Author Topic: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder  (Read 38503 times)

milowebailey

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #30 on: July 12, 2011, 06:47:41 AM »
I'm trying to figure out a way to add a doser, a motor and a step adjustment to it... did I forget anything?

BoldJava

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #31 on: July 12, 2011, 06:49:57 AM »
I'm trying to figure out a way to add a doser, a motor and a step adjustment to it... did I forget anything?

Front end loader.

milowebailey

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #32 on: July 12, 2011, 06:52:56 AM »
Oh yeh... it needs a hopper that can hold more than 29 beans....

Let me see what I can do!!

Tex

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #33 on: July 12, 2011, 12:43:58 PM »
I try to avoid cross posting, so I won't.  But the discussion on H-B about motorizing the Pharos could be a great Saturday Night Live skit.  Let's see -- buy a hand grinder and motorize it!  How novel.  Guys are modding it with drills, mixers, belts, pulleys, you name it.  Heavens, I would just buy a Super Jolly and call it a day.

The nature of Geekdom...

B|Java

Geeks are notorious for being cheap, and a SJ sells new for ~$800.

Offline mp

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #34 on: July 12, 2011, 01:58:15 PM »
I try to avoid cross posting, so I won't.  But the discussion on H-B about motorizing the Pharos could be a great Saturday Night Live skit.  Let's see -- buy a hand grinder and motorize it!  How novel.  Guys are modding it with drills, mixers, belts, pulleys, you name it.  Heavens, I would just buy a Super Jolly and call it a day.

The nature of Geekdom...

B|Java

Geeks are notorious for being cheap, and a SJ sells new for ~$800.

Hmm ... so what mod have you got planned for the Pharos Robert?

 ;D
1-Cnter, 2-Bean, 3-Skin, 4-Parchmnt, 5-Pect, 6-Pu
lp, 7-Ski

Tex

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #35 on: July 12, 2011, 02:51:36 PM »
I try to avoid cross posting, so I won't.  But the discussion on H-B about motorizing the Pharos could be a great Saturday Night Live skit.  Let's see -- buy a hand grinder and motorize it!  How novel.  Guys are modding it with drills, mixers, belts, pulleys, you name it.  Heavens, I would just buy a Super Jolly and call it a day.

The nature of Geekdom...

B|Java

Geeks are notorious for being cheap, and a SJ sells new for ~$800.

Hmm ... so what mod have you got planned for the Pharos Robert?

 ;D

None. Milo is turning the tables on me and won't send me the thing until I return his roaster. ;)

BoldJava

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #36 on: July 12, 2011, 07:00:42 PM »
...

I'm waiting for the price of 3D printers to come down so I can just print out my next grinder.

I am waiting for my turn with the Pharos to feed it the remaining pieces of the HP printer.

Offline mp

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #37 on: July 12, 2011, 07:55:35 PM »
I try to avoid cross posting, so I won't.  But the discussion on H-B about motorizing the Pharos could be a great Saturday Night Live skit.  Let's see -- buy a hand grinder and motorize it!  How novel.  Guys are modding it with drills, mixers, belts, pulleys, you name it.  Heavens, I would just buy a Super Jolly and call it a day.

The nature of Geekdom...

B|Java

Geeks are notorious for being cheap, and a SJ sells new for ~$800.

Hmm ... so what mod have you got planned for the Pharos Robert?

 ;D


None. Milo is turning the tables on me and won't send me the thing until I return his roaster. ;)

 :o
« Last Edit: July 12, 2011, 08:00:21 PM by mp »
1-Cnter, 2-Bean, 3-Skin, 4-Parchmnt, 5-Pect, 6-Pu
lp, 7-Ski

Offline mp

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #38 on: July 12, 2011, 08:01:26 PM »
...

I'm waiting for the price of 3D printers to come down so I can just print out my next grinder.

I am waiting for my turn with the Pharos to feed it the remaining pieces of the HP printer.

Would that be an HP-MilkWaulkiatto?

 ???
1-Cnter, 2-Bean, 3-Skin, 4-Parchmnt, 5-Pect, 6-Pu
lp, 7-Ski

milowebailey

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #39 on: July 13, 2011, 07:50:42 AM »
I think I've come to the conclusion that the Pharos is the most over-under designed grinder on the market.

It does a great grind, but has too many idiosyncrasies to make it practical.

I brought it to work today so a few of my geeky engineer coffee drinkers could see/use it.  Their first impression was:

"you can only make one cup of coffee at a time with that thing?"
"That's pretty cool"
"It's lighter than it looks"
"how do you hold on to it"
"how do you clean it out"

As for Tex's turn.... he can wait.  He kept my sonofresco for a couple years.... ;D

Tex

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #40 on: July 13, 2011, 08:28:54 AM »
I think I've come to the conclusion that the Pharos is the most over-under designed grinder on the market.

It does a great grind, but has too many idiosyncrasies to make it practical.

I brought it to work today so a few of my geeky engineer coffee drinkers could see/use it.  Their first impression was:

"you can only make one cup of coffee at a time with that thing?"
"That's pretty cool"
"It's lighter than it looks"
"how do you hold on to it"
"how do you clean it out"

As for Tex's turn.... he can wait.  He kept my sonofresco for a couple years.... ;D

Let's say you could spend $250 on a Pharos or $795 for a K-10, which would be the better buy for an everyday grinder?

Offline peter

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #41 on: July 13, 2011, 08:38:56 AM »
If you could afford either, the K10 would be a no-brainer; a hopper to hold plenty of beans, easy adjustment for grind coarseness, extremely fast grinding...

Some people like the 'connectness' of a hand grinder, and wouldn't want anything else.  Some people can't abide a doser. Some people don't want a hulking shop-sized grinder on their counter. So you'll have a few in the Pharos camp for those reasons.

But again, if the money's there, the K10 wins hands down.  I use mine for press pot in the morning and espresso in the afternoon.  Going from 39 on the grinding scale to 14 and back is a piece of cake, and I perceive it's a nightmare on the Pharos.  My guess is that the faithful Pharos followers on HB use it primarily for espresso and leave it set for that.
Quote of the Day; \"...yet you refuse to come to Me that you

milowebailey

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #42 on: July 13, 2011, 09:03:55 AM »
. Some people don't want a hulking shop-sized grinder on their counter.
The Pharos takes the same footprint as my commercial Santos Espresso grinder... ~ 1/3 the height, but still a monster, size wise.

A couple other things I noticed about the Pharos.  The "tools" that come with it to loosen the jam-nut are made out of untreated steel... already rusting just due to humidity.  They should be stainless or plated.

Here are some improvements I'd suggest for the Pharos

1) Make the hopper larger (taller) so it holds up to 50 grams of coffee (enough for a Chemex sized pourover)
2) By making it taller the posts would work as a handle... but one or all three could be made larger diameter so you could use them a a handle to hold the grinder while grinding.
3) countersink the top, inner screws so that the ring moves all the way into the hopper holes... would make it easier to get all the beans in
4) put some sort of indexing decal on the top so you could more easily adjust the grind with more precision.
5) make the tools out of stainless
6) make the exit funnel and stopper a larger diameter, so the coffee can get out easier
7) make the grind handle 1"- 2" longer.... leverage for an easier grind.
8 ) Include a storage box for the grinder and tools (could be an option)

Off to JasonG in the next day or so...
« Last Edit: July 13, 2011, 09:05:34 AM by milowebailey »

Tex

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #43 on: July 13, 2011, 09:04:26 AM »
If you could afford either, the K10 would be a no-brainer; a hopper to hold plenty of beans, easy adjustment for grind coarseness, extremely fast grinding...

Some people like the 'connectness' of a hand grinder, and wouldn't want anything else.  Some people can't abide a doser. Some people don't want a hulking shop-sized grinder on their counter. So you'll have a few in the Pharos camp for those reasons.

But again, if the money's there, the K10 wins hands down.  I use mine for press pot in the morning and espresso in the afternoon.  Going from 39 on the grinding scale to 14 and back is a piece of cake, and I perceive it's a nightmare on the Pharos.  My guess is that the faithful Pharos followers on HB use it primarily for espresso and leave it set for that.

I guess what I'm asking is whether I should recommend the Pharos as an adequate grinder for the noobs? I usually recommend the Cunill Tranquilo for noobs because of the grind quality & price. Since the price for either the Pharos or Tranquilo is ~$250, that leaves the grind quality & convenience as determining factors.

I've used a Tranquilo and found the grind quality equal to the Super Jolly, MD50, & RR45. I passed on my turn with the Pharos because of shoulder problems or I'd have checked the particle size it produced against tests I'd done of 63mm flat burr grinders. I'd expect the Pharos to produce better results than the SJ, MD50, & RR45 I tested.

I'll probably be ordering a K-10 if the price deal holds for a while. Since it has 68mm conical burrs like the Pharos, I can test it against my previous results and draw a conclusion as to the Pharos' vs Tranquilo question.

I'm hoping to see more Pharos reviews about its ease of use - especially dialing it in for the first time and making minute changes to accommodate different beans. For instance, I just switched from a SO Brazil bean to a SO Bali, and had to lower the burrs 4 notches on the adjustment wheel.  ???

milowebailey

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Re: Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder
« Reply #44 on: July 13, 2011, 09:07:00 AM »


Let's say you could spend $250 on a Pharos or $795 for a K-10, which would be the better buy for an everyday grinder?


IMO K-10