The top hopper holds 80 grams of beans in the present configuration. Scott...we have thought of using the big burr in a similar format, standard lower adjust with catch cup etc but the size of the whole thing when using that burr morphs out quite a bit...the axle rod would be about 3/4" diameter to be threaded in the end to accommodate the 1/2" hole in the inner burr, so you see it all gets pretty big, and then there is the question of holding it and turning it...lots of force going on with that big burr. This is not to say that some deviant grinder could not be made using that burr or one like it.
Richard, the design goal is simple....as I said, to eliminate the quibble points on these ceramic burr grinders and others (including the Pharos quibble points) and basically have two bronze bearings fit to tight tolerances on the axle shaft supporting the burr on center in relation to the frame of the machine. Once aligned inner to outer burr everything should be solid and stable with no wobble of bearings, axle or burr resulting in a hard set burr gap with no wandering. Once this is achieved then it is a matter of seeing what the grinder can do, what type of grinding it does best. When all is aligned espresso is a given but there are certain questions of particle size distribution to make it superior for espresso...the test in the cup as it were. As far as espresso...this is the simplest grind for a hand grinder to do (see HB Hand Grinder Jive thread)....buy 10 vintage grinders on ebay and the ones that have burrs that are not worn out or rusted, bearings that are not worn, top domes (they hold the top bearing) that are not loose or bent, and wood (top plate and inner block) that is true and not warped have a good chance of grinding for espresso.....but a good coarse grinding mill is rare as these usually have a specific burr not to mention all of the previously mentioned qualities. These burrs usually are wider than the others and have a fairly short secondary cutter length. They can grind espresso but are not generally designed to do so as they were made before fine grinding was a big deal but when coarse grinding was a big deal.
As far as a hand grinder using a flat burr...pretty tricky proposition since centrifugal force is required to move the coffee through the burrs...what comes to mind first is an auger system to force the beans into the burr with a side crank but I don't think these modern flat burrs are designed for such slow speeds and the beans would basically just sit there and roll around on the burr surface without much grinding action. Hooking up a grinding chamber to a chain saw motor could do it but might wake the baby in the morning!

orphanespresso wrote:The top hopper holds 80 grams of beans in the present configuration.

80 g. is more than enough, I find!

As long as we're talking about burrs, how does the one you're going with compare to, say, what was used in the old Peugeot hand mills that are often touted as coarse-grinding champs? I looked around a bit and didn't see any better pics of the business end of a Peugeot than here; maybe someone else has better search fu?

Thanks Doug, it is great to hear the detail that is going into the engineering of the LIDO and PHAROS designs. I probably will own both some day and just ditch my Mini Mill for the LIDO since I like the sound of what you are doing there (as usual).

So, to summarize, for what I am hearing, the LIDO defaults to a cupping grinder methodology, but is good with espresso since you explain that espresso grind is not hard and the real challenge is the coarse grind required for press pots and the like. Is this correct? If my understanding is correct then, doesn't it suggest that the purpose is "cupping" as in travel and cup with people with the understanding that it offers a full range of grinds like espresso to press, for example?

Am I also to assume that the LIDO will come in at less money (with less grind quality perhaps) because the burr set is a different mechanism all together and the PHAROS offers more with the larger burr set? I am guessing that the LIDO is being engineered to deliver as high a quality as possible, just like the PHAROS, so perhaps the word "quality" is not best used here. I just do not know how else to articulate the difference between the two. For some reason I think higher quality with the larger burr set that the PHAROS has. Please correct me on all points because I know I do not know what you know in this area, which is why I ask, because at this point all I am trying to do is discover which grinder I buy first

orphanespresso wrote:Bottom stepless adjuster by screw and locked with a wing nut.

I like the sound of "locked" here, but I wonder how one will be able to keep track of settings when going back and forth between, say, press and pourover grinds? By counting turns? Part of the problem in my case is that I've never used a hand mill with stepless adjustment. Unless repeatability is easier than I'm imagining, I'd lean toward a "set it and forget it" approach, reserving the Lido for a single brew method.

Heh, just get one for each brew method and problem is solved

^^^ There you go! Good thinking.

If the Pharos is similar, during my early weeks with it I've learned to turn the handle to a reference point (opposite the hole where the adjusting bar is kept) and turn the lower nut to a setting before locking it down. Then I mark where the adjustment bar hovers over the rim of the grinder, not very different from marking the top of my Super Jolly stepless grinder with settings for different espresso machines.

I'm very much looking forward to this, seeing as I am new to drip coffee (got a chemex for christmas) and I find changing my SJ grind setting that far (from espresso "7" to drip "2") is a pita. Also, hand grinders satisfy my "awesome machined mechanical gadget perfection" wants in the same way leica cameras do (and the kyocera didn't quite do that for me). Praise be to orphan.

I leica the leica comment.
Do you own one? Currently have a beat up M2 lol.


I am looking forward to this grinder. However, not sure if I can justify an extra grinder since I only drink Espresso 99% of the time.

Just to let you know we are not blowing smoke on the LIDO project...we have a few final touches to receive (backorder on the jars) but are pecking away at mass finishing the metal parts and hand cutting the other in house bits to make a first run of 50. I have used the prototype every day and finessed a few small issues. We have the new burrs in the Ditting as a baseline grinder and a full set of sieves to assess grind distribution...the downside is that our grind tests will be done with FRESH quality beans of all the same batch so we are likely to be wasting some Red Bird here...I don't think the two of us can use it all following the 15 minute rule!

If nothing else, I hope we can generate some data that will be useful...we have on hand a B.Vario, Preciso, Ditting, Pharos, and LIDO that we want to analyze and compare with the sieves. If any one has suggestions of what they would consider valid methodology here we would welcome hearing opinions....due to all the hand grinding I was thinking 3 reps of 10 gram weighed bean samples at various settings of all the grinders. Starting to sound like a lot of work but we do want to produce something both streamlined for us and relevant for you.