Ordered some OEs from Phaelon for $39. Just changed them and the point of impact is quite a bit different than my worn in ones I removed. I sets the burrs to just barely make contact. What's the adjustment process from here with new burrs, and how do I keep from getting metal shards in my espresso grinds? Sacrifice several grams of beans or what?

I'll be using search however any and all tips appreciated.

Run the grinder, tighten the burrs till they just make a contact noise (slight screech), back off an 1/8 turn (45 degrees). That will be close to where Mazzer usually puts their little arrow. Check to make sure.

Once you have the grinder at an espresso setting, grind through a few pound of bad coffee to allow the burrs to settle in. It will take about 20 pounds all told, before the grinder adjustments stabilize and become fully consistent.

I have no idea whether the break in period is about the burrs getting a polish, a patina, settling into their mounts, or something else entirely. I do know that for the first five pounds or so, grind settings can shift very unpredictably; and they only become completely routine and steady after a few months of home use.

Thanks Jim. That's pretty much what I did; make initial screech and then back it off a bit. Gonna be a while if I'm only running two doubles a day through this SJ.....or I better increase my espresso intake dramatically.

I get up at 8 today in a 3 pizza and 2 bottle of excellent Cab induced haze, and proceed to dump 17 gr down the SJ for the burrs' maiden voyage, fully expecting nothing. WELL, nothing. The beans were ground, but stayed in the throat of the grinder and would not exit the chute. I loosened the grind adjustment collar until they indeed exited. The grind was super coarse. Tried again, super coarse. Tried again and tightened down during the grind. Uh oh. Useless geyser of a shot.

Should I continue tightening the grind and wasting beans, until I get fine enough or have I done something incorrectly?

If I have cheap whole beans available (check Sam's Club or Costco - you can usually get a deal on a two lb bag at about $5 per pound) I'll use them, but there is a way to dial in without using a lot of coffee.

I run empty and tighten until I hear the whine of the burrs touching and then back off two indents coarser. Now I take a very small amount of beans - about 5 grams - and run them through. I look at how they exit the chute (assuming that they do) and also feel the texture of the grounds between my fingers. Do this perhaps three or four times in a row for a total consumption of 15 to 20 grams and you should be dialed in close enough to get a decent shot.

I don't get why I hear the burrs touching, but grind is super coarse?

if the burrs are touching and the grind is too coarse i would check the burr alignment.

clean out the grinder, take out the burrs again and clean the burr carriers. set them in again and adjust the grinder finer until the burrs touch. listen to the noise when you just hit the point when the burrs touch slightly. do they touch over the whole range or just at one point (intermittent noise)? spin the burrs by hand or pulse the grinder and then wait for it to slow down so that you can hear it correctly; at full speed you might not be able to tell the difference.

if they are not touching evenly check if the bottom side of the burr is plane or if there are flashes left from production.

if your grinder was working well with the old burrs i would say that the axis should be alright. just see if you can align the burrs properly, so that they are touching evenly. you might have to try a little bit by rotating the burr on the carrier.

regards
Georg

Now it seems to be running fine. All I did was run a bunch of old coffee through it and I was able to get the grind back down to a level approaching the usual fineness range for CC Toscano. Setting is two marks shy of 3.