[SOLD] Versalab M3 custom modified by Terranova

Used espresso or coffee stuff you hope to sell or buy.
UFGators
Posts: 301
Joined: 15 years ago

#1: Post by UFGators »

Here it is, a pristine Versalab M3 custom modified by Terranova. As you may or may not know, the Versalab grinder is a genius design, but has many shortfalls from the factory. The stock machine retains grinds, popcorns beans, and does not produce a uniform grind due to the burrs not being properly aligned and lack of support. This machine is fully rebuilt and engineered from the ground up to eliminate these issues and give a grind that is vastly superior to any grinder you can buy commercially. Only the black body, computer board and portafilter holder remain stock, everything else has been custom machined from scratch and meticulously tested to give the grinder superior accuracy. I will do my best to explain all of the modifications and the benefits of each but feel free to message me with any questions. In summary, the grind is the most uniform I have ever seen and the retention is only .05g with Rdt and around .1-.15 without it. Why am I selling it? Well, I need the money for other things and this is one of the most pricey pieces of coffee equipment I own so it must go. Here are the mods:

1. Polished Body Spacer- raised the lever of the grinder to more easily accommodate spouted portafilters
2. Upper plate got CNC milled for another sized premium bearing (SKF) made in Germany
Holes for the "bearing extension" (2nd bearing inside the "nose") bolts and screws are connecting these 2 bearings inside a press fitting (no glue needed)
Bearing extension has been milled and made by lathe. 2nd SKF bearing is inside the bearing extension (nose)- this addresses main problem of the stock m3- This adds a second bearing and the top of the shaft to stabilize the shaft to prevent runout. The bearing are fit perfectly and replaced with much higher quality bearings. Less noise and smoother operation
3.New shaft incl. popcorn protection which is not directly connected to the shaft, but just with an O ring (SS, polished and DLC coated) inside the popcorn cone to have it flexible in height. (a wobble in the cone means nothing and has no influence of the centered running shaft)
You can lift up the popcorn cone or push it down, depending to the bean size, it should be lowered as much as possible (beans should still come through to the burrs of course).- adjustable popcorn protection- no need for custom covers to keep beans from popping out. This is made of polished TiN
4.The upper funnel has been made, polished (mirror) then TiN coated, then 3 holes and threads have been milled inside to get 3 static wipers fitted reducing statics, 2 are made of 925 sterling silver, one is made of copper. Almost zero retention
5. The lower funnel has been made, polished and TiN coated, the lower funnel diameter has been made bigger (it makes sense, on my new grinder it is again 1,5mm bigger)
6.A 3 mm spacer has been put under the burrs, to lower the flat burrs to get better control of retention.
7.Lock knob made of salt and acid resistant stainless steel. (same SS like the shaft)
8.Conical inner burr has been revised on a lathe machine because of being a PITA in the chain of accuracy.
9.Lower burr mount (steel) has been made by us, polished and TiN coated.
10.A new custom double moving wiper has been welded and adjusted- less retention
11.One burr is TiN coated, the other is TiCN coated (titancarbonitrid) works great, less retention than DLC burrs or just TiN.
12.FDA O ring on the bottom diameter of the lower funnel.
13.A scale has been milled by CNC inside your middle plate, then painted and ground.

There you have it. There are more things than I can even list. The grinder's burrs are so perfectly aligned, the zero point (where the burrs touch) goes past the "1" on the dial". In my experience, the stock M3 had horrible tolerances when assembled. I had no idea how much difference the mods would make until I got mine back. You will be amazed. I am asking $3550 for my Grinder Shipped in the USA. Please take in consideration that the new price of the Versalab is 2285 and the portafilter holder is 185 for 2470 total. There are well over $1000 in modifications on this grinder. Frank Durra is no longer modifying these grinders anymore due to the cost of getting the machines to Germany. He is building a new grinder, but it starts at $5500 dollars. This will perform just as well as his new design, but at a fraction of the cost. I prefer bank wire for payment but I will accept paypal for 3% Fee. I have plenty of references from long standing members of HB forums. Feel free to contact me with any questions or to request higher resolution pictures.