glass yogurt jar (wrapped in duct tape and insulation) against the bottom burr carrier. This worked well, but the bearings over top made the slop in the fit too obvious -- which amplified in terms of burr-wobble the further out it was adjusted. The results tasted good, but the idea of it bothered me.



This is the current revision. Top and bottom bearings minimize slop. I chopped out the middle of one of the plates to open up the bottom more, and then fitted an olive can with rubber bands around the rim so it pressure fits in during grinding. So far, it's not too bad. I expect to swap the parts around yet again (maybe the poly back on the bottom, who knows!). I'm looking forward to being able to throw this in my carry-on bag on my next trip at least!

Big thanks to Doug and Barb for making a great grinder that lets people who like to tinker, well, tinker.

Now back to drooling over the sweet grind adjustment mechanisms on the hausgrind and the lido 2. (Also, I'm happy to share the dxfs I used for cutting, etc.)

I really like this. I think its really more of a new grinder than a pharos mod though. Looks like a good basis for an electric grinder as well. Very portable with no breakable parts either, which I like. What did the machining cost? I may try my hand at a ground up version if I can get the plates.

Most importantly: how is your alignment?

And second importantly, how is it to hold when grinding? Almost twist out of your grasp? How DO you hold it when grinding?

Interesting Mod! Except for the crank handle you would never know that a Pharos was the origin.

What a clever mod! I'm already starting to want one to throw into a small suitcase along with my Caravel for extended road trips, especially if the right catch cup could be found for it. I'm very curious to hear more about ease of use and how well it holds alignment over time.

I'm curious how much the plates in the picture cost you including set up charges, etc.? Did you look into any of the other similar companies for a price quote?

How do you hold it?

I've been holding it against a knee with my left hand for normal/lighter roasts and just pressed down on a skitter dot (from OE) for some older dark roasts I was using to check the fineness.

How is alignment?

In the present configuration, it is similar to my experience with the Pharos. I'm getting a slight burr rub around 1/8 but in the area I grind espresso it spins freely (which is pulling a ristretto on the L1 w/14g). The current approach has the burr bolted to the top plate with the polycarbonate between and no lower burr carrier plate. The bottom plates are only affixed using the larger bolts which means that alignment involves getting those just right and slowly tightening down.

There's also the issue of accuracy. I slightly undercut the bearing holes and so I pretty much ruined a pair of oilites by ever so slightly reaming them out. That is giving me a small <0.2mm play but with a bearing on the top and bottom it doesn't get amplified. Since it is working well enough, I hadn't wanted to update the CAD drawings and re-order, but if there's interest in dupes, I'm happy to bring it in line with what it should be.

I was worried a little when I went with 2 bolts over 3, but so far it seems alright. It may depend on the dimensional accuracy of the aluminum sheet, but so far so good! (That said, I'm no terranova or dsc!)

How much did it cost? Did I shop around? etc?

It cost $145.70 (with $31.00 being the finish) to get them cut with a low-taper waterjet. The turn around was ~7 days incl shipping. The material is 6061 Aluminum at a thickness of 0.5in. I looked at other places that do laser cutting and 3d printing (ponoko, shapeways, etc) and the price wasn't competitive for the materials. The price is not much more for 1in thick aluminum or even steel plates! I didn't try local machinist as I don't know where to start. Other online places wouldn't give me an automatic quote and I didn't want to wait.

They also do a quantity, so a low-taper waterjet order of 5 would be 97.52/ea (10 would be 91.95), etc.

... the right catch cup could be found for it.

This has been somewhat bothersome. I lucked into a sliced olive can that with a rubber band on the rim sticks like a dream. I think it'd be possible to slip-fit some plates which bolted together against a small piece of metal on the bottom, but I haven't worked out the best way to fit it on. Definitely open to suggestions!

[creative nickname] wrote:I'm already starting to want one to throw into a small suitcase along with my Caravel for extended road trips. I'm very curious to hear more about ease of use and how well it holds alignment over time.

Same here! I want to be able to put it in my carry-on for trips, and it's also my in-office grinder (w/ caravel) and off-hours decaf grinder. I'd stopped using it nearly altogether because of the grounds-removal-pain, but I wasn't ready to commit to the voodoodaddy mods (which are beautiful). I'll certainly report back, but if I continue to reorganize the plates nightly, then I won't be sure about alignment over time for a while

Since you are having everything fabricated, why not put threading on a plate so you can attach a canning jar? In the same vein, why not machine a more useful loading funnel into the top, and put some metering on it? Or come up with a new way to adjust grind. At that point you've eliminated the usual concerns with the Pharos. I am really interested in this, but Im not about to pull apart my pharos. I would, however, buy a new burr set and axle, and make my own grinder. Id just need to source the acrylic, but I would really prefer copper pipe or something less plastic. If you can get the parts down to the right tolerances I would certainly be interested.

Good points! I haven't found a service that let's me work entirely online -- do you know of one? (eMachineShop looked promising, but I wasn't having a good time getting their software running.) I'd started looking at 3d printing, but the cost and materials didn't align well. That led me to laser cutting which is fine, but the lead time and online choices are limited. When I ran across waterjet + laser cutting from a DXF, I got pretty excited. However, it means that all threading has to be done by yours-truly once the parts arrive. I may adjust the bottom plate to be the right size to be threaded for a canning jar, but it may be easier just to get a lid and screw/glue it on!

As to the adjustment mechanism, etc, I will likely pick up a burrset and axle to test on my own too. All the changes I've done so far are 100% reversible. I can go right back to my stock pharos. If I was getting the parts totally custom machined, I would use the Lido2/Rosco adjustment mechanism (lower burr screwed up/down). However, I could likely use the hausgrind style adjustment with an axle by putting a long nut on the threaded end to the end of the threads and placing a set of roller bearings followed by a loose shroud that the handle would sit on. Then grab a knob that screws on and presses down on the handle, and voila. If threads were easier, it'd be a different story!

As to the polycarbonate tube, it's just there to make space for beans, and so I don't need to change the axle. It can easily be replaced by plates as well or a tube of whatever. I've gotten some tubes cut at speedymetals.com, but I'm not sure about the tolerances of the cuts, so there'd be some time sanding/etc anyway.

For loading beans, I've never really minded the Pharos way, but a very easy option is to place the wide-open plate I have at the bottom on the top over the bearing-plate. It would make for easy loading and a cover could be fabricated simply. I'm interested in doing an adjustable volumetric doser, but that'll be a separate experiment!