Good enough for espresso grind and cheap enough for me.
Positive Product Points
It's an actual espresso conical burr grinder Grinds good enough for a consistent espresso
Negative Product Points
CLEANING NOISE Nearly all plastic grind retention slow grind adjustment
Detailed Commentary
While at Salvation Army thrift store recently they had a La Pavoni PGC on the shelf for $5.75. It was a filthy little monster, but for $6 it was hard to go wrong. At home I plugged it in and gave it a whirl. NOISY is the only word you need to know. It had caked on coffee grounds and oils. All plastic on the unit was coffee black with dust throughout the system.
Dismantled the system, and that's a whole mess with no easy way to remove the motor without practically removing everything. After cleaning the motor and brushes, cleaning the bearings, blowing out all of the coffee grinds, degreasing and cleaning all of the grinder parts and related hoppers. Reassembled with new lubrication as necessary. Adjusted the grind points to get it more in line with espresso grinding. Much quieter after cleaning and reworking the whole system. Looks almost brand new, although it was actually manufactured 1989.
This is not an easy system to clean if you want to remove the burrs and look at cleaning that area up.
I can get a beautifully fine powder out of the espresso grind all the way up to a French press style coarse grind. All cuts look nice, clean, even, sharp. It's a pain to adjust from fine to coarse cuts turning the small turn knob over and over, but it does work.
It will get used for espresso for now, but it might be a dedicated spice grinder in the future.
Update: My new ordered espresso grinder died 2 days into it's life and is now getting a warranty replacement. This La Pavoni PGC is now getting more use. I had to change the scale position so I had a better range on espresso grind - easily accessed when you remove the top hopper. The PGC is a noisy grinder, but it's got very consistent output with clean cuts on the grind. The plastic grinds bin is a pain to use with all those lips around the edges, but I can live with it. I'm very happy with the machine overall - for $6 who wouldn't be?!
Buying Experience
Salvation Army $6 with 10 days store credit return possible. How could I reject an offer like that?
