I'd like to add myself to the ever growing list of happy customers, both with 1st-Line service and the quality of the grinder. It is working quite well for me, but when I grind directly into the PF (Gaggia PF with a hole drilled out in the bottom) I get a big mess as the grinds start flying around once the basket gets close to full. Even when I level off the basket as I go, the grinds shooting unevenly from the left side make it difficult to get a nice neat pile in the middle. My solution has been to grind into the grounds catcher from my hand grinder (a plastic cup type thing - fits perfectly to cover up the sides of the chute and press the button at the same time) so I reduce the wasted grinds and prevent the few squirts of channeling that I was getting when grinding into the PF. With the plastic cup method, I do the toothpick-stir-into-the-basket that I was used to. While I am still adjusting myself to the high resolution of the knob and the few grinds that don't make it all the way through at the end (I only add the beans that I need), overall I've had a very positive experience with this grinder and it seems that based on others' descriptions, this one beats the rocky (for espresso only). (NOTE: I do not own a Rocky and I have never used one. I am making assumptions based on internet posts.)

This is my first grinder and I too want to vouch for it. Being a noob, I can't compare against experience on other equipment. But to the tolerances of my palate, PL53 is capable of producing an espresso that matches the taste of that served at my favorite coffeeshop, using their beans. While I was originally prepared to spend over $500 on a grinder; I figured I'd give this one a shot first since it seemed like an excellent value. The PL53 is a much nicer proportion for the home than the larger "best of breed" semi-pro grinders. I have not had clumping issues at all, there doesn't seem to be much space for detritus to collect and stale. Not much issue at all with waste or missing the (58mm) portafilter basket.

I'd be very curious to see an honest, direct comparison between this little guy and the big boys. At this point I have trouble imagining what I'm missing out on versus a Mazzer Mini, and the extra $300-$500 in my wallet feels pretty damn nice. With this new hobby I set out to match my favorite coffeeshop here in Seattle (Caffe Fiore on Queen Anne), and I've achieved that already -- weeks faster than I expected -- and I couldn't be happier with my setup, even though I violated conventional wisdom by "skimping on the grinder."

Mike Panic wrote:there needs to be someway that the lil tray attaches to the machine....

At first I thought the same thing, and used little 1/4" neodymium disk magnets to hold it in place. That worked fine. But then I started using it as designed with no magnet, and I found I like this even better since it leaves no gap and the tray seems to stay put just fine.

Mike Panic wrote:I've found the folded tabs for the portafilter to not be very useful and have been grinding into a small juice glass... but will be buying a measuring cup like one of these below soon:

As it happens, I think I have those exact measuring cups. I don't like them for cooking; they're metric sizes that closely approximate the English sizes, but are just shy so you've gotta underfill them slightly if you value accuracy (which is hard to do for flour). I expect the 1/3 cup works OK for catching grinds (I'll try tonight), but I've been going back and forth between using a ramekin and the portafilter basket. The ramekin, which is rather tall and has an upward flare, needs to be inserted at an angle to depress the button. It's a bit awkward but it works. If there were a second activation button on the side, I'd use it instead.

HB wrote:It would not be hard to adapt the modification of the Rocky Doserless switch for continuous grind to the PL53.

I removed the side panels (screwdriver and hex wrench) and had a look. Rewiring to skip the portafilter switch would be easy and could be done without having to fashion any Y cabling, just a matter of disconnecting and reconnecting the female connectors, which can be done without tools. For the full mod, one thing that could be an issue -- and I don't know if this is different from the Rocky or not -- is that the rocker switch is a double switch, that is wired on both sides of the motor. So in addition to putting the two switches in parallel on the one side, you'd have to bypass the rocker switch on the other side. But that should also be easy enough to do.

Sounds like a double pole single throw switch but I have not seen the switch so that is a guess.

Mixed --

The PL53 is well constructed, HEAVY stainless sheet metal, and it's mirror polished. It has hefty "industrial grade" rubber feet and the heaviest power cord I've ever seen on a kitchen appliance -- contractor grade power tool heavy duty. It looks serious. It's built serious.

Overall it's nicely fitted and finished. Everything fits to tight tolerences -- which can be a challenge in stainless sheet metal fabrication. Edges are well finished, no sharp sheet metal edges or corners.

On the down-side of "tight" I found the chute extremely difficult to remove and replace. I'm a male with large hands and good grip strength and found it nearly impossible to replace the chute and get the retainer screw lined up and threaded down. I seriously skinned a knuckle in the process. It drew blood.

The end of the hopper where it fits into the grinder is machine turned. It's plastic, and I had to trim plastic burrs off the hopper before use -- so they wouldn't end up in the coffee.

The "PF tabs" on the front of the mill -- They're one piece fabrication as part of the cutout pattern for the side plates on the machine. Tabbed and folded 90 degrees from the side plates to form a porta-filter bracket under the chute. Not having a porta-filter, I searched the house for something that might work as a "catch cup." I have shot glasses, shot on the rocks glasses, small sauce cups for Bearnaise or tartar as a side on a dish. My filter for my moka pot works -- pretty much. The clearance is shallow for a porta-filter, and narrow for the under-spout on a porta-filter. The tabs barely clear a standard, commercial 1 oz. shot glass. The tabs need to go away!

The conical burrs are heavy, robust, well machined, and the resolution on the adjustment is very discrete. "Fine" grind can be adjusted to where the burrs won't turn. At the point where the burrs turn, the grind is fine enough for Turkish as I understand Turkish (finer than table salt). Coarse grind approaches "rock salt" or "chunky nuts" in peanut butter.

Resolution -- This has been a point of discussion in this thread, but only one post has quantified the resoultion. From beyond "Turkish Fine" -- where the burrs won't turn to "peanut butter chunky nuts" coarse I counted MORE THAN 100 turns on the knob. After 100 turns, I stopped counting. The knob was still turning toward more coarse. I didn't check to see if the grind was actually getting more coarse.

The knob is tight, and 100 turns will wear out a healthy hand with good grip strength. This has an up-side and a down-side. The up-side is that the burr adjustment allows a very finely tuned grind for espresso -- exquisitely fine tuned -- and once zero'd in, the adjustment should stay set.

The down-side is that this sort of grind adjustment makes the mill entirely impractical for variations in grind coarseness for applications such as drip pot, moka pot, press pot.

It's not quite as noisy as a blender -- more on the order of an electric hand mixer. RPM on burr speed compares to an electric drill.

Grinding a filter full for a moka pot takes maybe a minute -- and it's necessary to rotate the filter. Even so, the grounds stack on the left side and spill out into the catch tray. The catch tray is a good idea, but mine doesn't stay under the grounds chute. Using the grinder is a two-handed operation, and the catch tray tends to move out from under the mill.

When I was done grinding about four oz. of beans. I ended up with maybe a tablespoon of grounds on the counter, spilling out from the chute and remaining in the chute. No static, which is nice, but still a lot of spillage. I'm searching for a grinder that doesn't spill grounds all over the work area. I'm new to grinders and wonder if this is a reasonable expectation?

Grind quality is excellent -- "EXCELLENT" excellent. From very fine to very coarse, I poured out samples on a white paper towel and looked it them under a magnifying glass. Very consistent, no clumping, no dust, no static.

I want to like this grinder. It's well made, good looking, a nice size. But I'm finding that it's entirely dedicated for espresso and not at all practical for a variety of brewing methods.

In all fairness, 1st Line notes this limitation -- but I expected the adjustment from moka pot to press pot might require a half dozen turns, and because I typically only brew one method at a time, that setting up would be "doable." It's more like 30 turns from moka pot to press pot -- stiff turns on a tight knob.

I want to like this grinder, but I don't feel it's going to work for me. It's for dedicated espresso, and that's not me. As an espresso grinder -- as I understand espresso grinders -- it seems a hot product at any price.

cannonfodder wrote:Sounds like a double pole single throw switch but I have not seen the switch so that is a guess.

YUP, DPST switch that breaks both "hot" and neutral (as most disconnect switches should for ETL/UL certification)...

FINALLY got the output snout off! Once again, I tried to pull it toward me, then tried to rock it side-to-side with absolutely NO luck... THEN I tried to push the bottom of the snout toward the grinder.... Sure was good that I wasn't pushing HARD! I'd have, at a minimum, skinned my knuckles! Came off just fine!

Cleaned the chute of old grinds, put the snout back on (just pushed in place, no containment screw). Working JUST FINE now!

Tightened the grind up a bit (lots of turns, little change! ) and got much better coffee this morning... think I STILL need to go finer tho! Getting some good crema (not a LOT, but good, persistent crema) and it tastes even BETTER than before!

The journey continues!

Java Jones wrote:
The knob is tight, and 100 turns will wear out a healthy hand with good grip strength. This has an up-side and a down-side. The up-side is that the burr adjustment allows a very finely tuned grind for espresso -- exquisitely fine tuned -- and once zero'd in, the adjustment should stay set.

The down-side is that this sort of grind adjustment makes the mill entirely impractical for variations in grind coarseness for applications such as drip pot, moka pot, press pot.

I just ordered some parts for an intended mod: a $19 spinner knob and a $35 rotary counter. I also ordered a 6mm -> 4mm (5/32"), flexible shaft coupling from Misumi USA (Part number MCJ16-6-4; $4.30). Some of the cheaper components would probably have worked equally well, but these seemed the safest matches ... e.g. the long shaft on the counter, and the dual set screws on the spinner knob. McMaster-Carr had some sweeeeet looking spinner wheels and crank knobs, but they all needed to be machined.

The idea is to drive the rotary counter by attaching to the free (left side) end of the 6mm worm-gear shaft, drill a hole in the side, and have the counter exposed on the left side of the grinder. Not yet sure how the counter will attach to the grinder body, but I'll figure something out.

Hopefully this'll let me replicate grind settings when switching between coffees, and also do the occasional drip or vac pot grind without having to totally recalibrate the grinder for espresso afterwards. The spinner knob will make it easier to do the tens / hundreds of turns necessary for the press pot.

Succeed or fail, whatever happens, I'll post it here.

Nick