Hands On: Orphan Espresso Pharos Hand Grinder

[BoldJava]

Not sure where the machine is but here is a YouTube of Doug building a Pharos, focusing on burr alignment.  Complete with dog barking -- gotta love it.

Pharos Tech Bulletin 4. Burr Alignment Procedure

[JasonG]

Packing up the Pharos tonight to send on. Too bad I've been busy planning a wedding such that I haven't been too present around these parts.

OTOH, I did have a nice time demoing the Pharos for making drip and have to say that the grind was very consistent at the finer sized end of the drip range. Soon to be Mrs. JasonG even had a favorable comment one morning, "honey, that thing is really quiet and has a nice sound to it compared to that old thing."  You see, I have an actual old hand grinder from back in my great-great-granddaddy's time and I do pull it out and use it here and there. Also, apparently, the Barratza is a bit jarring in the early AM sound-wise.

Things I miss: Can't hold enough to do a 10 cupper in the Technivorm; Doesn't have a little drawer dohicky underneith to catch grounds out of the funnel.

The latter seems like it would be easy to create and add-on. To raise the capacity....hmmm...only way I see is to lengthen the clear bean holder part directly above the burr and/or possibly making it slightly conical.

Thing that can't be addressed: too massive to take backpacking.

[BoldJava]

... Soon to be Mrs. JasonG even had a favorable comment one morning...

Whoa, congrats!

Thing that can't be addressed: too massive to take backpacking.

Pack mule.

B|Java

[peter]

Wasn't it 'pack goat' you were wanting to post?

[JasonG]

I like the idea of a pack goat

Thanks for the well wishes; looking forward to it! Actually, one thing I'm also tardy on from my part in the planning is needing to find someone who'll do an espresso bar at the reception... 

[Tex]

Wasn't it 'pack goat' you were wanting to post?

[Sherman]

I am all atwitter. My K10 Pro was not the $798 steal, unfortunately. Still, this will be an interesting comparison - 68mm conical showdown! 300RPM black R2D2 vs. stripped-down hand grinder. Everything that I've read so far touts it as an equal for espresso, but then again, HB is more strongly focused on espresso than anything else. Perhaps this accounts for the lack of comments addressing pourover, capacity, etc. Grinding one shot at a time seems SOP.

From the vids it certainly doesn't appear to be the most user-friendly of grinders, but I'm hoping that the overall grind quality will prove to be sufficient.

[Ray T]

Pharos made it safe and sound yesterday . Now to grind a little pound it a little with the hammer that B/Java sent me.

[Ray T]

Ground first pot loads (two for a 10 cupper). Grinds very easy, even and fairly fast, looks cool, the B/hammer helps getting the grounds out. So far the cool factor is the main event. To bad it doesn't hold more beans and easier to load and extract thegrounds . Great idea and workmanship but a lot of negatives also as previously posted. Will play around more with it later. So far not to impressed but it is cool ( B/grins)

[BoldJava]

Love the feedback, keep it coming.

I was wondering what carrier and packing you are using to ship this.  I guess I'm thinking ahead to when I'll have my turn and have to give it up again.

Let me know the best way you've found to ship this.

FedEx to business address is the cheapest by quite a bit.  Home rates: USPS and FedEx are often dead heats. I have had good success with FedEx.  UPS is much higher - some prefer Mr. Brown.

[Ray T]

Pharos should be in Yakster's hands tomorrow along with the B/Hammer.

If it only held more beans and easier to load the grind is great.
 

[expy98]

Yakster,

Saw your post on HB.

a few days with it in stock form is a sure way to frustration, you will hate it if you need to make adjustments especially for espresso.

I use it for espresso only and once I did the jam nuts mod which allows precise incremental adjustments,  it's displaced my Super Jolly on the counter.

$1 for 2 jam nuts will give it a fighting chance.

[expy98]

Sure, only if you're buying the waffles :-)

Sorry but I was only on my annual summer visits to SJ/SF.  I'm in Socal.

Picked up the jam nuts at my local hw store, McFadden-Dale, admittedly they specialize in all sorts of
fasteners, sorta like a mini McMaster-Carr.

You might want to try ACE, they usually have more fasteners than HD/Lowes, I've been saved
by ACE many times when a busted fastener kept the car from running again. 

This morning I started with a new jar of beans and took me one adjustment, 1/12th of a turn (1/2 of an edge),
to dial it in. 

Just a thought...  I'm sure you'll be able to find the standard sized 1/2-13 nut but perhaps not the half-heights.
Perhaps adding just one jam nut between the adjustment nut and the crank might be better than none at all???
At least you're less likely to round out both the pin as well as the holes in the adj nut.  I now use an allen wrench
and eventho it's not correctly sized, at least it's not tapered like the pin and works much better.  If I get all fancy,
I'd tap the holes to accept the adj pin from the Super Jolly or just use a long bolt. 

[expy98]

sorry, I know nothing about the beans that came w/ that grinder.  I'm not on the traveling show as
I'd purchased my own. 

I have no use for the bean ring.  Lifting the rubber flap to expose one or the 2 slots, I can pour
in the pre-measured beans (in a basket) as easily as pouring them down the throat of a Super Jolly.

Not sure which "jam nut" you're trying to source.  You don't need one w/ holes in it, just
a regular nut and use an open ended wrench or crescent to tighten. 

[expy98]

I use 2 jam nuts; 1 above the adjustment nut, 1 below the crank handle.

If you can't find half-height jam nuts, I'm guessing that adding 1 jam nut might be better
than none at all? 

how long will you have the grinder?  If you can't find them, I can go get more and send them to you or
the next person in line.  Unfor the store is closed on weekends so earliest I can get them out would be
Monday and then another few days for USPS to deliver...