Hand (grinder) Jive - a photo essay - Page 88

by **doubleOsoul** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:47 pm

EricBNC wrote:I found a little mill that could recently - this is the one that ground the beans for my shot - A KyM Brass Turkish mill. 17g, 150 turns (easy effort though) and 1 1/2 minutes so not as fast as some others but the results are stunning both visually and in the shot's taste.

Cool you posted this. I lost out on an auction a while back on a brass KyM. Always wondered what could have been.

Merry ho ho ho from OO

by **EricBNC** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 4:31 pm

Eastsideloco wrote:Ditto on the KyM build and grind quality. I have two KyM mills in heavy rotation, and have refurbished some others for friends.

You'd like this Polka Dot painted Kym, Eric. It went to a friend's house on for his birthday in November:

The paint is original. While it's not in perfect shape, it has a great burr set. I don't do espresso at home, but have no doubt this mill was up to the espresso challenge. Using internally-adjustable KyM models for pour-over, I'm often grinding in the fully open burr distance setting. All the adjustment in the device is in the finer direction.

Very nice! I like the painted mills and this one looks to be in exceptional condition - your friend is lucky indeed!

peacecup wrote:an interesting discussion on this thread:

Kyocera hand grinder vs. the big guys?

I also got a brass "turkish" mill recently, a Dienes. It is one of the simplest ways I can think of the mount a conical burr set, and I've been meaning to post photos too. It's a high-quality, precision tool like the KYM pictured above. The turkish mills are also easy to dose from ' just tip the cup right into the PF. The Dienes grinds 15g fairly quickly as well. A truly great travel companion.

Much as I like the brass, I think I'd prefer the chrome, both for color and because the bass has a slight metalic odor when in use.

PC

Interesting that there is a taste difference for you - I only have this one so I can't compare.

doubleOsoul wrote:Cool you posted this. I lost out on an auction a while back on a brass KyM. Always wondered what could have been.

Merry ho ho ho from OO

You didn't lose out to me - this one sat till the last minute with no bids, a minimum price, and a buy it now price I didn't want to pay. Most of the time these branded mills soar with the wind higher than my wallet can fly but this one fell to the depths of my poverty and my lone bid was the winner.

by **Eastsideloco** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 6:13 pm

Eastsideloco wrote:The knee mill w/ the sexy curves had a dull burr set—dullest I've ever seen/felt. The plainer box mill had swell burrs, even though the box was in pieces. So I'm combining the best guts w/ the best box.

Ever wonder what the interface between the inner burr and the burr axel looks like? Apparently it's a compression connection, as I'm sure others on the list have discovered:

I had to put the good PeDe burr on the longer burr shaft. Not too difficult—it only took my blacksmith neighbor 5 minutes. However, it won't ever unscrew since it's not a threaded connection. Glad I asked for help! I was barking up the wrong tree.

by **RAS** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:02 pm

If I only had a blacksmith neighbor... :wink:

by **Eastsideloco** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:36 pm

Yeah. Good neighbor to have. We've hired him for some real projects and know him outside of work, so sometime I just go over to the shop with a 6-pack of beer and a question or small request.

The last time I had a coffee mill question, I needed a spot weld on a lower burr strap assembly. The adjustment screw wouldn't work as intended. When you turned the screw, the cylinder it threads into just spun around with it. As a result, the mill had one grind setting that wasn't really good for anything. Someone had taken the mill apart—and cracked the top in a few places as a result—but they didn't fix it.

After the spot weld, the mill works great, so I gave it to Todd for his morning French Press:

It's a pretty standard DeVe. While I'm not particularly fond of the finish I did on this mill—and bummed that I couldn't save the logo—I love the fact that the bottom of the mill is branded from an old electric stove accident. Perfect mill for someone who works around fire, don't you think?

by **RAS** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:42 pm

The burn mark is very-fitting, and quite cool looking. Giving up a mill like that is big. Must be a good friend.

by **Eastsideloco** on Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:55 pm

(Laughing.) Yes, he's a good friend. But I also knew that I'd be back with dumb questions for him—like, "How do I unscrew this compression fitting?" So really I was just establishing some store credit.

Plus when I dropped the coffee mill off, Todd totally gave me a bullet casing belt buckle he made. Who knew mills had barter value?

by **Eastsideloco** on Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:14 pm

Eastsideloco wrote:Our friends in Chicago will be happy. Their Christmas mill is a circa 1935-1940 PeDe knee mill. It's taking two mills of similar vintage to make one good refurb. The knee mill w/ the sexy curves had a dull burr set—dullest I've ever seen/felt. The plainer box mill had swell burrs, even though the box was in pieces. So I'm combining the best guts w/ the best box.

Before and after pics of the Pe De model #628 (circa 1935-1940):

Since the existing finish was in generally good shape, I did not do a complete strip and refinish. Instead, I cleaned and lightly sanded the existing finish, and then wiped on about 10 applications of blonde shellac over 3 days. This covered the places where the existing finished had worn away or chipped off. After building up a nice shellac layer, I sprayed on a clear lacquer topcoat for durability.

What you can't really tell by the pictures is just how nice the weight is on this model. The sides are good thick, of course, but the older beech wood is also very dense.

by **RAS** on Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:55 am

David,

One word: gorgeous.

I have an old Dienes that's been sitting on my work bench for almost a year now. You've inspired me to get it looking as good as it should.

by **EricBNC** on Mon Jan 02, 2012 2:49 am

On a lark while looking at eBay I saw a little grinder in very ugly condition with a price matching it's appearance - I figured I could practice cleaning one up and not be out much if I got too aggressive with my restoration - I could use some tips about getting the most out of your metal since this one is weakest in that area.

Armin Trosser Mokka - looks like 499 or 699 on the bottom but it is hard to tell.

Before and after - still not happy with the metal but it is an improvement.

Probably fine enough for espresso - too late tonight to find out.

The hair is a remnant from my cat checking things out - a bit thin around 100 microns I guess.


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