I keep on going finer until I feel the burrs rub. I get this "washboard" feel as I turn and if I try and go finer, the resistance just goes up until I can't turn it any longer. I get a nice even grind but I guess it's still to coarse since I get gushers when I pull a shot.

My PeDe was never used, so perhaps it needs some "break-in" to reduce the washboard feel and tighten up the grind?

[post moved to new thread by author]

I finally got a shot of roughly 25 seconds out of my PeDe hand grinder. But let me say, it was pretty bad. A very inconsistant pour and no flavour depth at all.

It made espresso like a $50 grinder (which is what it costs).

I'll stick with my Mazzer SJ.

Please help!

I've added two hand grinders (a KYM and an unknown Ahner Vienna) to my collection but they both have the same annoying problem... they both have the ability to produce very fine and uniform grinds - almost like flour - but they take absolutely ages to get the job done! After 300 turns I stopped counting. From my inspection of the burrs (which I've cleaned thouroughly), the grounds seem to clog the channels that go down into the finer part of the burrs. The end result is that the first two turns effectively grind normally until the burrs get clogged up and the beans stop channeling down through the burrs. The handle turns with almost no effort after the first couple of turns.



I suspect that these grinders weren't designed to grind so fine. When I loosen the adjustment, they start behaving more normally, but naturally at the expense of the finer grind

Is there anything that can be done to the burrs to make them swallow more beans? I've got a rotary tool at home and have experimented a little with making the grooves deeper on the shaft and grinding down the top sides of the fixed burr (is that what it's called?) which I thought were impeding the flow of the beans into the burrs, but with minimal success. Pics of altered Ahner burrs:



I know it's not very clear, but you can see that I've ground the inside lip of the "channels"


And these are the pics of the KYM burrs:





Are there posts or web pages that explain burr design? Thanks for the input!

Are you using very oily beans?

The beans I use normally are from a tin and not particularly oily... The same happens with bone dry old decaf I had.

Here are the pics of the hand grinders themselves (an Ahner Vienna and KYM). This should contribute to the original purpose of this thread...

Turns out the KYM works pretty well, just slowly and the Ahner Vienna is plain junk (the rotor has uneven wear and the burrs are dull). Been fiddling with both grinders for over a week and I finally arrived at the conclusion that the impossibly slow grinding time was due to over tightening the KYM. My main mistake was to assume that I needed to grind with the adjustment just short of the burrs touching. Unlike my Armin Trosser, the KYM just clogs up at the tightest adjustment. It does produce an incredible turkish grind, but does so in over 400 turns! The grind I need for my lever takes about 150 turns - which is slow but bearable. I'm still on the lookout for the ultimate hand grinder...

hand_java wrote: The grind I need for my lever takes about 150 turns - which is slow but bearable. I'm still on the lookout for the ultimate hand grinder...

I love to take my mokapot camping, and it takes about 90 turns for a dose in that thing as well. Great for coffee for one, or perhaps to share with my bunkmate. OTOH, if I'm trading morning coffees for meals and beers, I'm a barista for six, or maybe eight now. Not to mention anyone that they invite over for coffee...
I've discovered that the grinders I have both have a 12mm holding the handle on, and my DeWalt 14.4V battery operated hand-drill happens to have an adaptor that will mount a 12mm socket. Turning the burrs on high torque (low speed) makes the daily grind a little bit less so.

Cranking up the speed doesn't get you your coffee any sooner, btw, but it does get those lil burrs fairly warm fairly quickly.

Nice one Chris... The thought of using my drill to turn the rotor has occured to me - I'm glad I'm not the only one who's thought of this. I was actually thinking that one could use a smaller electric screwdriver in some kind of a fabricated holder and have a dedicated setup for 'automated hand grinding'

I have posted this elsewhere but just to mention... A good waxed string makes the slightly missing fit of a socket fit with the top of some grinders.

-Cecil

CRCasey wrote:A good waxed string makes the slightly missing fit of a socket fit with the top of some grinders.

I'm not sure what this means. Are you saying that you can make the difference up between the wrong sized socket and the nut by filling the gap with waxed string?
I may try that trick once, if stranded on a deserted island (or, in my case, just the 'desert' part) with nothing to make coffee with but my hand-grinder and the wrong sized socket, but sockets're too danged cheap (and had-grinder replacement bits are too danged rare) to not go get the right one.

I just went to the local hardware store with the nut and purchased a nutdriver of the correct size with the drill interface bit manufactured right onto it. One piece, travels with the grinders, couldn't be easier.

I do agree that the correct socket is the best, but it will still wear the finish on the top. This was a stop gap measure that would not mar the finish on the grinder.

That was all.

-Cecil

I recently got a De Ve grinder that seems to be the same model as this one in peacecup's photo, but not in as beautiful condition. It grinds nicely, but its base has warped, and this has caused some gapping at the joints where one of the sides meets the front and back.

I'd like to try restoring it, and would greatly appreciate advice from anyone who's been down this path.

I think the first step is going to have to be removing the base, which seems to be held on by nails and glue. I'm not sure how to do it without breaking it, though -- I'm guessing that heat might loosen the glue bond. (I think maybe a heat gun would be too much heat though ...?).

Once I get the base off in one piece (I hope!), I'd thought of steaming it for half an hour or so to make it pliable, and then clamping it to a flat surface while it dries out, to correct the warping. Or maybe ironing it?

The amount of play in the gaps at the side with just finger-pressure makes me think that simply gluing and clamping it might be pretty easy. If that goes well, I'd then re-attach the base, and finally try to figure out how to restore (or touch up) the finish. (The finish is pretty scarred up around the drawer opening and the bottom of the box all 'round.)

No photos yet ...

Any advice that might help me out on this? I'm not the world's most handy guy, to say the least, and have only a few basic tools at the moment, so I'm a bit hesitant.

Many thanks in advance. I've got a couple of other manual "box" grinders (a relatively modern Zass with the oval metal label and a very fine-grinding no-name) but I love the look and feel of this poor old De Ve.

With kind regards,
Josh in CA

Hey Josh,

You're in the same boat that I was when I bought a copper-top DeVe on eBay. Warped bottom, and very tarnished copper. I removed the bottom (mine was only nailed down, and it came off very easy with some gentle prying), and wrapped it in a wood-oil-soaked cloth. The wrapped bottom was then set in a bench-vice that I set to apply gentle pressure to correct the warp. Once that was acceptable, I re-nailed it to the base of the grinder and added some additional fine nails to (hopefully) prevent future warping.

The copper top was more of a pain. I used some elbow-grease and polished it back to an amazing shine. After re-finishing the wood and reassembling everything, the grinder looks fantastic. Luckily, mine also grinds amazingly well. This is my favorite looking grinder, but I'm not sure about maintaining the shiny copper... It's already begun to tarnish a bit.

Enjoy the process. If I think of anything else that I encountered or learned, I'll let you know.

If you look back at page 16 of this discussion (about half way down the page), you'll see my refurbished DeVe.

Many thanks for the tips and information, Bob! (From the picture, that's a beautiful grinder.) I had just found this thread and am reading through from the start. It doesn't sound too hard. (I hope.)

Best,
-- Josh in CA

You're quite welcome Josh.

I'm personally a tinkerer, and restoring a couple grinders myself has just added to the pleasure of using these wonderful machines (if they can be called that). I think I'm up to eight now, and I've enjoyed learning about different burr-adjustment assemblies, as well as how to dial in actual inner and outer burr alignment.

One final recommendation for restoring these: take your time, and be patient. If you feel frustrated about anything you're doing, walk away and come back later. If done properly, you'll end up with a grinder you can enjoy for the rest of your life, and that's worth taking your time on.