An excellent grinder, especially if you use only medium roasts or if the finger guard is removed-- easily done in 5 minutes!
Positive Product Points
This is a really impressive grinder-- quiet, powerful, almost infinitely adjustable. Grind is very consistent and predictable. Very high quality workmanship-- heavy and sturdy. Feels professional.
Negative Product Points
Does not feed well with oily, dark-roasted beans unless finger guard inside coffee hopper is removed. I don't know why they put that stupid thing in there.
Detailed Commentary
Forget french roast unless you remove the finger guard inside the bean hopper. I did this and it works fine with all roasts now.
How to remove the finger guard: The finger guard is a small black disk on 3 little cylindrical legs, located at the bottom of the bean hopper. Pour out the beans into a dish and look inside. The guard is held on by screws inside each leg. You may have to dig out some coffee bean residue to uncover the screw heads- do this gently using a small screwdriver or other pointy utensil. Then, using a flat headed screwdriver, simply unscrew all 3 screws, remove the useless finger guard, and replace the screws, which also hold the hopper in place. Voila! Your french roast now feeds perfectly. When the hopper is almost completely empty, the last few beans bounce around inside now, but this is no big deal. Warning-- now that your finger guard is removed, do not stick your fingers down deep into the grinder while it is plugged in! You may not wish to do remove the finger guard if you have young children at home....
