Well, there are plenty of good things to say about the Nino, but one thing that's not all that impressive is the grinds catch tray:



It feels like popping the hood of a super-expensive sports car and seeing the beautiful engine covered with cheap plastic. Carbon fiber or something, please. Well, I looked no further than our very own Dave Stephens (cannonfodder) for an elegant solution to this problem. A few drawings and a few days later, I received this:



More figured red nara wood to match the awesome handles he made me. Sweet!

Sadly, the height of the tray was difficult to measure, and it turned out that I mis-measured it (overestimated). So I had to sand down (spent several hours with 100 grit sand paper and a dremel till it fit just right) the bottom side and re-finish that part... A small price to pay for my own error, after seeing the finished product.


You can see my workmanship isn't up to par with Dave's (uneven cuts on the ridge).


Fortunately, when installed, all you see is Dave's side.

Beautiful work. Thanks, Dave.

Ooooo, pretty. Looks a lot better in the grinder than it did on the workbench. FYI, I turned the inner hole a little smaller than the measurements (made the walls a little thicker keeping the outer measurement the same) just in case the outer was a touch to large. It could be sanded 1/16 thinner (or a little more) before you would have to worry about breaking through the inner wall or making it flimsy. Chance favors the prepared mind.

Hmm. That would be very sexy with a wooden hopper lid and a glass hopper as well....

Got me thinking.....

Very happy with this grinder, but a bit of wood would be nice....

I have already made a wooden hopper,not lid!Small enough,to fit under the cabinets.

For US readers who are looking for a high-end conical, there has been a dramatic price adjustment on the US price for the grinder... check it out. Note that this price is for the version 0.12 firmware, not the newer 0.A firmware which, as mentioned above, appears to add the ability to dose using the top buttons rather than the portafilter holder's microswitch.

Damnit, Nicholas! Now I'm interested again!!!

* * * * *

Since I don't know $#!+ about DIY wiring of electricity, and I'm not sure I want to pay an electrician to install another outlet (I already had him install a 110v/20A outlet for the T1), any recommendations on a reliable, solid transformer to up the 110 to 220???

Cheers,
Jason

Well, if you have a home run'd 3 wire outlet (which is pretty standard), you can change it to 220v at the panel if you so desire. The grinder operates off 3 wires, not the typical 4 most 220 installs use nowadays.

Ok, like everyone else, I'm interested to hear how it tastes. I'm close to pulling the trigger on a versalab M3 (yes, they're still making those), because i like to change coffee frequently and don't want any leftovers per shot. The nino is only a few bucks more, so now i can't decide. Pros for the nino are brand name, resale value, reliability (at least among the brand), and suitability for a cafe (possibly way down the road). Pros for the versalab is price (slightly) 120v, beautiful distribution, and 0.0g of leftover coffee. But it's really down to flavor and grind quality, and as far as i can tell, this thread has had regular posts for the last 9 months with nobody really talking about the cup!

Hmmmm... the cup.

M3 vs. Robur (-10.5, 2-0-2)
M7K vs. Robur (-3, 1-1-2)
Fiorenzato Doge vs. Robur (-0.5, 1-1-2)
Compak K10 vs. Robur (+1, 1-1-2)

The M7K, Doge, and K10 all have the same (or very similar) burrsets, and vary mainly by motor power. It's not out of the question to think that the Nino will perform, frankly, totally identically to all of these grinders, which are if anything just a little short of the Robur. I haven't done an exhaustive comparison between the two (which I own), but they certainly seem to have very similar 'personalities,' unlike my Super Jolly and my Robur. That said, most of the Nino owners that frequent Home-Barista have very new Ninos, and getting the hang of a new grinder (and breaking it in) takes some time. Malte (the deal maker) is the only guy posting who has extensive experience with both the Robur and the Nino, and he's already said they're pretty much the same in the cup. Reading the comments about the M7, K10, and Robur, this isn't too surprising is it? The entire Beat the Robur test really calls into question the degree of delineation among various grinders in the cup given a controlled (i.e. fully dialed in) situation. All that to say, I think it'll be awhile before you hear anything more satisfying than you already have.

But, if you're going on test scores, seems like the Super Jolly (-1.5, 2-0-2) is the way to go, having gotten lucky enough to fare better than any of the conicals in that test. It doesn't quite live up to the Robur making casual shots day-to-day, though. So far, the Nino's a definite contender. To whit, a certain someone might be saying his goodbyes to his Robur sooner than later...

The M3 sounds like a great grinder well-suited to home use. My main problem with it is the apparently shoddy QC and the fact that its sold by a pair of people whose business practices are questionable at best. Too many stories I've read about and heard of, even pretty recently... who knows. Best of luck to you, whatever you choose.

Nicholas is of course absolutely right to say that it's early days yet for those of us who got Ninos in the group deal. That said my Nino is settling in nicely and delivering consistently sweeter, more delineated shots than my Super Jolly, with much less waste and fuss.

hth

Mike