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A New Coffee Mill

S

Syd Sellers

Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
138
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8
Location
Rocky Mountain House, AB

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Been a few years since I did my last, but it seems proper to me to have the top lift off. The filter is circular, what holds it seems like it should be as well. Keeps bouncing grind out of corners, too. I even made a drawer for the square iron grinders with a circle cut in it to support the paper.

They don't make that mill any more? Shame, it sold well. Says the guy drinking from a Keurig brewer.
 
MichaelMouse said:
Been a few years since I did my last, but it seems proper to me to have the top lift off. The filter is circular, what holds it seems like it should be as well. Keeps bouncing grind out of corners, too. I even made a drawer for the square iron grinders with a circle cut in it to support the paper.

They don't make that mill any more? Shame, it sold well. Says the guy drinking from a Keurig brewer.
Click to expand...

MM
I saw a commercial about some new little cups that you put your own grind in and put it in those costly Keurig's
 
MichaelMouse said:
Been a few years since I did my last, but it seems proper to me to have the top lift off. The filter is circular, what holds it seems like it should be as well. Keeps bouncing grind out of corners, too. I even made a drawer for the square iron grinders with a circle cut in it to support the paper.

They don't make that mill any more? Shame, it sold well. Says the guy drinking from a Keurig brewer.
Click to expand...

I never considered putting the filter in the drawer, I was just worried about getting the fresh ground coffee into the drawer and letting you spoon it out so you could get an accurate measure on how much to use. I like your idea, let me see if I can find a filter that will work with a few mods...
 

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Yeah, Bill, SWMBO got me one of those second generation baskets. The extraction process that makes the most out of the dust in the container isn't so good with the basket. You have to grind real fine and use more. If you like the yuppie brews with exotic tastes, which I do, it ends up close in price and higher in aggravation. Snapping the basket out and spreading grounds all over is one of the other delights.

Syd, the depth needs to equal the filter walls, but it need not be any broader than the base. Lot neater than tapping grounds out of the corner of the drawer too. Keep the paper enough above the edge of the holder so you can grip it easily with hands on either side. One hand slips too easily.
 
How well does the salt crusher work for this compared to the no-longer-available coffee grinder mechanism?

I am not a coffee drinker, but my wife is so I might be obligated to make a coffee grinder if she gets wind of this thread.
 
Coffee Mills Compared

Bill Boehme said:
How well does the salt crusher work for this compared to the no-longer-available coffee grinder mechanism?

I am not a coffee drinker, but my wife is so I might be obligated to make a coffee grinder if she gets wind of this thread.
Click to expand...

Hi Bill, I've been using my Prototype #1 for the last few days and I see the need for #2.
The speed of grind all depends on the ease of turning the grinder. The old units have a nice long crank assembly which as you can see I have replaced with a knob attached to my Hopper top. Not good enough! I either make the top larger in diameter or make an add on to get the knob out past the edge of the top far enough to get the length of the crank long enough to turn the grinder with ease.
As stated by one of my turning buddies, I need to get a Briggs & Statin up on there!!!

The results of the grind are really good. It is a great grinder. You can get a nice range of grind size from very fine to a nice coarse grind.

However, work needs to continue on how to drive the grinder. The shaft is 6 sided and I can't find anything that fits it.
Any ideas would be great...

Syd
 
Thanks, Syd. What you said about the crank was my first thought when I saw your design and compared it to the original. My idea was to leave the lid fixed and have the grinder shaft extend through it with a much longer crank arm.

Is the six sided shaft steel or aluminum? Also, can it be removed from the mechanism and put into a drill chuck on the lathe? Aluminum is easy to turn with regular woodturning scrapers. If it is stainless steel, the workability depends on the particular type. Some types of stainless steel tend to work harden very easily. Mild steel can be turned with carbide scrapers. If you could turn a short length of the end to a smaller round diameter and then use a die to thread it. Another approach if it is SS is to get a stainless steel socket head cap screw that matches the hex shaft and braze it onto the shaft sing a MAPP torch. Then you would be able to make a metal crank arm with lock washer and nut to lock it down so it would not slip.

My wife bought a kitchen decoration wall trinket at a flea market that consists of the top half of a coffee grinder sans grinder mechanism. It serves no useful purpose so perhaps I could sneak in there and liberate the crank. 😀
 
Longer Crank

Hi Bill,
Yes it sure does work well with a longer crank.
The 6 sided shaft is aluminum and is soft. I tried your idea and it resulted in the shaft being so small I was afraid of it twisting off. I can't find a socket to fit the shaft (metric), so I elected to use the fitting that comes with it hence the removable top with the fitting pressed into it.

I have fixed my top by adding a spoke to it like a spoke in a wheel with a knob mounted on the side of the spoke. Works very well and seeing I turned the spoke, it still looks like a woodturner made it verses a machine shop. As soon as I get it finished I will post a picture of it.

Syd
 
Had not realized that any of the ceramic CrushGrind mechanisms would make a decent coffee grinder. Not being a coffee drinker I had never experimented.
 
holmqer said:
Had not realized that any of the ceramic CrushGrind mechanisms would make a decent coffee grinder. Not being a coffee drinker I had never experimented.
Click to expand...

Hi,
Well with no coffee mills on the market any longer, I had to come up with something. So I played around with it and discovered it ground coffee very well, slow, but good. So I had to come up with a way to adapt it to a already good Mill base. Had a few problems getting a nice way of driving the crusher and having enough leverage to turn it easily, but I think I have it resolved.

Pics to come as soon as the finish cures.

Syd
 
holmqer said:
Had not realized that any of the ceramic CrushGrind mechanisms would make a decent coffee grinder. Not being a coffee drinker I had never experimented.
Click to expand...

Hi Holmqer,
Not all crusher mechanisms are the same. The only one that I have found that will work on coffee is the one from Denmark. The one that Craft Supply sells that is made in the USA will not crush coffee IMHO.... Check it out...
Syd
 
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