I really liked the convenience of using a canning funnel to get ground coffee from a manual grinder's drawer into a 58mm PF basket. Unfortunately, this same funnel is way too wide to use with the diminutive 45mm baskets that some lever machines use. I've been searching for another funnel with the correct spout diameter, but had no luck getting the fit I wanted. Then I measured the funnel that comes with an Aerobie Aeropress... Very close. And with a Dremel tool, I made it spot on.

The funnel fits snug inside the basket, but can be removed easily once coffee has been dumped in. Once coffee has been dumped in, I shake the whole funnel+basket assembly a bit to level out the coffee. With funnel removed, I tap the basket on the counter a couple times to settle it. Then, tamp and go. No coffee gets anywhere but inside the basket.

Though I don't have a picture of how this funnel makes loading a basket very easy and neat, I think you get the idea.




Or, if the basket is in the PF, that works too... (I've found that a silicone hot pad works great as a tamping mat.)

Nice answer to a real problem. Check out Orphan's also. They have heard us!
-Richard

Hey Richard,

Yes, Doug and Barb to the rescue... Once again. Only issue for me is that they don't (at this point) have a solution for a 45mm basket (49 and 58 only). The Aerobie funnel (which Orphan sells by itself - no need to buy the whole Aeropress even though it is a great way to make coffee... I've got two) has the closest OD that I could find. A few minutes with a Dremel tool and it's perfect.

I still use Peacecup's cut-corner method, as shown in the video:

Spring lever video

I do agree that the narrower drawers - I have a Zass with a very narrow metal drawer that I really like - are better. I still use the funnel though. What I like about it is that my Zass produces very fluffy grinds. 14 grams almost overflows the basket when I first dump the coffee in (and it's still fluffy). The funnel keeps things contained. A quick shake then tap on the counter packs it down enough that, when I remove the funnel, no coffee can spill over the side. The shake and tap if a a quicker, and easier, way of doing a psuedo WDT. All I have do do once the funnel is removed and I've tapped the basket on the counter a couple more times, is tamp and go.

My goal is to have the most simple process possible with minimal steps. So far, this is it.

Most excellent, Bob. Thank you so much for this, those little baskets were hard for me to fill with more than 11g. Now I can easily, & consistently, experiment with higher doses on the little levers!

Now we need a tamping mod to use a tamper inside the funnel instead of unsettling a perfect distribution by knocking or other tricks. . . .and I don't want to dremel my little tamper.

You're welcome Max. What I've found is that, when I pick up the funnel+basket and give it a little shake, it does a great job of distributing the ground coffee. As far as tapping, you do need at least one tap if you use the funnel because once the funnel is removed, there will be a small gap between the coffee mound and the edge of the basket which is caused by the funnel. A light tap of the basket on the counter top redistributes the coffee just enough to fill this in. A NSEW tamp style, followed by a centered firm tamp and a polish seems to result in a puck which has not been "compromised".

The depth of the funnel section that I narrowed is maybe 3-4mm - and this is the depth of the gap between the coffee and inner edge of the basket. If I were to mod another funnel, I'd try to keep this depth to a minimum (maybe 1mm) - but there will still be a small gap.

I'll see about taking a picture this weekend that shows this gap, as well as another picture that shows the puck after it's been tamped.

Maybe shaving of from the inside of the funnel would help reduce the coffee gap a little, and only thinning the outer side just enough to fit the basket. Still, an excellent idea of using the AP funnel!

BTW, which dremel attachment did you use to grind the funnel?

Sorry - should have stated my grinding set-up initially!

What I did was clamp my Dremel into a bench vise to hold it secure. I then marked, with tape on the funnel, where I wanted the edge of the reduced portion. For the actual tool used, it was the one labelled "B" in the picture below.

I moved the funnel in a circle arond the stationary Dremel tool. Didn't take too long at all. In retrospect, a different attachment may have done a cleaner job (though what I did certainly works fine and looks acceptable).