I just posted my method using a HG-One here:
Cup Distribution Method

I see others have recommended a paper cup to you further up...it's basically the same idea, I just got a pitcher that looks nicer. The important part after shaking/swirling is really to make sure you dose into the basket well. Corners first make a difference for me.

Maybe going around to Bed Bath and Beyond or some other kitchen gizmo store will turn up a pitcher/cup to your liking. I know it seems so simple that it may not work well, but I can guarantee that I was having problems with the HG-One until trying this. Other grinders seem to mix the grinds (by putting them through a doser or chute) somewhere between decently and enough, so maybe that's why the effect is more pronounced on the HG-One.

Here is my updated preparation. I am still getting slight blonding in the middle during the first 5-8 seconds and by the time I hit 20 seconds (regardless of dose). At first I thought maybe it was a low temperature, but that wouldn't affect one area so soon, right? I have used both the 14 EPNW (16g dose) and 18g VST (17.5 dose) baskets with almost identical results. The resulting espresso is very weak and thin (I have used reputable and different roasters including my home roasts). The age of the beans in this current lot is from 6 to 7 days post roast.

1. Grind into a glass tumbler (think whiskey glass).
2. Clean the basket with a towel.
3. Do 3-4 stirs of the grounds in the tumbler with a glass straw
4. I put this norpro funnel in the basket (the spout is about 2.25 inches and the outside diameter is 5.5 inches).
5. I pour the coffee into the corners or as evenly as I can (similar to what has been said)
6. I slightly move the portafilter side by side to level the grounds and remove funnel.
7. Do 1 tap on a hockey puck to settle
8. Tamp on the hockey puck to probably around 30lbs and do a slight quarter twist without pressure. I feel around the edges (between top of tamper and sidewall) and it seems to be level?

my pump pressure with a blind basket is 9 bar. Engaged the portafilter and removed it and didn't notice any imprint on the dry puck.

I would suggest a slight modification to #6 and #7, try to just remove the funnel then swipe the coffee with a tool or your finger to level rather than shaking, and try not to tap and settle. Although I've had good shots with tapping to settle, they seem better to me without that step. Hopefully this should help your blonding problem.

Tamp I doubt matters much, you can do whatever you'd like here. Personally I tamp similar by feeling around the edges, but probably much less pressure than 30lb. I just get mine pushed down and all seems fine with just about every machine I've had.

I would turn up your brew pressure a bit, I believe you should be getting 10-11 bar against a blind basket, a lower pressure shot shouldn't taste bad, but it may not have as heavy body as you might like. This combined with the early blonding could be the main reasons for your thin and weak espresso.

Also, you could try to grind finer, and dose around 14-15g in your EPNW-14 basket, although it might seem like this would give you a weaker shot, it shouldn't if you cut when blonding.

Overall, I think with your setup, you shouldn't have an immediate jump to blonding unless there's a problem. You should have a very gradual blonding where you can even have problems deciding when to cut the shot.

thanks. ill give it a go after work.

In regards to the brew pressure. 10 with a blind basket is generally what I see recommended for vibratory pumps. I just wanted to verify that you meant 10-11 for Rotary. I would think the increased pressure would lead to some channeling but I have heard that that it also can intensify flavor. ill save the pump pressure for another day if it continues.

Far as I know the point is that you are getting an 8-9 bar extraction pressure with either pump. If you can get that at 9 bar blind, then go for it, I'm just guessing that with actual brew pressures it will probably be lower, but it may get up to around the 9 bar if you're pulling very tight ristrettos.

Either way, I would let taste be you guide, because it may end up that your gauge is a bit off. If it tastes great at 10 or 11 bar, I wouldn't say anything is wrong other than a number in need of calibration.

So I did about six test shots last night and this morning. Only two had early blonding and it was because I forgot to stir the grounds before tamping one and another had a canted tamp I tried to repair. Compared to before this is very good news.

I did no shakes or bumps

Great news! I'm sure you're in for more caffeinated days while you try to hone your skills even more. For me taps or shakes do seem to ruin the distribution, but occasionally I still tap slightly out of habit.

Although I've used various devices to stir, if you have some kind of taller container to grind into where you can just swirl and shake the grounds, that seems to do as good a job or better for me. You can test it out using a paper cup, and hopefully find something else more permanent to use long-term.

I had the same problem, I only use a bottomless portafilter. I'm using Black Cat Espresso from Intelligentsia, and always used within 14-18 days from the roast date, no more than 10 days after I open the bag. I dose by weight, 18.5g in a double basket, then used the WDT into a OE dosing tool. I would tap it once on a mat to settle the grinds, level the grinds with my finger, this was always difficult since it seemed slightly underdosed. I would start with a light tamp to level, 2 light nutations, press on the north, south, east, west points, then finish with a light polish. I thought this would eliminate any possibility of channeling, but I still kept getting consistent spurting from start to finish.

After reading a few pages on this thread, I simplified my technique by increasing my dose to 21g into my OE dosing tool, single tap to settle. Level the grinds with my finger, then straight to a north, south, east, west tamp w/out polishing. I tried several times and almost no more spurting. So, a big thank you for all the advice guys!

thanks for sharing.

MY current task is trying to get consistent pour from higher volume shots. I typically pull 18g in/24g out but would like to expand that to 18g/36. So far it's been early blonding on coffee older than a week. I think my tamp is slightly canted so I've focused on holding the tamper tighter and doing a much lighter tamp. Seems to be going well so far. I am trying my hardest to not polish after a tamp but I'm just too OCD, ha.

My current decision is deciding whether I want to try to pour level or if I wanted to go all in with a mound of coffee in the middle using a nutating tamp. the HG One makes the latter a little difficult but I have these metal smaller NorPro funnels that would be better at directing coffee into the basket.

I never got good results grinding from HG-One direct into the basket. Maybe your setup is different than mine in some other way, but generally I need to grind into something else, shake or mix a bit, then dose into the basket by pouring with a spout or with a spoon.

For higher volumes, try out a VST basket, or you can just grind more coarse for the same 18g. High volume shots work well if you can get them to flow fast evenly, if not you'll probably have to tighten the grind a bit and accept the volume you get. Over-extraction is way worse than having a low shot volume.