La Cimbali Max Grinder - a first look - Page 5

Grinders are one of the keys to exceptional espresso. Discuss them here.
Ken Fox
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#41: Post by Ken Fox »

Jepy wrote:I was at a trade show in Italy doing some research for parts, and asked about the DRM sets, and Cimbali said it doesn't exist anymore, just the planars. Anyways, my theory was that the Max is a direct drive grinder, and since the DRM was 1/2 the speed and belt driven with more torque, the burrs probably had to be slightly different. I coud be wrong, since I haven't measured a Max myself before, but even in Jeff's pics the conical looks a little different. Time to get the caliper out
I remember discussing Cimbali equipment with the Cimbali trade show reps at the Seattle SCAA show. I am sorry to say that I knew more about the line than did their representatives.

ken

p.s. here on one page is Jeff's frontal view of his Max grinder's planar burrs:

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and:

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And, below, here is my frontal view of a 64mm burr (top and bottom burrs in at least the 64mm set are identical):

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What, me worry?

Alfred E. Neuman, 1955

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jesawdy (original poster)
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#42: Post by jesawdy (original poster) »

I removed the top planar burr from the Cimbali Max this evening and took some measurements.

I measured the o.d. at 63.55mm , the i.d. at 38.33mm, the thickness at 9.06mm. The back of the burr is not flat and looks like back of the Junior burr set Ken Fox posted a picture of prior. The depth of that recess is about 1.8 mm.
Jeff Sawdy

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zix
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#43: Post by zix »

If memory serves, another forum member tried to buy the Max from that website and never did get a grinder, and only got his money back after threatening to do a chargeback with his credit card company
That would be me. The "threat" was rather politely delivered, and the answer from their payment handling partner also very polite, even compassionate. But at the end of it all, yes, this is what happened. Very frustrating period, still not over since I really haven't found what I was after. I am now hobbling along with an Anfim KS Self (same as the Pasquini K2 in the US), and wildly bouncing between the options available to me:
* get a used or new Casadio Istantaneo
* make my own DIY grinder with a good non-functional grinder or a zass hand crank as base
* find a used Max somewhere

P.S. The Anfim really isn't a bad grinder. It has merely come to play the very undeserved second fiddle - to an unexisting grinder, at that. Me reading this thread doesn't help it a lot ;) However, I am glad to hear that the Max seems to be a good one, and slightly better taste-wise, compared to the Junior... that would be quite a trick for any grinder to pull.
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Ken Fox
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#44: Post by Ken Fox »

jesawdy wrote:I removed the top planar burr from the Cimbali Max this evening and took some measurements.

I measured the o.d. at 63.55mm , the i.d. at 38.33mm, the thickness at 9.06mm. The back of the burr is not flat and looks like back of the Junior burr set Ken Fox posted a picture of prior. The depth of that recess is about 1.8 mm.
Thank you very much for your efforts, Jeff. Since we know that the burr pattern is like the 68mm burrs that were a part of the old DRM set, we know that the original, normal, Junior type 64mm burrs are probably not right, even though likely they would fit.

I will return the 68mm spare burrs I obtained, and will await finding some 64s, even though I should not need them until maybe 2015 :mrgreen:

ken
p.s. one other thing we can derive from this discussion is that the Max DOES NOT share even the burr set with the M3 Versalab, and given the other aspects of its design, we should be comparing the Max to straight conicals, with which there are going to be more similarities (such as having a doser, the grind path, etc.) than to the Versalab.
What, me worry?

Alfred E. Neuman, 1955

T.J.
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#45: Post by T.J. »

We are pleased to announce that after several requests and comments urging us to find a way to combine the luxury and quality of the Conical burrs found in our MAX grinder with the user friendliness and chassis of the JUNIOR grinder, we will shortly release the Cimbali MAX/JUNIOR Hybrid grinder.

This grinder will take the best features of the MAX and place them in the chassis of the JUNIOR.

We will keep you posted as to how to source these grinders when they arrive in this market.

Regards,

T.J. Tarateta
T.J. Tarateta
G.M. Ammirati Imports
La Cimbali

Beezer
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#46: Post by Beezer »

Cool! Great to hear that the manufacturers/retailers are paying attention to this thread and actually making new products to meet demand. Of course now I have to fight the temptation to upgrade...
Lock and load!

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zix
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#47: Post by zix »

Thank you for posting and telling us Cimbali are working on it, Mr Tarateta. I was recently pondering the absence of such a grinder, perhaps in a slightly dispirited way, over in the macap/mazzer conical grinder thread (here it is). Junior cabinet size is perfect, but a man can dream, and I am a man... so I dream about that Junior chassis with a design of the grind path and outlet that permits close to zero grind detention, and also good dispersion in the portafilter, even without a doser. There are those who have proven both are possible, but not in the price and performance region of the Junior.
LMWDP #047

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RAS
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#48: Post by RAS »

Hearing that there will soon be a hybrid Max/Junior grinder certainly interests me! My Junior has become a good "friend" in my pursuit of good coffee. It is, by no means, perfect, but I've grown accustomed to its idiosyncrasies.

If there is any way to have some input as to which features from each grinder to include, I would think that the only feature from the Max is the combination burr set. I've never used a Max, so I can't speak for its other features, but it certainly seems the Junior is preferred in many ways, including the lack of an auto-fill and the dual power switches. I'm just hoping the dollar rallies a bit against the Euro to make this grinder within reach.

Please keep us posted T.J.!
Bob

petterf
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#49: Post by petterf »

T.J. wrote:This grinder will take the best features of the MAX and place them in the chassis of the JUNIOR.
We will keep you posted as to how to source these grinders when they arrive in this market.
Wow this is indeed very nice to read.
For us living in Europe and Sweden, is this something to look forward to or will these be built for the NA market only?
I was just about to buy me the Junior but if theres a Hybrid in the pipeline I'm really interested in getting one.
/petter

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T.J.
Posts: 42
Joined: 18 years ago

#50: Post by T.J. »

Right now Cimbali is planning this only for the American market since I requested it after noticing that so many readers of Home Barista would be into something like this.

Hopefully, the enthusiasm and informed discussions that take place on this site will drive ourselves and others to keep pursuing better standards and more interesting models for our customers.
T.J. Tarateta
G.M. Ammirati Imports
La Cimbali