First impressions

[peter]

What about this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Compak-Professional-Barista-K10-Coffee-Grinder-excellent-condition-/331082680541?pt=Small_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item4d1610c8dd

It's in Chicago...  might be Jim Schulman's.   

Zero bids, w/ 23hrs to go, and free shipping...    Like expy98 said, if it's in reasonable condition, and nobody starts a bidding war, you'd have a decent deal.  I've done some A/B testing against some other good grinders, including a Major, and the improvements were noticeable.

If you won that auction, it may be one of the few things that you don't put out to pasture in short order.   

[expy98]

never thought JimS would be considered a BMX guru schlepping motorcycle parts, he's multi talented...

[BozemanEric]

I would get the K10 Fresh. If anyone does find a good deal on it, let me know. It is probably one of the few grinders I would actually consider upgrading to from the Major.

[expy98]

 there's one on CG BST but in a packaged deal.  since I single dose,  the Fresh is not on my radar.

[SJM]

Why can't you single dose with the K10?

[BozemanEric]

For me, the reason for the fresh has not so much to do with single dosing.  I usually single dose. It has more to do with ground retention. I just think you get a lot more grounds left behind when you have a doser. It is one of the complaints I have about the major.

[peter]

I get next to nothing in grounds retention w/ my K10 doser; 16g gets weighed out and ground, and get the same back out within .1g either way.  If somebody says they can taste the difference between 15.9g, 16g, or 16.1g, I say they have a pretty good imagination.

[SJM]

What about the Pro Barista?

[peter]

What about the Pro Barista?

That's basically what I have.  They used to be the WBC, or World Barista Championship model because for a few years this was the official grinder at the competitions.  When they were no longer used for that purpose they had to change the name, and are now the Pro Barista.

[expy98]

 hey Susan,  stop asking about grinders not on your list :-)

[ecc]

https://www.chriscoffee.com/MACAP-M7-Digital-Grinder-p/m7dc18r.htm

This doserless Macap looks pretty good too.  The K10 looks great, wonder how many we would need for a group buy ...

[peter]

https://www.chriscoffee.com/MACAP-M7-Digital-Grinder-p/m7dc18r.htm

This doserless Macap looks pretty good too.  The K10 looks great, wonder how many we would need for a group buy ...

I tried setting up a group buy for grinders from Compak, when I bought mine.  Warrior372 had a connection at Compak, the US sales manager.  They told us we'd need 10 grinders, any of their units, to get a break.  We wound up w/ four that were slightly discounted, and were offered no-charge hopper switches.

That Macap looks pretty sweet.  Even tho' I single dose, I like having the doser simply because it catches the ground coffee w/o me having to hold the PF under the spout, which frees me up for other shot preparation tasks.

[SJM]

Obviously a used one will need new burrs.
Has anyone sourced and priced replacements ?

Nevermind.  I see they have them at Chris Coffee and at Cafe Parts
$140-$150.

[grinderz]

Not necessarily. I bought new burrs for my Rancilio, just because, but when they came it was obvious that the original ones were more or less indistinguishable from the new ones. I did swap them out, but I threw the old ones in a box and put them somewhere. In 10 years, if I can find the box, I'll replace the new ones with the old ones again.

[SJM]

That's good to know, except that I would be unsure how to know whether I was getting the full benefit of the fabulous grinder if I weren't sure the burrs were really sharp. 

Having new ones would probably be the only way for me (being me) to be sure of that....?

Or?