Socalsteve wrote:... that one person who bought an almost prototype and then was not willing to upgrade it for free ...

That's correct. Five minutes after I got this offer, the grinder was in the trash can. Obviously, I'm a kook, so it's odd that they were so eager for me to retract my criticisms.

Lockdown Alert.

In case of fire, running for my life ! I would only grasp the Versalab M3 with me!

Congratulations

Nathan

it's so heavy. it will slow you down.
i'd rather get my zass

Update...Grinder is built and will be shipping to me on Monday (a week earlier than promised). 2 weeks instead of 3.

So far Laura has been nothing but stellar with her customer service.

I cant wait to get the grinder. Looking like next Wednesday or Thursday.

Think I'll buy some Redline to celebrate! Or maybe some Counter Culture, or maybe a bit of both!

Steve

Another Versalab owner here, and I have to admit it's one of the favorite things I use, period. I'm not just talking about in the coffee universe. It's that awesome of a grinder and as a bonus it's an amazing example of design and engineering.

When I purchased it, I was taking to heart what I've read a thousand times on these boards. Upgrade your grinder first, then worry about the machine. It was excellent advice and I'll shortly be upgrading the Silvia that has served me well (With a Alex II Duetto, Woohoo!).


-I do however feel that the past back and forth between another_jim (as much as I hugely respect his help and contributions) and Versalab does need to be addressed and can't be ignored. I almost did not purchase the grinder due to the exchange and I now see what a mistake that would have been. True, as a mom and pop shop, Versalab might not be up to corporate PR standards but it seems that another_jim's issues are based on an early model that Versalab did try to correct for him. I understand it was declined so the review would appear to be unbiased but in -my- opinion that was a mistake. My experience is that Versalab is that helpful with ordinary ol' customers as myself as well as those with their own review website such as another_jim. Let's remember, that was YEARS ago.

New threads about this grinder will continue to pop up as they do for other grinders on the market. I hope any new posts aren't relegated to old threads. Like it or not, another_jim's 'review' is now part of the V3's permanent record.

To repeat my views of the company and the grinder for the umpteenth time:

-- My views of Versalab, the company, are based on what they told me when I had problems with the grinder. They said I had voided the warranty by using it for cupping and by grinding too lightly roasted coffee. Then they "graciously" offered to nevertheless refurbish the grinder for free, provided I posted nice things about them. This did not strike me as gracious, but as deeply insulting, and bordering on blackmail and fraud. My audiophile friends tell me incidents of publicly critical owners being blamed for equipment problems and having their warranties voided were also quite common when Versalab was producing a well regarded but controversial tone arm in the 1980s

-- My view of the grinder is based on professional and engineering opinions on its long term viability as a lab and cupping grinder (the major reason I bought it, as I told John Bicht). In their unanimous opinion, for this use, and for overall commercial viability, the unkeyed friction fits between the pulley, the drive wheels, and axle, along with the single bearing suspension of the axle so far from the burr, are flaws. I disregarded their input; but after six months, the belt and drive wheel started slipping, and after a year the bearing was shot. So their prediction about the grinder's weaknesses were borne out. In their opinion, the grinder is an excellent piece of design that cannot be made reliable without being revised by a competent production engineer.

As you can see from this account, I have excellent reasons to both doubt those singing the grinder's praises, and to repeat my experience whenever the events underlying my judgments are distorted.

- Moderator please! - This looks like its going the same old way

Ron