Thatchmo wrote:Thanks Jeff.

Does your CMH have the finger guard removed? it looks like a mod I will probably do to vacuum out the grinds after a session. Can't seem to find a reason not to...

I really appreciated the CMH's dual purpose finger guard after years of brushing off grounds from every part of the Mazzer doser's "carousel" for each shot. It was a serious nuisance. By contrast, grounds exiting the CMH chute deflect off the finger guard onto the floor of the doser, where they are neatly swept up by the dosing blades.

I would not remove the finger guard, unless you are prepared to attach a substitute deflector to the doser lid as one clever poster here did.

By the way, when I said I cleaned my machine out on an annual basis, I was not including burr cleanings. I run Puly Grind or Grindz through the machine every month or so. The burrs were bright and clean when I took my CMH apart after a year. The debris I cleaned out in my annual cleaning was not in the grind path, and I would not be anal about it.

Marshall wrote:I would not remove the finger guard, unless you are prepared to attach a substitute deflector to the doser lid as one clever poster here did.

Thatchmo wrote:Thanks Jeff.

Does your CMH have the finger guard removed? it looks like a mod I will probably do to vacuum out the grinds after a session. Can't seem to find a reason not to...

Are we talking about the same thing here Marshall? For some reason I thought the finger guard was the circular plastic tube in hopper so you couldn't put your finger into the burrs. Am I off here the mark here?

Kirk, which one are you talking about?

I did do a hopper mod to prevent the beans from going out between the base on the hopper and the top of the grinder by cutting a water bottle spacer to fill the area. I would not cut the finger guard out though in case you wanted to sell the down the road and because it comes off so easy anyway (2 screws). My vacuum will suck most of the stuff right up through the guard anyway but it has a lot of suck (there is a lot of stuff in there). A shop vac could go right over it. It also sucks the doser clean in an instant as well. If you are talking about a different part then disregard my post.

Here is a link to some of the mods people have done:
http://www.home-barista.com/grinders/la-cimbali-junior-grinder-mod-hopper-throat-extension-t4384.html

Marshall wrote:By the way, when I said I cleaned my machine out on an annual basis, I was not including burr cleanings. I run Puly Grind or Grindz through the machine every month or so. The burrs were bright and clean when I took my CMH apart after a year. The debris I cleaned out in my annual cleaning was not in the grind path, and I would not be anal about it.

Good to know! I just ordered some Grindz from Chris's and it seemed like a good idea to get the oils and stuff out. Do you also vacuum yours out Marshall?

Lockman wrote:Are we talking about the same thing here Marshall? For some reason I thought the finger guard was the circular plastic tube in hopper so you couldn't put your finger into the burrs. Am I off here the mark here?

No. I was talking about the one in the doser in front of the chute.

Lockman wrote:Do you also vacuum yours out Marshall?

Nope.

Ahh, ok.

I never even considered removing that one.

Well you are certainly not anal about mixing beans up. That said, I think that mine contains quite a few beans and pieces between grinds. I like to vac it when I change to a new bean (3/4 lb.) but I am not that concerned about the beans in the machine otherwise (GG, I hope Ike isn't reading this)...
On the other side I have ordered a Vario so I can do different beans without so much waste.