# Handground grinder



## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

I think it's coming - they're expecting to start shipping in August I think.

Anyone preordered? I might. It seems a decent price for a well thought out bit of kit. I don't know how well the grind adjustments are suited (are the spacings too big per setting?). No idea if it'll do for dialing in espresso but it should do aeropress, moka (touch coarser than aeropress for me), French press and drip styles pretty well. I like the handle being side mounted.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

I have one coming as part of the Kickstarter campaign


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## DavidBondy (Aug 17, 2010)

I must have missed this on Kickstarter! What are the details?

David


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

DavidBondy said:


> I must have missed this on Kickstarter! What are the details?
> 
> David


 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/handground/precision-coffee-grinder-better-grind-more-Flavor

I see @MWJB is a backer too

I suppose the main thing going for it seems to be the price.


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## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

risky said:


> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/handground/precision-coffee-grinder-better-grind-more-Flavor
> 
> I see @MWJB is a backer too
> 
> I suppose the main thing going for it seems to be the price.


Indeed, plus it's claims of consistent grind, decent capacity and vertical rather than horizontal crank arm.

I'm tempted. Very tempted.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Morningfuel said:


> Indeed, plus it's claims of consistent grind, decent capacity and vertical rather than horizontal crank arm.
> 
> I'm tempted. Very tempted.


I'd wait until people have them in their hands & can give you some 1st hand experience.

The bearings on the shaft look like a good move & the intuitive adjustment mechanism, but remember that this is the first production run of this grinder, hopefully all will be well, but maybe have a little patience.


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## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

MWJB said:


> I'd wait until people have them in their hands & can give you some 1st hand experience.
> 
> The bearings on the shaft look like a good move & the intuitive adjustment mechanism, but remember that this is the first production run of this grinder, hopefully all will be well, but maybe have a little patience.


Yeah, probably a good idea. It'll make grinding up 35g of beans for a moka pot much easier though.

It sounds like they've thought of everything but they have had a few hiccups throughout prototype production, and I still don't know how 0.15mm increments will work ie are they too big to finely dial in for espresso.

It does look good though, and the grip pad and vertical crank will really make grinding easier all else being equal.


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## Oneds (Jun 4, 2015)

Arrived at long last! Initial impressions are goodish, being really picky and we are talking about 0.15mm but the burr in mine wasn't perfectly central so needed 1 washer to get a consistent grind just half a setting below the lowest direct out of the box to get the size needed for espresso but it does that. Beyond that it works really well and the axel etc are solid, every component seems well made. Takes a while to get 30g out of it on the espresso grind, trying to figure out ways to hook the axel up to the Mikita power screwdriver to save the RSI. It makes a perfect travel grinder if, like me when you go on hols you pack a gaggia classic too!


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

Mine arrived too, but I've only had a couple of brews so far (in a CCD). They've both come out a little under-extracted, which surprised me since (by eye) I ended up with a similar looking grind size to what I get from my Macap MXA. I haven't tried going finer yet, as this thing takes a surprisingly long time to grind the coffee - I'd guess twice as long as my old Porlex grinder. I'll probably just try brewing for longer to save my dodgy shoulder! The signs are good, though and even under-extracted I think it's producing better coffee than the Porlex ever did. I get the feeling it produces very little in the way of fines, though it's hard to be sure until I get things 'just so'.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Only a couple of V60's with mine so far. I'd totally ignore the suggested settings, my grinder (without any spacers added) needs to be set at 1-1.5 for about as coarse a grind as you'd ever use for a 1 mug V60. In my case, I'd need to add the spacers for Clever/Aeropress/small French press - though I doubt I'll do that, to keep the grind time/effort down.

It was a bit alien to start with, but then all my other grinders are Porlex/Feld/Lido style. However, giving it to someone with no expectation of what a typical grinder is like, my girlfriend crunched through a 13g dose in about a minute & half (including a little time to chat, not that different to Porlex/Rhino) & found it easier to use than Lido & Feld. I think with the ceramic burrs longer grind times are just inevitable & a trade off against effort needed.

Where it matters, in the cup, I was very happy with the brews. It's growing on me.

It looks good.

Would maybe prefer a bar type handle though?


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

MWJB said:


> ...my girlfriend crunched through a 13g dose in about a minute & half (including a little time to chat, not that different to Porlex/Rhino)


That's odd - it took me 4 mins to get through 17g on grind setting 2, and I wasn't hanging about!



MWJB said:


> Would maybe prefer a bar type handle though?


That would definitely help!


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## Oneds (Jun 4, 2015)

A modmypi 6mm motor shaft extender with a 12mm bolt head drilled out to 6.5mm. Attached to the axel stub with the handle removed via the two grub screws. Plus 12mm socket plus a socket driving drill bit, means the makita power drill can chew through a full hopper of beans in about 4mins on its finest setting which was taking 15min+ with the dodgy right elbow.

https://www.modmypi.com/electronics/motors-and-robotics/brass-motor-shaft-coupler-set-6mm/?search=Shaft


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## Rairch (Feb 10, 2017)

Hi,

Some beltin modding that! Very nice!

Just wondering how you are finding this grinder?

I'm after something portable for home use and work and just came across this little grinder. Was hoping for something good and consistent for an espresso grind?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Rairch said:


> Hi,
> 
> Some beltin modding that! Very nice!
> 
> ...


It's not that little (but it is pretty light). Probably not the best option for what you want. Hand grinding for espresso takes some dedication.


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## Rairch (Feb 10, 2017)

MWJB said:


> It's not that little (but it is pretty light). Probably not the best option for what you want. Hand grinding for espresso takes some dedication.


Thanks for that.

Any idea on a decent portable for espresso?

I'll have a read around here.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Rairch said:


> Thanks for that.
> 
> Any idea on a decent portable for espresso?
> 
> I'll have a read around here.


Feldgrind


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## Rairch (Feb 10, 2017)

Mrboots2u said:


> Feldgrind


Ta very much!

Will have a looksie.


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## Oneds (Jun 4, 2015)

It's not that big about 30cm-40cm tall and 10cm wide and can be broken down a bit into it's main component parts easily (hopper, lid and collector with no tools, even the handle comes off with just one grub screw with an small allen key). Yes grinding for an espresso takes time and is primarily why I modded it to take the power option, Haro/feldgrind or others won't be any better in that respect (the time for grinding an espresso) but might be smaller to start with, I don't have a comparison for consistency but I have no issues with the grind consistency of the Handground at all.


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## Oneds (Jun 4, 2015)

Ok have killed it in spectacular style, running the drill for a full hopper on 1 + a spacer to grind for espresso, the metal axle heated the surrounding bushing which then melted the mounting made in plastic, axle came out of alignment stripped the gear and gouged a good bit of the plastic from the gearbox casing, new lid on the way for $20 from the US. Oh well I do like it though, and the response/service from handground has been great so far.


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## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

Interesting, I have seen them up for sale now and they look good, but I was rather hoping for absolutely glowing reviews.

It's a shame the suggested settings are off. And I'm surprised it's not a bit quicker to grind, although it does sound a bit quicker than my rhinowares.

I'm wondering if I'd do better to go for an electric one. When travelling I am happy with the aeropress and rhinowares, and for home I'll be able to use the rhinowares for pourover, aeropress and moka pot, then use a motorised one for espresso.


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## Richard_severn (May 3, 2017)

I have a handground and its great for most things. I tried it for espresso and it's not fine enough my burrs are touching on setting one.

A bit about the handground when I got mine the central burr was wonky. I ordered from Coffee Hit but didn't bother emailing them, I went straight to the handground guys in America and got a really fast reply with a way of sorting it but sadly that didn't work they were in China when I emailed them and said once they were back in the USA they would post me a replacement set of burrs, 4 or 5 days later I had a new set of burrs, fitted them and yet again the center was not level. In the end, to sort it I had to take the plastic inserts out of the center butt, put the insert on the shaft first then the burr press down the center burr until it was touching the outer one and then tighten down the thumb nut after that it sorted it. I did use some thread lock on the nut as well as it kept falling off during grinding and obviously that's not good as it would mess up the coffee, half would be the right grind then the other half would be coarser than french press.

My experience of the grinder since sorting it is great, I find it grinds consistently and is fine for all the pour over Aeropress and immersion brewing I do but having just got an espresso machine it doesn't cut it, yes i could install the included shims and wear down the burrs a bit to get a finer grind but I shouldn't have to do something like that. It isn't marketed as an espresso grinder so I'm not bothered by the fact that it doesn't do it. Everything else about the grinder screams quality, the polycarbonate body is perfect and is really nice, it has threaded inserts at the bottom so you can't strip the plastic the handle is nice and the wooden knob just makes it warmer to use and makes me feel nice. the burrs are really nice quality and their customer service is exceptional its worth the money in my eyes if you want a hand grinder that has the ability to go from one setting to another and be repeatable. By this I mean french press in a morning, say number 7 is how you like it then you do a v60 later on and you like it on number 4 those numbers should never change so you can switch between the 2 settings and know every time it's in the right place

Also with Oneds post about melting the housing, they do specifically say in the manual now not to attach a power drill or similar to the grinder it's for hand use only. Maybe that's why they added this in :')

Morning fuel, if you have any more questions about it let me know and I will do my best to answer them from the experience I have had with it so far, or if you want any pictures of it I can send some over.


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## Oneds (Jun 4, 2015)

Well I think the handground works perfectly for occasional/travel, however for everyday regular espresso grinding it takes too long and is not robust enough to hook up to a drill like I have done, I have no issue with them adding the caveat, I knew I was pushing it when I modded it so was happy to pay for the parts I broke.

Anyway it is consistent and a quality product so if it's backup, coarser grinding machine or transportable you are after it will be more than up to the job. This one will become that as soon as I can save enough for a Mazzer mini.


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