Cleaning a Zass

[BobTimo]

Hi,

A German friend sent me an old Zassenhaus grinder, which I think she got from an online auction. How do I clean the grinding mechanism?

Thanks!

Bob

[Dante]

Man, that is a well seasoned Zass! 

If you could take out the burr assembly, you could use espresso cleaner to soak it in and maybe get rid of that muck. I have some Cafiza that you could try for that purpose. You could try grinding some rice through the mechanism also if you just want the burrs cleaned.

[BobTimo]

Don Dante,

As you can see, the Zass fits well on my coffee rack ...   

But I don't want it to be just a decorative item. I tried grinding some Sagada beans, wow, it grinds so well, even very fine grind. Perfect for my AP. I still have to play with it some more to check out how to adjust grind size. I'm disassembling it, but I don't have a vise grip so I can remove the handle, and the burr, too. Should go to the hardware soon and get a vise grip.

Bob

[ButtWhiskers]

I just bought a Zassenhaus on eBay that needed some considerable cleaning (some rust, and enamel flaking off), and I used a Dremel mototool for the bulk of it.  I used a brass brush bit for the rough cleaning on the burr areas, and polished up the 'bowl' with a buffing wheel attachment with a little baking soda.  Seems to grind okay, but I want to go back over the burr edges with a diamond tip to hone them a little.

[BobTimo]

Will see what tool I can use for that. Maybe some steel brush? But I gotta get the vise grip first to loosen the handle.

[BobTimo]

much cleaner now, and i think usable. but still need to polish it so my visitors would drink coffee ground from this zass. 

used only kitchen cleaning items (detergent, steel wool, unused toothbrush).