Freaked me out seeing your fingers next to the spinning burr at least when viewed from that angle.

I have procrastrinated the alicorn procedure for more than a year now.. but recently took the first step by doing a marker test and had something similar happen. The ink didn't wipe at all, but I could hear the burrs touch (although kind of difficult on the Vario compared to other flat burr grinders, mostly I've just calibrated at the first signs of motor strain instead). I could also see marks on the flat calibration triangles so there was contact for sure, but the ink was still there.

This is for a grinder that is able to grind fine enough for espresso with the steel burrs even before alignment. I'm guessing the marker could be the issue for me (easily wiped with my fingers though..) so will try again with a different one. Just wanted to add that this is another potential source of error.

New marker in hand, I can confirm this was the problem the first time I tried the marker test. With the new one I got a 50% wipe on the top burr and on a coarser setting than before (7 microsteps!). The noise is barely audible when the burrs are spinning at full speed, but clear when they start to slow down. Seeing as there's room for improvement, time to try the out the procedure

pcrussell50 wrote:Good luck, mate.

Thanks, I feel like some is needed

Got 83% wipe on my first try and was fairly pleased, but the belt tension was obviously way too loose.. So since I had to disassemble again I had another go hoping to get a clean wipe and better tension. Ended up with a 30% wipe and too much tension seems the margin for error is quite thin.

Other than that it was more straightforward than I thought and if there's any consolation for those of us who don't get it on the first try it's that the process can be done pretty fast once you've tried it. Just a bit annoying that most of the work is spent getting access to the assembly. Need to try again with clamps and a battery.

Update:
So I tried with clamps but it didn't work out for me. Luckily the bouncing levers method is also solid, so on the 5th try finally a pleasing sound that gave me the same feeling Peter had while running his on a battery. As expected, perfect wipe with a marker test. Having a battery to test out the assembly helps greatly. Good thing too, because I've got a regular Vario and was starting to see wear on the screws. Put everything back together and was relieved to find out that the wipe was still perfect, unlike my first try when I just turned the pulley by hand.

So I finally get what people are talking about with well aligned, unimodal flat burrs.

Had some ridiculous nordic roast at home that can't be used for espresso on the Niche Zero.. unless you like grass.
Ground 2 micro-steps from burr touch on my now aligned Vario it's still a fast 1:3.5 ratio shot, but tastes just like the descriptors on the package. Anaerobic beans, not unlike drinking a raspberry sour beer actually pleasant but not exactly something I'd want to brew again.

Before, with that 50% wipe, I could brew espresso on the burr touch setting and there would perhaps be a hint of the same flavor but with a strong bitter note as well. Mostly excited to see what difference the alignment will make for pour overs, that were already pretty good.

Pour over certainly doesn't disappoint. Some people have the mindset that the grinder comes in second to great beans. While true to some extent, brews with the aligned steel burrs have transformed beans that I previously thought were 'OK' into great. I had to adjust a couple of macro steps coarser than before, otherwise the flavor would be too intense. Interesting I think, kind of the opposite to sifted grinds in my experience.

A big shout out to Jake, Peter and everyone else that have contributed to these alignment threads!

You don't need to do the clamp method if you leave the front and top attached. Just use the levers like Jake described quite early on.

The reason I found for working with the assembly separately was that I couldn't adjust belt tension with a my regular screw driver otherwise. That's a tool I'd look for if you don't want to remove everything and use a battery to run the motor.