Hi everyone,

I picked up an old (35 years +) Anfim Best (rebranded as a La Pavoni). It is in dire need of a good cleaning and I'd like to remove the doser. Can anyone direct me or advise me with the disassembly? I've taken the upper burr carrier off and removed the upper and lower burrs. The main issues I'm having is accessing the single large bolt that holds the doser chamber to the body of the grinder. How do I separate the lower burr carrier from the shaft to access the bolt? Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
~Jason

The Anfims I've worked on haven't needed the burrs to be removed to get the doser chamber off. The screws are all accessible (if somewhat tortuously) from within the doser. Do you have a photo?

Thanks for the reply Nick. I was able to remove two screws using an allen key (one seen in the picture near the top of the doser chamber right beneath the chute and a longer one from beneath). There is still a large bolt holding it to the body of the grinder though. You can't really see the bolt except through the back of the grinder. It screws into the bottom of the doser chamber body but is inaccessible because of the shaft.

On top of the lower burr carrier you can see what appears to be a large nut (with a funny twisted top). How can I unscrew this? There doesn't appear to be a way to lock the shaft so that the nut can be turned. Or does it not uncrew and I simply have to pop the lower carrier up? Thanks for any suggestions.

You have to remove the motor shaft to access that large screw, unless you have some sort of special wrench that can reach around it. What I did with my Anfim Best was to take off the top assembly in the grinding chamber, then removed the shaft and motor core through the bottom of the grinder. It's a pain to do but that's how they mounted the doser.
This drawing may help.

Thanks JS. Any advice for removing the lower burr carrier? As you can see there is a big nut on the top of mine. How can I keep the shaft stationary so that I can unscrew the nut without damaging anything? Or is the lower assembly just pressed on? Perhaps mine is just stuck from caked on old coffee?

The trials and tribulations of old gear!

What I've found to work the best on other grinders is to wedge a wood clothes pin between one of the 3 fins and the opening to the doser. Then take a socket wrench and a rubber mallet and tap on the end of the handle until it loosens the bolt enough. They tend to get torqued down pretty good at the factory so it will probably take several blows before it is loosened. Hope this helps.

-Kurt

As Javacat mentioned, I put a piece of soft wood there. Then used an adjustable wrench to loosen the nut.
By the way, the close up photo looks like there is a crack on the lower burr holder. Or is that just a photo effect?

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Because of the funny curved tab on the top of the bolt I need for find a longer socket. Can someone confirm which direction the bolt loosens? I just want to be certain before I start whacking away! I'm assuming counter clockwise but confirmation would be great!

Fortunately, that is NOT a crack in the lower burr holder. Just a combination of coffee grime and lighting!

Just another idea: have you tried removing the vertical nameplate on the back of the grinder? It might give you access to the screw you are after.

I have John. The problem is that the bolt is directly in line with the shaft so it's near impossible to grab it firmly, at least with any tools I have.