geez, now I know why I can't win any auctions on ebay.de now, haha. Nice purchases!

rolleiman wrote:It doesn't use a ball bearing, it has a special shape cone, act like a ball bearing, it was in my office, I could attach picture next week.

That would be awesome if you are going to clean it any way. When I see the handle on the Zass Brilliant I think of the Dienes 88 (saw one of those in your box too - nice package!) with the unusual shape. This grinder is probably a lot older than the 88 though since "newer" old Zass models went to the ball bearing design - it probably was cheaper to make. Maybe this Zass mill with it's flush fit drawer and chrome curved handle served as the design template for the 88 model Dienes. Pure speculation though on my part.

Eric:

I found a similar design in a Dienes Mokka, I guess it is a newer design than Solida. When I saw this in Zassenhaus Brilliant in the first place, I thought it was designed to avoid Pede's patent, but then I saw it in the Pede's grinder.
I don't think it can grind better than Solida. Don't know why it was designed for.


Dienes parts->



Zassenhaus Brilliant parts, found this pic in my phone->

The ball bearing is the newer design, and from my experience it works better to adjust more finely, although some without the bearing also work well.

PC

I stumbled across this Stoha ceramic burr manual grinder at T.J. Maxx yesterday... It got a workout this morning & performed very well for french press. Without a whole lot of effort (didn't count the revolutions) it quickly ground enough for my 8 cup press. The grind was fairly consistent and didn't produce a whole lot of fines.





I was also hopeful it would grind fine (and consistent) enough for espresso. Success! I still need to dial in the perfect grind, but this mill is more than capable.

Neat grinder - I will have to see if my area TJ Maxx has one too. Looks stepless - does it hold it's setting well through the grind?

Hello all.

Here are my guys, all bought in the last month as the bug has started to bite. I'm a newbie, just enjoying fresh-ground beans in my French Press.



The cast-iron gentleman was first: he grinds beans, not nicely or evenly it has to be said - adjustable in this case means you can make the grind bigger if you accept also making the grind wildly uneven - but he does grind beans.

Then came the WSM Jungenthal. Nice looking, genuinely adjustable, far more even than the Iron Man, generally pretty good (if a wee bit squeaky).

Then came the Zass: less charming than the WSM but - phew!- fast, quiet and even.

The little B.G fellow is the most recent - "Macina Acciaio Garantito" - and I'm very taken with him: the hopper takes more or less 18 grams, just about right for a 2-cup press pot.



The grind is fantastically even - better than the Zass - and it sits very nicely between the knees.



I'm, of course, keen to acquire a good Pe De because of their beauty and utility but also because I was delighted to see that they are adorned with the image that's referred to here as the 'Sun Stag'. And that's a fine name, of course - but it surely must be well-known that the image is also the emblem of St.Hubert, the patron saint of Hunters and Metalworkers?

And really, who better to hover over our endeavours as we hunt for and then renew these lovely and useful little gems?

Welcome to the forum Hubert - the cast iron mill is different from any I have seen. It looks very neat to me as do your other mills.

Here is one that is unique as well - I wonder if any of our eagle eyed members can tell what this one is:

Eric:
That is a Pede 88.
My Pede 88/2 :


yuwen