While I'm not a complete n00b when it comes to espresso gear, I'm far from being as knowledgeable as the majority of the posters on HB. With that in mind, I thought I do a mini review of the Conico and compare it later in this thread to my K10 WBC.

When I first thought of buying a Conico I noticed that the specs were slightly different than the one that Jim reviewed in his Titan Grinder Project. Jim's had 68mm conical burrs, where mine has 72mm and his motor was a 500 watt version, where mine has 700 watts.

When I received my Conico, one of the first things that I noticed was that access to the chute was blocked by the automatic grinding function control box, with auto-stop. However, John at 1st-line walked my through how to remove that box and jump the wires. Now I have unfettered access to the chute, so I can brush out any accumulated grinds. The other items that I removed were a finger guard in the throat and the pf fork.

Since the Conico lacks a motor starter, I was expecting to hear the 2 seconds of loud clattering that Jim reported. However, while the first couple of seconds are slightly louder, there is no clattering. I was also expecting to notice some astringency, as Jim did, but found none. That may well be due to my still unrefined palate but who knows for sure.

Upon disassembling the Conico, I can only echo Jim's comments "the burr carrier is beautiful -- a spring-loaded, floating system" "that is made of polished brass, and which" "turns easily and smoothly." Having never owned a Mazzer, I can't compare their burr carrier to the Conico's but I have no reason to doubt Jim's comments comparing the two.

Here are a set of pics:























Over the last couple of days I did a fair number of comparison shots between the Conico and my K10 WBC but had the dickens of a time discerning any differences between the two. In that regard I've simply got to call it a draw. However, I do feel that the build quality of the WBC is slightly superior to that of the Conico. The price difference between the two is ~ $150, which leads me to again call it a draw.

While I'd love to say that one simply whipped the others butt, that's not the case and frankly that makes me pleased as punch.

I've had a few hours experience with one. The Doges all grind amazingly quick.
Other than the epoxy they used around the chute, i have zero complaints.

Dodger1 wrote:Since the Conico lacks a motor starter, I was expecting to hear the 2 seconds of loud clattering that Jim reported.

Well it must have a starter, or the motor wouldn't start. Do you mean a soft start capacitor?

Dodger1 wrote:Upon disassembling the Conico, I can only echo Jim's comments "the burr carrier is beautiful -- a springloaded, floating system" "that is made of polished brass, and which" "turns easily and smoothly." Having never owned a Mazzer, I can't compare their burr carrier to the Conico's but I have no reason to doubt Jim's comments comparing the two.

That is quite a beautiful piece of machining. How do you feel the adjustment system compares to the K10? Do you have one of the K10s with the locking screw on the adjustment knob? Compak removed it at some point, and mine doesn't have it, but they seem to have added it back to newer examples. There is a fair bit of backlash on mine, and I can see the adjustment collar torque slightly every time I turn it on, so I wonder if they found the setting drifted too much without the screw. I wish they'd used a spring-loaded floating system for the upper burr like Mazzer and Fiorenzato.

The sweepers and grind chamber in general seem to be somewhat smaller than what the K10 uses, while the output chute is wider. Any thoughts on how the two designs compare?

Nice report. If they fixed the startup vibration with the bigger motor, I'd actually give it a slight nod due to the sweet way the grind adjusts. As far as taste goes, I was straining gnats to get discernable differences between the conicals.

How is it that you have two, starting a collection?

Bob,

Well it must have a starter, or the motor wouldn't start. Do you mean a soft start capacitor?

I was simply quoting Jim's statement when he reviewed it but in retrospect, your statement makes a heck of a lot more sense.

The adjustment system on the Conico is outstanding and, just like yours, my K10 came without the locking screw.

I've noticed the backlash/torque but it doesn't seem to alter the grind setting on my WBC; nor have I run across anyone reporting that it did. So I'm not all that concerned about it.

Jim,

When I start up my Conico it's just a tad noisier than my WBC and after a couple of seconds, it seems to actually be a tad quieter than the WBC.

One for caffeine, one for decaf.

Keith

Thanks for the clarification; I don't know much about motors. There's a momentary start position on the Mazzers and a timing relay on the Compak, and they start smooth. The others I tested with motors at 500W or higher showed a good deal of vibration. I suppose the switch arrangement puts an extra capacitor into the circuit just for a few moments at startup.

another_jim wrote:Thanks for the clarification; I don't know much about motors. There's a momentary start position on the Mazzers and a timing relay on the Compak, and they start smooth. The others I tested with motors at 500W or higher showed a good deal of vibration. I suppose the switch arrangement puts an extra capacitor into the circuit just for a few moments at startup.

+1 on this.

From what I've seen, motors that are louder at startup like the Conico only one have one capacitor.
Everything that is similar in size and that starts smooth has 2.

Dodger1 wrote:While I'm not a complete n00b when it comes to espresso gear, I'm far from being as knowledgeable as the majority of the posters on HB. With that in mind, I thought I do a mini review of the Conico and compare it later in this thread to my K10 WBC.

When I first thought of buying a Conico I noticed that the specs were slightly different than the one that Jim reviewed in his Titan Grinder Project. Jim's had 68mm conical burrs, where mine has 72mm and his motor was a 500 watt version, where mine has 700 watts.

Just a quick note, Fiorenzato has been alerted of this review. The only correction is the burrs are 71mm. I am not sure where the error lies (maybe our end), but I just wanted to make sure specs are corrected as quickly as possible.

Following the lead of Dodger1, I just went through the modification procedure to remove the control box from my Conico so as to have easy access to the grind chute. Thanks to Keith's clear instructions, which he kindly provided me, all went smoothly. I am now able to brush out residual grinds and have added peace of mind regarding grind retention anxiety.

The Conico is an excellent grinder at many levels and is providing me with fine shots each day. I suspect it will last for many years and am happy that I was among the lucky few to buy it from 1st Line Equipment during their blow-out sale.

I have read somewhere that one shall only adjust grind size while grinder is grinding coffee. That is, one shall not change grind size when grinder is set off.

Is that true, or I have misread something?

The reason I am asking is that I am moving between french press, espresso and džezva a lot.