^^^ Honestly, for the price the Kazak WDT is worth a try. I agree consistency is what we are striving for in our puck prep, but it should also provide the most effective means. That being said, I used the Pullman Chisel for a couple of years. Well made like the Asso. In the end these tools only move around the top third of your grounds. I ran an experiment on my spent pucks, cutting them in half with a razor blade and noticing non uniformity in the cross direction. The top third looking more evenly distributed than the rest. I decided this can't be good for optimum water flow through the puck during the extraction phase. So now...on to the Duomo. Hey, what we won't do for the god shot!!!

BaristaBob, you and I are of the same mind. When it comes that Pullman/Asso style leveler/distributor, I've always been bothered that only a certain portion is getting distributed properly and rest is getting smushed down, in it's less-than-ideal condition. Your experiment confirms it, so hopefully the Kazak does alright.

Just an FYI on the Duomo. I measured the diameter of the needles vs. those of the LeverCraft Ultra WDT tool, which I like a lot.

Ultra... 0.4mm
Duomo... 0.75mm

So the needles on the Duomo are almost twice the diameter. I understand from a durability standpoint, but I do think thinner might be better based on my experience using many different WDT tools in the past.

Also, I've found it tricky to get just the right spin velocity as to not create a perimeter pile of grounds around the edge of the basket (crater-like). But this was also tricky with the manual LeverCraft Ultra tool...you could just see it as you stirred compared to the "magic" happening under the dome!

Those that buy the Duomo are just really after repeatability or muscle memory imo. I always spin clockwise 3 times, then anti-clockwise 1 and finish with 1 last turn clock wise. I have to say that it works better as a "raking" tool follow by a final PF tap than a WDT tool.

It redistributes well with grinders that yield "almost" clumps free grounds, if your grinder yield a lot of clumps, this is not going to alleviate that issue, but rather give you a false sense of fluffiness.

To me it's a distributor/ leveler / WDT wrapped into a single step.

Is there an ideal needle depth? I set mine up by inverting it (needles pointing up) and backing off just enough so that it's not scratching the bottom of my 18g vst basket. I've been getting pretty consistent results but wanted to know if anyone has played around with different depths.

Also, it might be obvious, but I noticed that it cannot fix severe initial distribution issues (i.e. niche dosing cup creating a mound on one side of the portafilter). I tried to smooth it out a bit using my finger before using the Duomo but got terrible channeling clearly on the side where the mound did not form. I think grinding direct to the portafilter is the way to go (though it's messier ).

pandoobus wrote:Also, it might be obvious, but I noticed that it cannot fix severe initial distribution issues (i.e. niche dosing cup creating a mound on one side of the portafilter). I tried to smooth it out a bit using my finger before using the Duomo but got terrible channeling clearly on the side where the mound did not form. I think grinding direct to the portafilter is the way to go (though it's messier ).

My grinds typically go in lopsided into my PF. I've found that by spinning a few turns both clockwise and counterclockwise that it leaves it nice and flat. Tamping becomes really easy afterwards and virtually no channeling.

I have to agree that it's a bit overpriced, but I have noticed improvements in how symmetrically the espresso comes out of the basket. What does your WDT routine look like? For some reason, I always end up with the extraction starting on one side of the portafilter regardless of how evenly I think I did. I do the smaller circles in big circle movement.

I don't know what you guys think, but I found that the Duomo itself isn't enough. I always do a bit of manual WDT, then Duomo, then a distributor tool then I use a puck screen. Since then, channeling is a thing from the past!
I know it's to much of a process, I know ! But I like it, don't judge me