fwtechwiz Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2010 Posts: 522 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Evolution Grinder: Hario Skerton
Posted Fri Oct 8, 2010, 3:54am Subject: The fabulous fifteen cent Hario Skerton stepless mod
I finally got frustrated enough with my Skerton to do something about it not being stepless. I picked up an 8MM Nylok nut from the hardware store for about 15 cents and replaced the adjustment cog with it. The nylok works great to keep it from moving while grinding, and now I can adjust the grind coarseness easily with an open end wrench. Highly technical terms here....I can move the adjustment a bit (one sixth turn), a tad (one 12th turn) or a scoach (1/24th turn) hehe BTW, you still have to install the forked washer, or the handle won't tighten down right, but it still fits nicely around the nut.
Posted Fri Oct 8, 2010, 9:52pm Subject: Re: The fabulous fifteen cent Hario Skerton stepless mod
Good work! Truly worthy of a Geek! Perhaps your solution might work on some of the other cylindrical style grinders that are stepped. Let us know if the results remain consistent grind to grind. Those little guys can be tricky.
fwtechwiz Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2010 Posts: 522 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Evolution Grinder: Hario Skerton
Posted Mon Oct 11, 2010, 6:02pm Subject: Re: The fabulous useless fifteen cent Hario Skerton stepless mod
Well, the stepless mod has proven to be stable, has not moved yet. So after extending the burr mount with a nylon bushing to stabilize the moving burr shaft, and replacing the stepped adjustment with the lock nut, I have A COMPLETELY USELESS HAND GRINDER FOR ESPRESSO !!! The shaft that the moving burr mounts on has worn to the point that the burr shifts from side to side by about 1/10 of an inch, no matter how tight I make the bottom nut which holds the burr onto the shaft. Another serious design flaw with this grinder. Here is a link to a YouTube video which illustrates this flaw. click here
I've analyzed the wear on both the threaded rod and the burr itself, and it seems there is no wear on the threaded rod. I measured the threaded rod all along the length where the burr mounts, even at the end, where the nut screws on, and the thickness is the same. The inside measurement of the hole in the burr, however, is quite a bit different at the top vs. the bottom. Clearance between the shaft and hole at the top is about .004, but clearance at the bottom (the end where the nut makes contact) is .011. This means that either the burr was manufactured with the hole in a 'conical' shape, or has worn significantly at the lower end of the hole. I've applied a small amount of silicone caulk on the shaft, taking care not to extend the silicone beyond where the threaded rod comes out of the bottom, in an attempt to create a silicone 'bushing' between the rod and the burr. After it sets up, I'll see if stability of the burr on the shaft has been restored.
fwtechwiz Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2010 Posts: 522 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Evolution Grinder: Hario Skerton
Posted Sat Oct 16, 2010, 5:55pm Subject: Re: The fabulous useless fifteen cent Hario Skerton stepless mod
Update on the Skerton mods: The silicone has stabilized the rotating burr, it no longer has any play from side to side. An addition of a couple of small 8mm washers and a spring between the burr and the nylon shaft stabilizer has eliminated any chance of vertical movement of the rotating burr while grinding. So now the rotating burr is completely stable both horizontally and vertically. So far, this has resulted in visibly more uniform grind size and nearly eliminated the annoying 'stop and go' while grinding. I'll now work on dialing in the right grind size again for my espresso, and when I get it to the requisite 25 second 2 oz pull, I'll try the bottomless p/f again and see if the channeling problems I had have been fixed.
fwtechwiz Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2010 Posts: 522 Location: Fort Wayne, IN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Evolution Grinder: Hario Skerton
Posted Sun Oct 17, 2010, 12:04pm Subject: Re: The fabulous fifteen cent Hario Skerton stepless mod
Picture of the spring addition to the burr shaft. The nylon spacer still gave a bit of side to side slop, so I added the screw insulator to further reduce the I.D. of the bushing so it's a nice tight fit now.
Posted Sun Oct 17, 2010, 1:21pm Subject: Re: The fabulous fifteen cent Hario Skerton stepless mod
very cool.
You inspired me to try adding a spring. I took the wire backing from a spiral note book and 2 washers and placed this on the burr shaft between the burr and the bottom of the plastic middle bushing that is attached to the upper bean chamber. It felt smoother while turning (no "impact" beans) even when resistance slightly increased from time to time as it normally will. The Grind is fine but not powder and looks more even than I can recall using this coarser setting.
Thank you.
I chew coffee beans with my teeth while gargling with 195 F water to enjoy coffee. What is this "coffee brewing" device you speak of?
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
![fwtechwiz: DSC00401sm.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/50263/DSC00401sm.jpg", 273, 588, "fwtechwiz: DSC00401sm.jpg");)
![fwtechwiz: DSC00404sm.jpg](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/50264/DSC00404sm.jpg", 563, 422, "fwtechwiz: DSC00404sm.jpg");)
![fwtechwiz: DSC00405.JPG](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/50265/DSC00405.JPG", 620, 465, "fwtechwiz: DSC00405.JPG");)
= No New Posts since last visit 