Hi I was lucky enough to find a local used Ditting KR-1203 grinder that I picked up for home pour over use. I don't have much history on the machine so I'm assuming that it has the original cast burrs from its manufacturer date in 2001. When I disassembled everything to clean, the burrs seemed pretty dull and while it grinds nicely there do seem to be some clumps and quite a bit of fines. I'm not sure if that's just the way it grinds or if that means the burrs need replaced/sharpened. I've attached a few pictures below of the burrs.

Do the burrs seem like they need replaced/sharpened?

Are there multiple different types of replacement burrs available from Ditting? When searching online I only saw one set of aftermarket machined from Voltage and OEM cast from Rusty Dog, but it seems like the smaller 804/807 has regular and lab sweet burrs available.

Does anyone have experience with the 120mm burrs available from SSP?

Keep those burrs!!!

Seriously though, you have the old cast iron burrs which produce exceptional coffee grounds. I also got an old KF804 with these burrs in pretty much unused condition and it delivers the best results both for espresso and filter.
It is difficult to tell the condition of these kind of burrs because they look dull even when new. But yours don't look that bad.
I have two newer KR1203s with machined burrs which you could put in your grinder but they are pretty expensive.
You could ask Mr. Hansung from SSP if he could resharpen your burrs (I'm pretty sure he will).
Did you test if the burrs are parallel and aligned?

Definitely keeping the burrs either way! I haven't checked alignment yet, it will be my first time doing so with any grinder. Do you recommend the marker test?

I actually just reached out to SSP a few days ago with questions about some of their burr sets. When I get a response I'll definitely ask if they can resharpen my existing ones as well. One of my local coffee shops recommended running the back of a fingernail with light pressure against the cutting edge of the burr and if it leaves a mark it's good and if not it may need sharpened. I did try this and there was no mark.

This test does not work on these cast iron burrs. They wont leave a mark even when new.
You have to be careful when putting the burrs back and make sure there is nothing under the burrs, not even a small piece of coffee ground.
When you grind beans some fines will collect in the grinding chamber but will usually stay in place. When grinding for filter I would not knock the spout into the vessel where you collect the grinds for your filter brew. Knock it afterwards and throw away the fines that collected in the spout. You can also get more even grind size when you slowly pour in bean after bean instead of everything together.
The new cast irin burrs also produce some fines but they do not have a bad influence in the brew in my experience.
Did you calibrate the burrs so they are almost touching at grind size 1? And what grind size do you choose for your filter brew?

That's a cool find! In regards to your question about available OEM burrs for the 1203, there is currently only one set being manufactured by Hemro (standard special steel).

I bought an old KFA 1203 for a few hundred bucks earlier this year that had a new set of SSPs installed. I haven't spent enough time with the grinder yet to be able to speak with any authority but it creates significantly more fines than on my EKs at equivalent grind size, despite grinding the same amount of beans in a fraction of the time (EK is fast but 1203 grinds a 20g dose in about .5 seconds). I have to check the alignment but I don't hold loads of hope for marker test + shimming to be easy or accurate with such a large diameter burr. My grinder is from the early 2000s and was in a busy cafe for many years so the bearings could be worn which might make precise alignment even trickier.

If you do check the alignment with marker or other methods I'd love to hear about your experience.

@Marmot
Thank you for the tips , I got an old paint brush to get out the fines that get stuck in the grinder spout and it's been much better. Still need to try pouring the beans in slowly instead of pre-dosing the hopper. I did make sure when I put in the burrs that there was nothing sitting under the burr mount. I haven't calibrated the burrs to touch at 1, not sure how to do that. And for V60 I've been sticking a little bit finer than the 4 setting. I can post some pics of grinds if that'd be helpful

@Prima
Thank you for the info, I haven't heard of Hemro before, but it's interesting that they own both Ditting and Mahlkönig

@kevincoffeedrum
I was reading a few other posts about user experience with SSP burrs. It seems like they need quite a bit of seasoning before they reach their full potential. I even saw that some people were using raw rice. How did you season your burrs when you got them?

Bebop wrote:I was reading a few other posts about user experience with SSP burrs. It seems like they need quite a bit of seasoning before they reach their full potential. I even saw that some people were using raw rice.

It's my understanding that the coated burrs are already "broken in" - in other words no need to dull the edges with rice. The recommendation is to use oily, dark roasted beans to "season" the coating a bit like you'd do with a cast iron or carbon steel skillet (grinding instead of cooking, of course).