# Mazzer SJ doserless mod



## Dylan

So I finally got my fudge funnel, which means it was time to convert my Mazzer SJ to a doserless version! I'm rubbish at remembering to take photos so they are a bit few and far between, but they give the gist.

The original idea for this comes from this blog post here, so much of the first bit of this post duplicates what this guy did









This is the fudge funnel which I bought at AliExpress, took a while to deliver and the box was a bit battered, but contents undamaged.









The handle is spot welded to the body, really really well. It's an absolute nightmare to get off, and I didn't have the right tools for my dremel to grind off the spot welds, so it took rather a lot of prying and twisting a flat head around to get them to come away. Once the first two were off a quick snap/bend of the handle and the rest popped off. Removing the internal spring mechanism of this device was easier but the welds pulled holes in the walls of the funnel. Not to worry really as the holes are where the mazzer chute hole will be cut.

















I then used some paper and placed it over the exit chute and screw holes on the Mazzer to get the pattern which I then used to cut the holes in the right place on the funnel. I left a very small flap of metal on the bottom edge to create a bridge between funnel and chute to try and reduce any coffee escaping/getting stuck. I then attached this to the grinder and with a small headed hammer tapped gently at the bridge and edge of the hole, this helped create a better contact between the funnel and grinder. I was pretty pleased with the result, even though it looks a little battered around the work area.

















I then chopped off the bottom of the funnel and smoothed it off with a grindstone on the dremel. The hole is about half the size of the PF basket, but I applied no science to this, it is perhaps a little large in hindsight. From here I was ready for the first test, and it works! There is very little static which surprised me (may be the good/humid weather, this may not be the case with drier air) although when grinding into the PF, when the ground coffee begins to mount up, if the base of the funnel is close to it it begins to get a static charge and coffee both sticks to it and begins to spray a little. Have the portafilter too low however and the spread from the base of the funnel means it goes everywhere. I'll get a vid up soon to show this.

Pretty happy with the result so far, I think it looks really good, a lot nicer than the doser! Despite the static the grinds are also really nice and fluffy.

I then turned my attention to making a lid for the funnel, it has a 1cm wider circumference than the Mazzer doser so the lid from the doser doesn't quite fit. I used some moulding/craft foam to make 2 circles, and glued them together, gave them a bit of a sand down and got a pretty good looking lid I think. I will paint it if I get around to painting the machine so it really blends in.










Finally I decided to use some moulding foam to cover the motor. I measured up the top and bottom bits, cut it out, heated the foam and pushed it into place. I then sanded down the edges so it had a flush fit. This did a pretty good job, although its not perfect, but if I can't think of a better idea I'll also paint this and see how it ends up looking!


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## urbanbumpkin

Excellent mod, and not at a great cost either. I'm tempted to give it a go for the hell of it.


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## Mrboots2u

Looks good

any chance of a clip of it running >


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## jeebsy

Have you pulled any shots from it yet?


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## Mrboots2u

Perhaps ill fudge tunnel the Ek ( cue lots of innuendo )


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## Dylan

Had one shot, and it was horrible. But that has much more to do with playing with the grind completely unscientifically. I need to do some weighing in and out which I think I will get to tomorrow. I'll also get a video of it grinding then.

Thanks for the comments


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## Charliej

Mrboots2u said:


> Perhaps ill fudge tunnel the Ek ( cue lots of innuendo )


I imagine that would make your eyes water a lot more than a rusty spoon.


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## Dylan

Here is a quick video, my phone decided it likes to focus on whatever is furthest away, so the focus is naff.

Hopefully the sinatra makes up for it.

The coffee was not drinkable, I had to make another after with both hands ^_^


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## jeebsy

Distribution looks absolutely horrendous


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## froggystyle

Your videos don't work on mobile


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## jeebsy

Open it in your browser in desktop view


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## Dylan

jeebsy said:


> Distribution looks absolutely horrendous


Yea it was, the next shot was better but still ways off.

I cannot see a way to enable mobile viewing... dont use youtube all that much, anyone know if its a setting?


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## jeebsy

D_Evans said:


> Yea it was, the next shot was better but still ways off.


How do you propose to correct that? It's a genuine question, distribution issues were one thing that put me off trying to convert my doser


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## froggystyle

jeebsy said:


> Open it in your browser in desktop view


The moment has passed...


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## Dylan

jeebsy said:


> How do you propose to correct that? It's a genuine question, distribution issues were one thing that put me off trying to convert my doser


I had been under dosing in the basket before now, so its a 22g VST and I had been using 17g with an 'aggressive' nutate, this gave the best distribution. I have been experimenting with 20g today, a stir with a cocktail stick helps, but not that much. I'm going to have a go at grinding into a cup and giving the grinds a shake about as well.

Edit: I should say that with the doser I wasn't 'thwacking' but allowing it to grind the beans then dosing out the grounds. Distribution was as much of a problem doing this as it is now, as you might expect.


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## jeebsy

Does doing all that not add up to more effort than just thwacking and getting nicely distributed grinds in your basket ready to go?


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## Dylan

jeebsy said:


> Does doing all that not add up to more effort than just thwacking and getting nicely distributed grinds in your basket ready to go?


No not in my opinion, the thwacking just seemed like an immense pain in the arse to me. Distributing afterwards seemed so much easier.

But i have a bit of a radical/crazy/totally foolish idea which I'll post an image of in a second.


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## Dylan

Here we go.









Old silent computer fan, running at 9v. It just produces a very gentle down breeze (unfortunately not enough to pull the grounds out of the exit cute) not enough to disturb the grinds in the PF. It evenes out distribution and as an added bonus completely eliminates the static build up at the bottom of the cute.

My eventual plan is to have this fitted to the 'on' circuitry (I'm hoping the voltage to the green 'on' led on the mazzer is around 9-12v) and then fit the auber timer and an easy on-off switch to the whole unit.


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## froggystyle

Where will you sit the fan?


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> Where will you sit the fan?


Forgot the image in the last post, uploaded now.


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## froggystyle

So the coffee comes through that hole on the left?


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## Dylan

Indeed, its clogged as at this point I hadn't given the lens hood a thump.


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## froggystyle

Will the fan really pull it out?


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## urbanbumpkin

Wont it just blow it out of the the PF everywhere?


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## froggystyle

Will it fling it against the walls of the funnel and static cause it to stick?


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## jeebsy

I thought conventional wisdom was to disturb the grinds as little as possible.


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## Dylan

The fan does not pull the grounds out of the exit cute, the lens hood mod is still required for this.

The fan spins pretty slowly, a gentle blow, it does not disturb the grinds in the PF at all.

I didn't post about this until I had tried it as my first thought was that I would cause serious static, and the idea would be too stupid to even suggest. As it turns out it did the complete opposite, where in the earlier video you can see static causing the grounds to stick to the bottom of the funnel, and even be caused to jump out of the PF. Adding the fan has completely eliminated this.


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## froggystyle

Have you got a video of the fan in place spinning?

Im not trying to shoot you down, i love a good mod!


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## Dylan

I welcome the questions froggy, so dont worry!

I'll get a vid now


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## Dylan

Here is a vid, I covered the top with clingfilm so we can see what's going on but not get coffee all over my kitchen. You can see my clumsily attempting to film and grind one handed in an attempt to show that you can grind straight into the portafilter with no issue from the moving air.

Video is a bit naff, but gives you the idea.


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## jeebsy

Did you stir that or just tamp? What was the shot like?


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## Dylan

Terrible, again.

I then made another but stirred but the same problem, big dead spot in the center of the shot.

Just cleaning the group and shower screen now to see if that helps :/

I noticed this problem a few weeks back but thought I had solved it with the lower dosing, but its not helping today.


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## jeebsy

Are you smoothing the grinds out or tamping the pile straight?

I got a slight dead spot in the middle when using a flat tamper and tamping the mountain of grinds. A convex sorted it.


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## Dylan

A good clean seems to have helped immensely, just got a lovely clean pour on 17g and lovely flavour.


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## urbanbumpkin

What Tamper are you using with it?

Weirdly enough when I first started using my SJ I found it had a deadspot until i used a flat or trapez


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## Dylan

Its a knock flat 15.45 (or whatever the VST measurement is







)


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## urbanbumpkin

Doh.....There's that theory out of the window


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## jeebsy

Did you get the good shot just tamping or did you stir the grinds?


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## Dylan

jeebsy said:


> Did you get the good shot just tamping or did you stir the grinds?


Good point. I dosed into a cup and gave them a shake.

My assumption was that it was not the distribution, as I had seen this dead spot before.

I'll pull the same shot now with a direct tamp and see what I get.


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## Dylan

Just tried a shot with no distribution at all, dosed directly into the PF.

It was too quick but no sign of any dead spots at all, I'm fairly sure the group head clean had the biggest effect but I'm obviously playing with several variables here.

I'm wasted rather a lot of coffee today. The fan is coming out for now as its not properly secured and I have to attach it to a 9v battery every time I use it.

Hopefully I will be paid enough to invest in the Auber on Monday, I'll fit the fan permanently when I fit that, but I also have to buy paint stripper, primer, paint, new dremel bits... may take me a while to finish it ^_^


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## froggystyle

Im gonna watch the vid when i get home, its hard to see it on my phone, work blocks youtube


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## Dylan

How good are they at blocking proxys?

https://www.freeyoutubeproxy.org/


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## jeebsy

Using websites to deliberately get round a filter is probably a pretty serious offence


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## froggystyle

we are part of a very big american PLC, so i wouldn't even attempt it!

I can wait.


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## froggystyle

Carry some nasty stuff those kind of sites also...


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> Carry some nasty stuff those kind of sites also...


Fair enough if you work for a big company, they can be awfully strict!

But these sites are usually ok as far as nefarious content goes. Google is very good at blocking sites that contain bad stuff, and your internet is protected by your ISP.

It's worth being aware that sites can have dodgy content, but so long as you're not downloading from them they are (usually) ok.


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## Charliej

Dylan,

I'd suggest actually keeping things simpler than adding a fan, take a look at the flap the RR55 uses over the exit from the burrs, that de-clumps, sorts out static and directs the flow of ground coffee nicely down the slope of the funnel.


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## Dylan

Charliej said:


> Dylan,
> 
> I'd suggest actually keeping things simpler than adding a fan, take a look at the flap the RR55 uses over the exit from the burrs, that de-clumps, sorts out static and directs the flow of ground coffee nicely down the slope of the funnel.


I experimented with a flap yesterday, I saw the thread about the type of flap and where to have it, the problem here is that the R55 really throws the grinds out of the chute, where the Mazzer quickly builds up, even without a flap and begins 'shoving' the grinds out. As soon as you put in a flap it clogs up back into the burrs, this happened even when I just had a loose paper flap over the exit chute.


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## jeebsy

There must be way round that as Mazzer Es have a grid which holds the grinds back


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## Dylan

jeebsy said:


> There must be way round that as Mazzer Es have a grid which holds the grinds back


I'm open to suggestions, I fitted a grid as well as per the Mini E and it was WAY worse than the flap, barely any coffee made it out at all, and it was 'loose' grid.

To be honest tho, although it does seem like a major faff and overkill, this fan is working pretty well, almost looks like the chute end of a Versalab when its coming out.


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## froggystyle

So you removed the doser, now you just want the grinds to fall out and land in the PF without static or clumping?


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> So you removed the doser, now you just want the grinds to fall out and land in the PF without static or clumping?


Not specifically, I'm not adverse to distributing after I have dosed.

But when the fan both eliminates static AND clumping, why would I not follow this path?


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## froggystyle

I think its a great idea, was just wondering what your end goal was...

Will have a look at the video and think about it later.


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> I think its a great idea, was just wondering what your end goal was...
> 
> Will have a look at the video and think about it later.


Didn't mean to sound quite so defensive as I did there









My end goal is a good looking grinder I can push a button on and have the correct amount of coffee end up in the PF. Added bonuses would be good distribution and no static


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## jeebsy

D_Evans said:


> Didn't mean to sound quite so defensive as I did there
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My end goal is a good looking grinder I can push a button on and have the correct amount of coffee end up in the PF. Added bonuses would be good distribution and no static


So an rr55 od?


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## jeebsy

D_Evans said:


> Not specifically, I'm not adverse to distributing after I have dosed.


But would you be averse to ?


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## Dylan

jeebsy said:


> So an rr55 od?


Sure, yea, that kinda thing. Not like they come up SH super cheap that often however.



jeebsy said:


> But would you be averse to ?


I am only ever adverse, makes life tough


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## Charliej

jeebsy said:


> So an rr55 od?


Or just blow the budget and get what is probably one of the best on demand grinders out there- a Mythos.


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## froggystyle

Any chance you can do another video without the clingfilm on the top?

Its hard to see whats happening inside the funnel.

Maybe outside?


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## froggystyle

Also maybe drop a resistor inline to slow the fan a bit, seems very fast!


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> Also maybe drop a resistor inline to slow the fan a bit, seems very fast!


The fan speed is definitely something to play with, as its only real job is distribution it can probably go a lot slower.

I did just take a video outside but there isnt much point in uploading it. Just imagine lots of coffee being thrown in a circle out of the top of the funnel.

Although it should be creating a downdraught, I think the slope of the funnel causes the air to double back on itself, and there is actually more of an upward breeze than a downward one. With a lid the coffee does pass the fan, but without it just gets thrown upward and out of the funnel.


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## froggystyle

You have the fan pointing in the right direction yes?

The more i think about this the more i think you have a good idea, how much does it retain in the chute?


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## Dylan

Yup, I even tried pointing it in the wrong direction, but that makes the upward draught worse... go figure









Chute retention is the same as it ever was, the lens hood mod reduces this to a very small amount. (if you don't know - this is a collapsible lens hood that you can give a smack to create a blast of purging air)


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## Dylan

Auber Timer ordered from the US

3 Push Buttons and 1 Toggle ordered from China.

Chinapost VS USPS... FIGHT!

Edit: p.s. has anyone modded the throat of the mazzer to stop coffee getting caught on the small ridge before the burrs? It is only minimal but an annoyance all the same.


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## froggystyle

You fixed the fan in proper yet?


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> You fixed the fan in proper yet?


No, one of the arms broke of the first fan I used, I had some more but not the same make and today playing with voltages I found that the new one would take at least 6v to get going, where as the first one would run at a much nicer speed at as little as 3v. So I have snapped all the remaining arms off the first fan, and I will make some more solid ones that I can attach to its underside.

So I need to find some nice thin but long mounting pins (im thinking a screw of some type) and to make a mounting plate, probably from wood, to attach to the fan before I install.


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## Charliej

Is it possible to get more aggressive burrs for an SJ as that's what makes the RR55 OD work the way it does as the burrs fitted are more aggressive than those on the doser versions so the grinds get flung out faster.


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## Dylan

I had assumed it would be more to do with the sweeper than the burrs?

A good 80-90% of the grinds emitting from the burrs only hit the burr chamber wall and subsequently get 'swept' out. If you watch the first few seconds of the Mazzer SJ grind, the first bits of the coffee get flung out much like on the RR55, but this is only for a second and it quickly build up and begins to get shoved out.


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## Charliej

D_Evans said:


> I had assumed it would be more to do with the sweeper than the burrs?
> 
> A good 80-90% of the grinds emitting from the burrs only hit the burr chamber wall and subsequently get 'swept' out. If you watch the first few seconds of the Mazzer SJ grind, the first bits of the coffee get flung out much like on the RR55, but this is only for a second and it quickly build up and begins to get shoved out.


The Chute on an RR55 is slightly sloped down to the exit and there is no step in it unlike Mazzers. In my quest for a source of RR55 burrs I did actually try a set meant for the dosered versions and they didn't work anywhere near as well and made for a quite clumpy grind, the bottom burr carrier has the sweepers integral to it and is the same for both doser and OD models, so as far as I could tell the burrs were the only difference, with the OEM RR55 ones being a very very different design to the doser versions.


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## Dylan

I see, well it would certainly be interesting to find out!


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## Dylan

Turns out all the electronics in the Mazzer SJ are very high voltage. The LED is 230v and as there are no low-power rated components so there is no transformer.

Going to be more difficult to get this fan installed as a permanent measure than I thought.


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## froggystyle

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Driver-Power-Supply-Transformer-240V-DC-12V-/290883688146

If you can squeeze it in!


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## Dylan

12v is actually a bit high, I want to run the fan at around 3v so its got a decent spin but there is not too much blowing going on.

I have just dug a 'multi-voltage' power supply out of my man box which I think will do the job, will need to find a way to mount the transformer inside the SJ but I think it will work!


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## froggystyle

Looking forward to seeing the end result!


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## Dylan

Created a mount for the fan which took a few goes to get right (I'll explain when I have finished the current job, and write it up). By a happy coincidence the bolts I used to make the mount are also the right thread size for the Mazzer Adjustment pin, so one less thing to worry about. (although its a tad ugly)

I have also decided to polish the interior of the funnel to a mirror finish. A few grinds will get stuck on the upper walls, mostly due to static I think, and hopefully having the walls polished should provide less area to stick to. It will also look nice and I need the polish anyhow to get some watermarks off my Pulsar.

I'll turn this into a complete write up when I have totally finished all the mods. Think I have bought everything I need now apart from the stuff for the painting stage!


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## Dylan

I'm a bit put out to say I think I'll have to abandon the fan idea.

I have just spent a bit more time with the fan installed and pulling shots and the distribution was still all over the place. This was surprising as the fan definitely breaks up the coffee, and provides a lovely looking PF of coffee, really nice and fluffy, but tamping it straight from this kept giving terrible pours. If the coffee was dispensed into a container and given a shake about and a stir however a normal even pour resumed. So it looks like however the fan was distributing the coffee it wasn't doing a great job of it. I assume this has something to do with particle size and how they fall from the fan to the PF.

This means the only real advantage to the fan is that it helps with the static build up at the base of the chute, which at the moment (it is summer, winter may make it worse) isn't that bad. The fan creates build up of coffee elsewhere in the funnel which is a pain and not worth it just for reduced static.

Its a shame but it looks like I will be dosing normally and distributing the grinds after they are dispensed. Oh well, its still preferable to a doser for me, you live and you learn.


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## froggystyle

Good to explore though i say, without this where would us mere mortals be, stuck in the dark ages!


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> Good to explore though i say, without this where would us mere mortals be, stuck in the dark ages!


Aye, good to try things out. This started out as an idea to provide a through-draught from the hopper to provide a constant movement of grinds from the exit chute. I have one more fan idea to this effect which I think it very unlikely to work but tinkering and playing with these things is much fun indeed.


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## Dylan

Even though the tracking says its still awaiting dispatch in America, the Auber Timer arrived today, should have a spare day to fit it soon. Unfortunately I'm mega skint at the moment so the new paint job may have to wait a few weeks









Hopefully the buttons from china will arrive soon.


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## Jollybean

Would be really interested in some photos showing how this is done if you get a chance when you fit the timer and buttons as I would like to try this too. Do you have a link for the buttons you ordered?


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## Dylan

Planning on documenting the process, which will hopefully encourage others to have a crack! I'll link the buttons when I get back from work tonight


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## Jollybean

Great - thanks


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## Dylan

These are the buttons I bought. £3.18 delivered for 3.

And I bought this toggle switch which is going to act as a mains on/off switch

(neither of these have arrived yet!)


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## Jollybean

Thanks. Can't wait to see the installation pictures


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## Dylan

I think I will probably install the Auber tomorrow, I'm going to sit with my morning coffee staring at the base of the Mazzer deciding where all the buttons and the Auber will go


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## Dylan

So the Auber Timer will fit quite nicely into the point where the 'egg timer' switch was originally, enough clearance at the back and the moulding around it should frame it quite nicely I think. So I think this is where I will place the timer unit. The buttons I haven't decided on yet, possibly on the front under the funnel... but this might get in the way of any future use of the PF holder. Or maybe just neatly along the side... not sure.

Anyway, the paint stripper arrived today, so I decided to apply that before installing the timer. Paint stripper is a bit weak these days because our planet is too hot or something... so its going to be sat around for 24 hours having its paint eaten off.


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## Dylan

24 hours with one application of stripper was not enough, it got most of the way through but the base layer is stubborn. Another layer of stripper and more waiting today :/


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## Jollybean

It will be worth the wait in the long run. Planning is all part if the fun anyhow. Have you decided on the final button positions yet?


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## Dylan

I'm not 100% yet, but I don't really like the green LED that comes on when the motor is running, so if that hole is the right size I may put the pulse button there (to the lower right of the funnel exit). The single and double dose buttons I want to put fairly near the Auber Timer, maybe under it. I plan on painting some kind of image above each button to indicate what it does before the clear-coat goes on.


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## Dylan

I'm thinking I might just polish this to a nice shiny finish. I think there would be some blemishes to the end result from the cast metal but would be quite nice to have a big shiney grinder to match the shiny machine.


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## Dylan

Ready to be stripped!










Ready to have its teeth brushed










Rid of her paint!










Getting polished










Shiney shiney










Only did one side today, and needs a couple of touch ups where there are some deep scratches, but I really like the polished look, the 'natural grain' of the cast aluminium looks really nice, although you cant see it here.


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## hotmetal

Blimey fella you're really putting some thought, time and effort into this grinder. Looks great polished in the pic, it's gonna rock when you're done. If I knew how to do this stuff without breaking it I'd be tempted to do my Mini, as the doser is the one part that is scratched (plastic and metal parts) and lets it down. But I'm not very confident pulling things apart (well, reassembling actually! )


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## urbanbumpkin

Looks fantastic polished


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## Dylan

hotmetal said:


> Blimey fella you're really putting some thought, time and effort into this grinder. Looks great polished in the pic, it's gonna rock when you're done. If I knew how to do this stuff without breaking it I'd be tempted to do my Mini, as the doser is the one part that is scratched (plastic and metal parts) and lets it down. But I'm not very confident pulling things apart (well, reassembling actually! )


Other than considering myself handy, I just play it by ear.

I have a drill and bought a 'polishing kit' then I attacked the grinder...

Mind you I tried to fix my HTC one screen and broke the damn thing, so it doesn't always go to plan. But I always think its worth having a crack


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## El carajillo

urbanbumpkin said:


> Looks fantastic polished


When are you going to do yours ???


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## hotmetal

I have a somewhat less impressive polishing kit that I bought to get the scratches out of my Street Triple 675R's engine cases after a new year's day ride-out fail in an icy car park! The main difference between you and I is probably confidence. I'm always worried I'm going to c*ck something up irreversibly, and am also generally short of time for voluntary projects.


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## Jollybean

Really liking the polished look


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## froggystyle

Did you take it down to bare metal, then polish it up, nothing coated on it?


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## Dylan

froggystyle said:


> Did you take it down to bare metal, then polish it up, nothing coated on it?


Yea, just polished the bare metal. It's got a lot of 'imperfections' which you cant see in the above image, which I kind of like. I'll get some better images up when I can.

Scratching my head with the Auber at the moment... its not making sense to me.


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## froggystyle

What type of metal is it?


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## urbanbumpkin

El carajillo said:


> When are you going to do yours ???


I was thinking of getting it painted but seeing the polished I might change my mind.


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## Dylan

Cast Aluminium I believe.

Ok, so the Auber timer is perplexing me more than a little.

Powering it up is no real issue, it just takes the 240v input, but the timer switch it is replacing simply delivered this 240v directly to the motor when on. The instructions for the Auber say the relay output is 240v, but the outputs read a constant 10-12v, which only vary by a volt or so when the timer is activated.

What am I missing?


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## Dylan

scratch that, I think I figured it out

Yup, got it, timer is working ^_^ no buttons yet but it works without them.

I'll include an 'idiots wiring guide' when I write this up, the Auber instructions weren't that clear as they dont specifically reference the SJ, I figured it out from the wiring of the old switch and the Auber Timer Manual.

Edit: with regards to the finish, as I mentioned above mine is a polished but rough look, but I found this thread which shows a mirror finish is achievable and looks pretty swank.


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## Dylan

I got bored today, and decided I might add a tray below the funnel to replace the PF forks, and catch any stray coffee. Made it in sketchup, I'm off to Fab Lab tomoz so if its not too much I'll get it built to see what it looks like.


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## Dave.wilton

D_Evans said:


> I got bored today, and decided I might add a tray below the funnel to replace the PF forks, and catch any stray coffee. Made it in sketchup, I'm off to Fab Lab tomoz so if its not too much I'll get it built to see what it looks like.


A nice idea but from the looks of the tray it has four sides. Will this not make it a PITA to get the grinds out? I'm assuming from what you said this will be screwed on where the forks are so will not be easy to remove. Would you not be better with the front side open so that you can brush the grinds it catches off the tray?

Are you having it 3D printed?


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## Dylan

Dave.wilton said:


> A nice idea but from the looks of the tray it has four sides. Will this not make it a PITA to get the grinds out? I'm assuming from what you said this will be screwed on where the forks are so will not be easy to remove. Would you not be better with the front side open so that you can brush the grinds it catches off the tray?
> 
> Are you having it 3D printed?


The inside edge of the rim is angled so there is no sharp corners for the coffee to get stuck in, it should be easy enough to wipe the coffee off the edge because of this. You can just about see the angle in the first image.

Off to get these 3d printed in about an hour, the micro hopper, this tray and I just finished a new lid for the funnel.


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## Dylan

My computer hdd corrupted whilst in fab lab today. If I can get it fixed I'll have to move this to next week


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## Dylan

I finally got down to FabLab on saturday morning, dragging myself there after a night out and not much sleep at all.

I sat down at their commercial level 3D printer and put in a new part I had designed, something I wanted to print out and try before I posted it up here, slightly larger than the previous bits but not massive. Think around the volume of a closed fist. One of the FabLab interns came over and asked me what my budget was, I was happy to pay a bit for these mods as its kind of a project, so he went through and loaded up my model to cost it and...

£160... my jaw pretty much hit the floor, and I felt like an idiot for brushing off his "budget" question. Some of that cost is tied up in recuperating the cost of the printer, and some in more expensive prototyping-level plastics. This machine is for businesses prototyping parts... not for hobbyists making bits and bobs.

They have another printer but its the lowest of the low end, can be bought new for £400 and the resolution is terrible and its support structures are messy and difficult to remove. Even the simple parts I have designed above would be a royal pain in the arse to get to a useable level.

So I'm a bit stuck... I really wanted to finish off my SJ with these parts before I sold it, its perfectly useable but these would have rounded off the finish. I am considering buying a 2nd hand 2nd gen Makerbot (which I could then offer the services of to the forum) but wouldn't do this for a month or two.

Either way, for now I'm stuck, I'll consider what to do with the SJ I may sell before I get round to this now, but I'm in no rush really so who knows.

Edit: oh and for those that wanted to know, the cost of the same part on a home-use level 3d printer (like a makerbot) is roughly 1/10th of the price, so £16. All the models I have posted in this thread so far would likely come in under a tenner.


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## Rdl81

Has anyone else done a dosser less mod on a SJ I am keen on doing one but I don't the the tools or ability to make the parts I have seen the mini funnels on is web pages but they seem expensive but the thought of making one and a backing plate fill me with dread so just wondering what other options there are?

Do you think these could be 3d printed or would that not work? Just throwing it out there as sure numerous people would be keen


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## Dylan

Rdl81 said:


> Has anyone else done a dosser less mod on a SJ I am keen on doing one but I don't the the tools or ability to make the parts I have seen the mini funnels on is web pages but they seem expensive but the thought of making one and a backing plate fill me with dread so just wondering what other options there are?
> 
> Do you think these could be 3d printed or would that not work? Just throwing it out there as sure numerous people would be keen


Not sure anyone else on the forum has done it.

You don't need too many tools, a rotary tool to cut the metal and grind off the welds, you can also use it to drill the necessary holes. The backing plate I made with this card foam that is malleable when heat is applied to it, you can cut it up with a stanley knife or similar. This is the stuff

3D printed parts would work, and I'm umming and arring about buying a 3d printer at the moment, a good one is pricy, but I would love to have one. A 3D printed funnel would be troublesome however, the metal funnel is naturally grounded by its contact with the grinder, which reduces static. A plastic funnel would likely suffer from serious static. You can observe this by grinding into a plastic cup vs grinding into a metal cup grounded via either your body or contact with the grinder. Any plastic funnel would need to have some kind of coating on the inside to reduce static.


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## Rdl81

Definitely down thing to think about I might try and by some OEM parts but not right now I will do the cocktail shaker mod and make do with that but I do think over time the dosser will irritate me but I can't be spending a lot on upgrades. One other thought I had would be some sort of mod to the neck where I single dose ideally something that will stop beans getting caught on the lip maybe a mini funnel or something


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## Dylan

Rdl81 said:


> Definitely down thing to think about I might try and by some OEM parts but not right now I will do the cocktail shaker mod and make do with that but I do think over time the dosser will irritate me but I can't be spending a lot on upgrades. One other thought I had would be some sort of mod to the neck where I single dose ideally something that will stop beans getting caught on the lip maybe a mini funnel or something


I have done that exact thing, the designs are on my other computer, do you have access to a 3d printer?


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## Rdl81

No I don't but I will ask around see if anyone I know does....did u get a price for making these?


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## Dylan

Rdl81 said:


> No I don't but I will ask around see if anyone I know does....did u get a price for making these?


Yes and no...

I went to fablab which claims to be there for purely educational purposes and only makes money from its commercial interest (prototyping and stuff). I sat down at their high end 3d printer and costed my part and its clocked in at £160, which is extortionate for the average person. The guy there said they do recuperate some costs of the printer in that, and that the plastics used in this printer were much more expensive.

They also had a very basic 3d printer (one of the 'build yourself' £400ish jobbies) which he said costs about 1/10th of the amount to print vs the one I costed on (so £16, or less than a tenner for a simple hopper) and that was using the standard PLA filament. But I watched this print another part and the quality was pretty bad, and far from good enough for the somewhat complex part I wanted to print.

So in short:

On a home use printer with standard PLA filament: About £10 for a mini hopper


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## Rdl81

Thanks for info might need to think of some DIY solution


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