Hario Skerton and Kyocera CM-50CF Upgrade Kit

[EricBNC]

Orphan espresso has released the OE Lower Bearing UPGRADE KIT for Hario Skerton / Kyocera CM50 Hand Grinders. This kit includes the stabilizer bearings for the Hario Skerton and Kyocera CM-50CF (same grinder so same kit fits both).  These parts are what is needed to make the original grinder into the same thing as the OE-PFP Hand Coffee Grinder - KYOCERA CM-50 UPGRADED. 

Originally these parts were not available separately - you had to buy the whole grinder to get these parts - but thankfully OE had a change of heart. This kit is only $14.50 plus shipping for a $25 savings if you are handy (upgraded grinder is $40 more than the standard model) but is a real boon to those of us who already purchased one of these grinders before the improved model became available.

[BoldJava]

I caught that in new offerings from OE as well.  He notes that if you go this route, espresso grind is thrown off in the stabilization.

PLEASE NOTE:  Out of the box, both the Skerton & CM-50 are good for fine grinding, BUT IF YOU upgrade for good coarse performance you will SEVERELY affect the capability for fine - it is a trade off - once upgraded for coarse, fine is not so good!  One or the other, you can't have both with these grinders!  

I watched him do the whole mod process.  I will live with the wobble.  No wonder he is charging $85 for the unit/with mods. Sanity reigns.

Hario Skerton Kyocera CM-50 Lower Bearing Installation.

[Marshall_S]

Doug brings the term "coffeegeek" to a new level!

[Tex]

I caught that in new offerings from OE as well.  He notes that if you go this route, espresso grind is thrown off in the stabilization.

snipped

As in unattainable? Wow, that's pretty much the raison d'être for the mod isn't it? Or does he mean you'll have to re-dial in for espresso?

[EricBNC]

I caught that in new offerings from OE as well.  He notes that if you go this route, espresso grind is thrown off in the stabilization.

PLEASE NOTE:  Out of the box, both the Skerton & CM-50 are good for fine grinding, BUT IF YOU upgrade for good coarse performance you will SEVERELY affect the capability for fine - it is a trade off - once upgraded for coarse, fine is not so good!  One or the other, you can't have both with these grinders!  

I see that in the kit description, but the Upgraded CM-50 is described like this:

As with all of our grinders we have used them and done some directed testing of the mill and we find that the CM-50 is a very good grinder for general fine grinding for filter brewing methods,
and with the new upgrade it becomes a full range grinder. 

I wonder what changed?   

[EricBNC]

Doug or Barb Garrott from Orphan Espresso (doubt it matters which one since likely they wouldn't post unless they were in agreement) answered my question over on coffeegeek and the reasoning makes sense - especially, as Bold Java notes, after watching the installation video - Here is what was said:

Eric...I suppose that caveat we added is an attempt to be very conservative in putting the bearing out there for general DIY installation and use.   I can install these  and get the alignment and geometry of the burrs correct enough to still be good through the range but I have a lot of experience doing this and really sweat the details since it is our reputation on the line.   I KNOW that properly installed and aligned the grinder will perform very well for coarse grinds and in some cases the burr will not self align on the fine settings and this is not due to the upgrade mod but due to the burrs themselves.  Imagine grinding with a new Zass if those burrs were not so nicely machined and matched...another example of self aligning at a tight setting and losing it on coarse.  It is as I said in the video, nobody buys a hand grinder, takes it out of the box and grinds coarse....the consumer sets it up on fine and is very pleased...the burr gets a bit loaded up with coffee and works even better and by the time you run it down for a press pot you now own it and have used it long enough to, if you are a reasonable person, not send it back.

I have seen at least 200 of these burr sets and some of them are not quite symmetric (read perfectly round or perfectly flat on top) and if you have one of these burr sets then it will seem to grind evenly on fine, for the money, but actually is more uneven than one realizes.  Both the CM-50 and Skerton have a lot of issues that are not apparent until you handle a lot of them, but they do not price them as if they are high precision machines.   They are good grinders that we all agree could be better engineered for longevity but we don't think the manufacturer realizes just what hard use they get in our market.

Our change of heart about putting the bearing out there is that we now have it tweaked down to a real tight tolerance on the axle and against the screw posts for the outer burr mount (this is our 3rd batch and we can't get it any more precise) and so we figure that if a DIY installer has the time and patience to get the alignment correct then it can be successfully installed by someone other than me, assuming the goal is to end up with a good grinder for french press or vac pot, and into the fine drip range but for espresso,  not so much.   

We have had people take the grinder apart and then send it back for re alignment, it is just that fiddly to align....you can see on the pfp description the part about if you take this apart then be advised that you may not be able to get it back together properly.....not so much the case, but it can take quite a long frustrating time to get it set up correctly and some people just don't have the patience.

[headchange4u]

I'm probably going to end up ordering one of these just to try out. I would have already placed my order had it not been for the issues the kit has messing up finer grinds, but with that statement above I feel it may be worth a try.

I wish Doug would make his way over to GCBC, where coffee geekery abounds.