osel wrote:Helor gets staticky. Apparently Kinu has some design to help with that, Helor can get loose, ruining your shot, you have to check wether the burr is wobbling or not.

My Helor has 0.0 static even without RDT. In contrast, my friend's Kinu has tons of it.

Tonefish wrote:Does anyone have experience with both the Helor 101 and the Kinu M47? Which is your favorite and why?

As you've already heard, the Kinu feels better built. In practice, I don't think it makes a difference, apart from osel's issue with the top nut coming loose (which is a no-brainer to fix and doesn't happen again if tightened sufficiently).

Other comments:
- Weight: The Helor is considerably lighter.
- Grind adjustment: More convenient on the Kinu. Coming from feldgrind, I disliked the Helor's, but now rather like it.
- Design: Which do you think looks better?
- Size: If it matters to you.
- Availability: If I'm not mistaken, Helor has a retailer in the US. Don't know how imports of Kinu would work.
- Grinding extremely light: The Kinu has a small buttom to help with the grip. It therefore gets some extra convenience points for the very light grinding.

Thanks max!

osel wrote:The thing about "burr alignment" is a mystery to me. How do I know if it's aligned? How do I align it? Does alignment change with regular use? How much use? Should the user align or check alignment at any point? etc. etc.

Those are real honest concerns.

I have a Helor (had Lido E prior) and don't see a reason to ever get another hand grinder unless I just get curious on the Kinu. I like that the Helor is small, I travel a lot and it can fit anywhere. The closed top also makes it quieter when grinding too, which I like. Not sure on the Kinu, but there is noticeably less grinding noise from the Helor vs the Lido i had.

I also have had the top nut unscrew some and it's pretty simple to just tighten it back up once i noticed it was loose. I find the fit and finish to be very good on the Helor and sounds same or better on the Kinu.

I'm not crazy about Helor's grind setting mechanism, so Kinu might have the edge there. It's easy to change and all but I can never keep track of the dots to know where I am in relation to where zero is. I usually need to tighten it all the way to zero and then loosen it up to where I want it to be when I change grind size.

I don't have experience with the Helor so I can't speak about it. I have been using my Kinu M47 for the past 2-3 months everyday, and literally the only issue I have with it is very occasional popcorning of beans that happens so infrequently I'm not concerned enough to do anything about it. literally, THAT IS IT. Everything else about it is completely satisfying. Perfect burr alignment upon arrival, and after grinding 2-4 shots every day and 3-4x taking the shaft and inner burr out to clean, remains perfect. The only way I can imagine being able to screw up the alignment is if you remove the outer burr and don't replace it right. But you can clean the grinder very well without removing it, so I don't plan to ever remove the outer burr. I've heard that Kinu actually doesn't recommend removing it. Any worry I had about alignment has been put to rest with the Kinu. With the grind setting locked, the whole grinder is rock solid and the only thing that moves is the handle turning the shaft smoothly. It comes with 10 year warranty and after experiencing the grinder I can understand how Kinu can offer this. It feels like an heirloom item that I will be able to hand down to one of my children. I've had experience with Pharos, Lido, Feldgrind, even HG-1 for a brief time. The Kinu M47 is the only grinder I've experienced that I can recommend without reservation. Feldgrind is very close and is also a wonderful grinder especially for the money and I still have mine, but mine has a tiny bit of burr rub at fine espresso setting. It's a great time to be in the market for a hand grinder, with all the great options available!

A bit off topic, but what, if any, is the recommended cleaning or other maintenance procedures and schedule for Helor and Kinu?

As in are you ever supposed to brush off or wash the burrs or to re-align the grinder etc.?

I did read on Helor website not to wash the contemporary burrs since they are made from some mix of metals which isn't supposed to be washed.

Probably more than what you've asked..but here you go.
[User guide] Unofficial technical guide for Helor 101 Hand Grinder

IMHO the Helor is junk and the customer service is also junk. I had one for a bit, sold it. The person who bought it had issues with it "sticking" so we agreed to send it back to Australia for a refund. Somehow it got lost in the mail (first time ever for me!) and Helor won't do anything to try to help the buyer of my grinder with the issue.

The Kinu is vastly superior. I would say that the Feldgrind even is a better design than the helor. Run the other direction from helor!

UFGators wrote:IMHO the Helor is junk and the customer service is also junk. I had one for a bit, sold it. The person who bought it had issues with it "sticking" so we agreed to send it back to Australia for a refund. Somehow it got lost in the mail (first time ever for me!) and Helor won't do anything to try to help the buyer of my grinder with the issue.

What is "sticking"?
And did you send it untracked?

UFGators wrote: The Kinu is vastly superior. I would say that the Feldgrind even is a better design than the helor. Run the other direction from helor!

It would be helpful to OP and others if you could elaborate.
I have 3 Helor 101, have had a Feldgrind, and have tried two M47, and can not agree with your statement

Yes, sent it untracked... not the best idea but I have had good luck in the past.

1. The aluminum case is fragile and very easily dented on the Helor
2. The bushings are not smooth in operation
3. Customer service is not good from Helor. Terrible at returning emails.