I was wondering how hard it is to turn the handle on the Pharos grinder? I'm using medium roast usually. Since 1000 of these have sold I would imagine that they aren't that hard to turn once you get the grinder going.

Recently I was able to get ahold of some Compak K10 used burrs, mount them into a homemade test grinder, and they are very hard to turn. The burrs still have some life in them, but their condition likely adds some to the hard turning issue. I think these burrs might be more aggressive too, but that's pure speculation.
I finally went to a socket wrench with 10" bar to crank this thing as my 7" handle wasn't getting the job done. My old Dewalt has a weak battery, so that couldn't grind well either. Grinds were beautiful, even, fluffy and not a bit of clumping anywhere - so that's some progress. Still dialing in, but my shoulder is getting a workout.

Just wondering why it's so hard to crank this thing, and assume OE must have encountered that issue with their Pharos design. I imagine everyone would be complaining if it were this hard to hand grind.

Regardless, I have a new appreciation for how hard my grinder works to grind coffee.

With city+ and darker roasts, I have always found turning the Pharos to be pretty easy. It is much faster than any of my vintage hand grinders, but the effort level isn't significantly higher. It works best if you anchor the base securely, so that you don't have to expend too much effort holding it steady, but even freehand it isn't too difficult.

I did find it harder to use when I tried pulling Scandinavian-style light roasts with it, but it was still workable.

Well, I charged up my Dewalt and let her rip on my grinder and it did the job this time! Hand grinding with my burrs isn't going to be possible, at least in this test setup. Besides this was a test setup with 3" PVC pipe to see if the burr mounting would work as there is no keyway on the center burr I have. Enough flex in the system that dialing in espresso needs to also take into account the flex of the PVC cap.

These burrs might be too dull for hand grinding, but okay for powered grinding. I'm guessing there are very few Pharos users that have come close to half of their burr life. Originally, I was considering making my own manual grinder, but my test with these burrs relegates them to a powered system at best. (I have an old cordless drill in storage that should be able to drive a grinder I think.)

If I want a titan conical, manual grinder I guess the Pharos is still my least expensive option. At least that thing can be turned by hand! Great product, but I wish there was an option between that and the HG-One.

There is a not so obvious secret to Pharos grinding. The left hand fingers wrap around the allen wrench with the ball of your thumb on the top edge of the top plate. This hand presses down to press the bottom plate down on the base pad and keep the grinder from rotating. The right hand preses down on the crank lightly so the cranking action does not tip the grinder. Works just fine.

One of these days I'm gonna get ahold of a Pharos and try it for myself!

I visually like the grinds these burrs put out, so I can see why people like the titan, conical burrs.

Once you get a method of holding it still it does a excellent job of grinding beans.

Maybe my hands are too big or too small, but no matter how I tried, I could not find any comfortable position to securely grip the Pharos. I couldn't get my fingers around the posts and hold it tightly enough. I ended up gripping two of the posts in my hand (fingers on one, thumb on the other). Still, exertion wise, it felt similar to a 30 second sprint up a steep hill on a bicycle. It's tough, but it's over quickly. On hot summer days, it would actually get me sweating. Keep in mind, my usual coffee is very light roasts: city+ and lighter, typically city and city-. The good news is, they are inexpensive and hold their value pretty well, so you can pick one up, resell it if you don't like it, and not be out too much money.

OldNuc wrote:There is a not so obvious secret to Pharos grinding. The left hand fingers wrap around the allen wrench with the ball of your thumb on the top edge of the top plate. This hand presses down to press the bottom plate down on the base pad and keep the grinder from rotating. The right hand preses down on the crank lightly so the cranking action does not tip the grinder. Works just fine.

Can you post a picture? (I am not sure I follow the description)

The trick for easy grinding is holding it down - if you get the bench dogs it becomes very easy (with a granite countertop like I have, you are out of luck).

For dark roasts, my wife and I have little difficulty at the countertop and we both have a different hold on the base. For light roasts, my wife has to sit down with it and hold it with her knees.

My pharos has metal posts. It is open on the bottom with the exit chute exposed.

If I just slop the beans in and grind upright on a counter it is somewhat hard to turn the burrs. I use it as a knee grinder with this routine:

I choose to use the exit chute as a guide. Slide the beans into grind chamber approximately over this chute exit insuring the beans stay in a narrow column.

While tilting the Pharos slightly in direction of exit chute to insure this column stays intact on the bottom with approx. 15-30 degree tilt begin grinding while holding between knees with left hand lightly holding two of the three metal posts.

Extremely smooth with nary a catch because the beans are gradually feeding into the burrs UPHILL. Only a few beans feed in at any one time making grinding action light and smooth. Now light roasts are no longer a challenge.

If level on counter, like I used to do with beans spread out in the grind chamber below, grind would be sporadic and catchy. Grinding would be very tough on wrists.

Now I can almost beat an electric grinder timewise.

There should be a "How do you grip YOUR Pharos" thread.

Here's my technique:





It would be easier with 4 bolts instead of 3. With 3 I can't get my thumb to reach the next bolt.

I used to keep my thumb on the upper plate, but that's uncomfortable.

A bench dog would help, but I don't want to put screws into my countertop.