Kitchenaid A9 Grinder

[mmm_crema]

Hi all,

One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...

Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.

See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>

The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem! I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.

Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)

Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.

Regards, Emil.

[Craig Andrews]

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for
espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Hey nice work Emil!! WELCOME to alt .coffee here! The post certainly
helped me as I have one of these grinders too. I HATE the way that top
burr clunks & moves also, & al the reasons you stated. Could you take a
clearer, close up pic of the metal disc cutout?

What are you doing/using to keep the top burr adjusting ring from
drifting/moving as the new plate you added is stepless?
Thanks!
Cheers!
Sincerely,
Craig.

[Jack Denver]

Tell us more about your honing technique.

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem! I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

[unknown]

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 12:27:34 -0400, "Jack Denver"

Post by Jack Denver
Tell us more about your honing technique.

I, too, would like to know a bit about how you did the honing.

thanks










_______________________________________
Please Note: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate.

[D. Ross]

| Tell us more about your honing technique.

On this subject, the burrs each have 2 raised bits of the sort we usually
associate with bean whackers (at 5:30 and 11:30 in the solo picture of the
upper burr). I am having trouble visualizing the geometry - when the burrs
are close enough for the blades to be grinding, what happens to keep these
two ridges from snagging one another?

- David R.
--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

[mmm_crema]

Post by D. Ross
| Tell us more about your honing technique.
On this subject, the burrs each have 2 raised bits of the sort we usually
associate with bean whackers (at 5:30 and 11:30 in the solo picture of the
upper burr). I am having trouble visualizing the geometry - when the burrs
are close enough for the blades to be grinding, what happens to keep these
two ridges from snagging one another?
- David R.
--

It does appear that they would snag . . . err . . . contact each other
but they don't.

The honing of the burrs is key to this whole A9 hack. Remove the
glass hopper and undo the 8 mm nut that holds the little washer to the
driveshaft (reverse thread: right hand turns to loosen), remove the
adjustment set screw and then unscrew the upper burr carrier. The burrs
are now exposed and can then be dealt with. Slide the lowwer burr and
carrier off the shaft and undo the burr retaining screws, 2 phillips
screws on each burr. Take a close look at them, brand new, my burrs
were very dull, as if they forgot to sharpen them at the factory. Also
if your grinder has been in use, I would inspect them for dammage, as
the un-modded lowwer burr "jumps" when you hit the power switch.
So you have them out now, right?

The profile of the burr is dish shaped in the center, and then the
edges flatten out at the perimeter. It is this outer edge that gets
sharpened with honing. The stone I used is a flat water stone used for
sharpening my razors, but I think other knife sharpening hones would
work.
The stone MUST have a flat surface! Some used stoned will be worn
out in the middle and will not work for flat honing.

Anyways, place the burr flat on the stone with the burr surface
against the stone and start a circular honning motion. You don't need
to hone off alot of material but it does take a little time. You will
see the difference right away. Do this to each burr.

Re-assemble. The lowwer burr carrier retaining tube mod would be
required at this point or else you would risk destroying your sharp
burrs.

I hope this is clear enough. Like I say, I will update the pics on the
weekend as I am planning on modding another one of these the same way.
So with this one I will do a step-by-step.

Cheers, Emil

[Jack Denver]

Generally if you need a "flat stone" it's good to use wet o dry sandpaper on
a piece of plate glass - this is flatter than any normal sharpening stone.
Also cheap. You can start with a coarser grit for fast cutting and then work
up to finer grits for polishing.

Post by mmm_crema

Post by D. Ross
| Tell us more about your honing technique.
On this subject, the burrs each have 2 raised bits of the sort we usually
associate with bean whackers (at 5:30 and 11:30 in the solo picture of the
upper burr). I am having trouble visualizing the geometry - when the burrs
are close enough for the blades to be grinding, what happens to keep these
two ridges from snagging one another?
- David R.
--

It does appear that they would snag . . . err . . . contact each other
but they don't.
The honing of the burrs is key to this whole A9 hack. Remove the
glass hopper and undo the 8 mm nut that holds the little washer to the
driveshaft (reverse thread: right hand turns to loosen), remove the
adjustment set screw and then unscrew the upper burr carrier. The burrs
are now exposed and can then be dealt with. Slide the lowwer burr and
carrier off the shaft and undo the burr retaining screws, 2 phillips
screws on each burr. Take a close look at them, brand new, my burrs
were very dull, as if they forgot to sharpen them at the factory. Also
if your grinder has been in use, I would inspect them for dammage, as
the un-modded lowwer burr "jumps" when you hit the power switch.
So you have them out now, right?
The profile of the burr is dish shaped in the center, and then the
edges flatten out at the perimeter. It is this outer edge that gets
sharpened with honing. The stone I used is a flat water stone used for
sharpening my razors, but I think other knife sharpening hones would
work.
The stone MUST have a flat surface! Some used stoned will be worn
out in the middle and will not work for flat honing.
Anyways, place the burr flat on the stone with the burr surface
against the stone and start a circular honning motion. You don't need
to hone off alot of material but it does take a little time. You will
see the difference right away. Do this to each burr.
Re-assemble. The lowwer burr carrier retaining tube mod would be
required at this point or else you would risk destroying your sharp
burrs.
I hope this is clear enough. Like I say, I will update the pics on the
weekend as I am planning on modding another one of these the same way.
So with this one I will do a step-by-step.
Cheers, Emil

[daveb]

Yes, I've used just that technique to salvage leaky Gaggia boilers.

220 then finish w/ 400 or so, WET


Dave

Post by Jack Denver
Generally if you need a "flat stone" it's good to use wet o dry sandpaper on
a piece of plate glass - this is flatter than any normal sharpening stone.
Also cheap. You can start with a coarser grit for fast cutting and then work
up to finer grits for polishing.

Post by mmm_crema

Post by D. Ross
| Tell us more about your honing technique.
On this subject, the burrs each have 2 raised bits of the sort we usually
associate with bean whackers (at 5:30 and 11:30 in the solo picture of the
upper burr). I am having trouble visualizing the geometry - when the burrs
are close enough for the blades to be grinding, what happens to keep these
two ridges from snagging one another?
- David R.
--

It does appear that they would snag . . . err . . . contact each other
but they don't.
The honing of the burrs is key to this whole A9 hack. Remove the
glass hopper and undo the 8 mm nut that holds the little washer to the
driveshaft (reverse thread: right hand turns to loosen), remove the
adjustment set screw and then unscrew the upper burr carrier. The burrs
are now exposed and can then be dealt with. Slide the lowwer burr and
carrier off the shaft and undo the burr retaining screws, 2 phillips
screws on each burr. Take a close look at them, brand new, my burrs
were very dull, as if they forgot to sharpen them at the factory. Also
if your grinder has been in use, I would inspect them for dammage, as
the un-modded lowwer burr "jumps" when you hit the power switch.
So you have them out now, right?
The profile of the burr is dish shaped in the center, and then the
edges flatten out at the perimeter. It is this outer edge that gets
sharpened with honing. The stone I used is a flat water stone used for
sharpening my razors, but I think other knife sharpening hones would
work.
The stone MUST have a flat surface! Some used stoned will be worn
out in the middle and will not work for flat honing.
Anyways, place the burr flat on the stone with the burr surface
against the stone and start a circular honning motion. You don't need
to hone off alot of material but it does take a little time. You will
see the difference right away. Do this to each burr.
Re-assemble. The lowwer burr carrier retaining tube mod would be
required at this point or else you would risk destroying your sharp
burrs.
I hope this is clear enough. Like I say, I will update the pics on the
weekend as I am planning on modding another one of these the same way.
So with this one I will do a step-by-step.
Cheers, Emil

[Craig Andrews]

Post by mmm_crema

Post by D. Ross
| Tell us more about your honing technique.
On this subject, the burrs each have 2 raised bits of the sort we usually
associate with bean whackers (at 5:30 and 11:30 in the solo picture of the
upper burr). I am having trouble visualizing the geometry - when the burrs
are close enough for the blades to be grinding, what happens to keep these
two ridges from snagging one another?
- David R.
--

It does appear that they would snag . . . err . . . contact each other
but they don't.
The honing of the burrs is key to this whole A9 hack. Remove the
glass hopper and undo the 8 mm nut that holds the little washer to the
driveshaft (reverse thread: right hand turns to loosen), remove the
adjustment set screw and then unscrew the upper burr carrier. The burrs
are now exposed and can then be dealt with. Slide the lowwer burr and
carrier off the shaft and undo the burr retaining screws, 2 phillips
screws on each burr. Take a close look at them, brand new, my burrs
were very dull, as if they forgot to sharpen them at the factory. Also
if your grinder has been in use, I would inspect them for dammage, as
the un-modded lowwer burr "jumps" when you hit the power switch.
So you have them out now, right?
The profile of the burr is dish shaped in the center, and then the
edges flatten out at the perimeter. It is this outer edge that gets
sharpened with honing. The stone I used is a flat water stone used for
sharpening my razors, but I think other knife sharpening hones would
work.
The stone MUST have a flat surface! Some used stoned will be worn
out in the middle and will not work for flat honing.
Anyways, place the burr flat on the stone with the burr surface
against the stone and start a circular honning motion. You don't need
to hone off alot of material but it does take a little time. You will
see the difference right away. Do this to each burr.
Re-assemble. The lowwer burr carrier retaining tube mod would be
required at this point or else you would risk destroying your sharp
burrs.
I hope this is clear enough. Like I say, I will update the pics on the
weekend as I am planning on modding another one of these the same way.
So with this one I will do a step-by-step.
Cheers, Emil

Those 2 upper & lower bits contact each other before the burr surfaces
do, check here;
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/147040#147040
Craig.

[mmm_crema]

Post by Craig Andrews
Those 2 upper & lower bits contact each other before the burr surfaces
do, check here;
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/147040#147040
Craig.

Damn! After all of my research I missed that thread at CG.

However, the tabs are at the same level as the outer edges of the
burrs, so they will make contact only when the outer edge of the burrs
are adjusted to the point of contact. This will be too fine of a grind
for espresso.

Emil

[Jack Denver]

After looking at these photos, I don't see how your honing technique would
be completely effective - the cutting surface of the burrs is not only at
the outer edges but along each of the ridges that form the "teeth" of the
grinder. These teeth are extremely dull - it looks like they were cast
rather than machined. It's a pity because otherwise the grinder looks pretty
solid.

Post by mmm_crema

Post by Craig Andrews
Those 2 upper & lower bits contact each other before the burr surfaces
do, check here;
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/147040#147040
Craig.

Damn! After all of my research I missed that thread at CG.
However, the tabs are at the same level as the outer edges of the
burrs, so they will make contact only when the outer edge of the burrs
are adjusted to the point of contact. This will be too fine of a grind
for espresso.
Emil

[Craig Andrews]

Post by mmm_crema

Post by Craig Andrews
Those 2 upper & lower bits contact each other before the burr
surfaces
do, check here;
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/147040#147040
Craig.

Damn! After all of my research I missed that thread at CG.
However, the tabs are at the same level as the outer edges of the
burrs, so they will make contact only when the outer edge of the burrs
are adjusted to the point of contact. This will be too fine of a grind
for espresso.
Emil

Yes, that's true., it was late. I checked some of my own pics & found
that to be the case also. I wasn't gonna take my grinder apart at 1:50am
to look either, & I've only used it a couple of times 1 yr ago when I
got it for $65 BRAND NEW! {;-)
Craig.

[D. Ross]

| However, the tabs are at the same level as the outer edges of the
| burrs, so they will make contact only when the outer edge of the burrs
| are adjusted to the point of contact. This will be too fine of a grind
| for espresso.

I think I am still suffering from an attack of the stupids. Are you saying
that the burrs only operate at (or near) the outer edges? How does that
happen?

- David R.
--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

[Jack Denver]

That seems to be implied by his honing method. It is of course wrong - the
way the burrs work is they begin cutting whole beans near the center (as far
out from the center as the bean wedges itself when it falls into the burrs.
This creates "chunks" that are again ground a little further toward the
edge. This process repeats unit the chunk it small enough to fit in between
the gap between the outer edges of the burr where it is expelled.
Centrifugal force is constantly pushing the bean/chunks outward. The final
grinding occurs at the outer edge but by the time a chunk gets there it has
already been ground many times further inboard. If the cutting edges at any
point are dull there will be fines created. Sharpening the final cutting
stage at the outer edge may help a little but it is not a complete solution
to a set of dull cast burrs.

Post by D. Ross
| However, the tabs are at the same level as the outer edges of the
| burrs, so they will make contact only when the outer edge of the burrs
| are adjusted to the point of contact. This will be too fine of a grind
| for espresso.
I think I am still suffering from an attack of the stupids. Are you saying
that the burrs only operate at (or near) the outer edges? How does that
happen?
- David R.
--
http://www.demitasse.net

[notbob]

Post by Jack Denver
point are dull there will be fines created. Sharpening the final cutting
stage at the outer edge may help a little but it is not a complete solution
to a set of dull cast burrs.

I can't quite see it from any of the pictures, but I get the
impression from the OP that at some point out at the furthest edges,
the burrs are no longer dished, but flatten out and lie paralled to
one another. If this is so, the flat honing at the outer edges would
make sense. Is this, in fact, the case?

When I attended an espresso class, the instructor taught us grinders
don't cut or grind the bean, they actually tear it apart, each piece
being torn, or ripped, into ever smaller pieces. This tearing action
is what keeps the fines to a minimum. The inner burrs, grabbing
larger bean pieces, need not be as sharp as the outer burrs to get
this tearing action, though sharper burrs surely can't hurt. At the
outer edges, the pieces being so small, the burr edges would need to
be sharper to grab, and again tear, these smaller pieces. If the
burrs can be honed sharp out at the edges, even for a small distance, it
should be enough to do the job.

nb

[mmm_crema]

Post by notbob
I can't quite see it from any of the pictures, but I get the
impression from the OP that at some point out at the furthest edges,
the burrs are no longer dished, but flatten out and lie paralled to
one another. If this is so, the flat honing at the outer edges would
make sense. Is this, in fact, the case?
When I attended an espresso class, the instructor taught us grinders
don't cut or grind the bean, they actually tear it apart, each piece
being torn, or ripped, into ever smaller pieces. This tearing action
is what keeps the fines to a minimum. The inner burrs, grabbing
larger bean pieces, need not be as sharp as the outer burrs to get
this tearing action, though sharper burrs surely can't hurt. At the
outer edges, the pieces being so small, the burr edges would need to
be sharper to grab, and again tear, these smaller pieces. If the
burrs can be honed sharp out at the edges, even for a small distance, it
should be enough to do the job.
nb

That describes how I would imagine the bean processing within the
burrs. Also I would say that the textbook theory of the grinding of a
roasted coffee bean is a little misleading,often described as the bean
being neatly chopped up or shaved into progressively smaller pieces.
The more likely scenario is with burrs spinning at 1000 + rpm there
will be smashed irregular chunks and many different sized fragments
until they become smaller and more even toward the outer part of the
burr. That is why it is more difficult, lets say, to get a coarse FP
grind even and with few fines. Then of course dust and particles will
always be picked up with a coarse grind in a grinder that has been used
for espresso . . . enter the dedicated grinders I guess.

Lets have it.

Emil

[Jack Denver]

"mmm_crema" <***@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:***@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
snip
That is why it is more difficult, lets say, to get a coarse FP

Post by mmm_crema
grind even and with few fines.

Not true - a bad grinder will produce excess fines at an grind. You can't
see them as easily in a fine grind, but they are there.



Then of course dust and particles will

Post by mmm_crema
always be picked up with a coarse grind in a grinder that has been used
for espresso . . . enter the dedicated grinders I guess.

Depending on the design, it's not really necessary - a small amount of
leftover grinds will not have a big influence.

Post by mmm_crema
Lets have it.
Emil

[Robert Harmon]

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.

snipped

Post by mmm_crema
Regards, Emil.

Great post Emil & welcome to alt.coffee.
I'm pleased to see yet another adherent to the 'anything can be improved'
philosophy. I've looked at the A9 because of its small footprint but passed
on trying to hack it, but the more pics you publish the more I think I'll
give it a go.

Thanks again,
Robert

[daveb]

So we can infer that the A9 is a serious POS -- as it is sold?


I would think that unless one were willing to undertake some serious
work, it should be AVOIDED?


THANKS!

dave

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem! I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

[mmm_crema]

Post by daveb
So we can infer that the A9 is a serious POS -- as it is sold?
I would think that unless one were willing to undertake some serious
work, it should be AVOIDED?

Well I wouldn't quite put it that way, but yes, out of the box it is
not much good. The burrs are dull . . . plain and simple. The lowwer
burr floats to the point of contact with the upper burr, the chute
clogs solid, and on and on...

But for someone willing to tinker a little, it quickly becomes a
grinder worth a serious look (IMO). So far the work on it has been easy
to do. It's kinda like my Silvia, with a "Pepe" PID and an OPV mod it
is a pleasure to use... ;^)

I will add some more pics and detailed info soon.

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Emil

[Carmen]

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem! I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?

Carmen

[Craig Andrews]

Post by Carmen

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?
Carmen

I'm not Emil, but no., I've not seen any...
Craig.

[Carmen]

Post by Craig Andrews

Post by Carmen

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?
Carmen

I'm not Emil, but no., I've not seen any...
Craig.

If not, ouch. I hope it's compatible with someone else's burr set.

Carmen

[vt]

Post by Carmen

Post by Craig Andrews

Post by Carmen

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?
Carmen

I'm not Emil, but no., I've not seen any...
Craig.

If not, ouch. I hope it's compatible with someone else's burr set.
Carmen

It appears this reviewer on coffee geek was able to get replacement burrs.

http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/kitchenaidretro/JonR10

[Carmen]

Post by vt

Post by Carmen

Post by Craig Andrews

Post by Carmen

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?
Carmen

I'm not Emil, but no., I've not seen any...
Craig.

If not, ouch. I hope it's compatible with someone else's burr set.
Carmen

It appears this reviewer on coffee geek was able to get replacement burrs.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/kitchenaidretro/JonR10

I ought to have checked Coffee Geeks. Very cool, thanks! :-)

Carmen

[Craig Andrews]

Post by vt

Post by Carmen

Post by Craig Andrews

Post by Carmen

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of
interest,
so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?
Carmen

I'm not Emil, but no., I've not seen any...
Craig.

If not, ouch. I hope it's compatible with someone else's burr set.
Carmen

It appears this reviewer on coffee geek was able to get replacement burrs.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/kitchenaidretro/JonR10\

Talking about replacement burrs here from KitchenAid customer service.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/115651#115651
Craig.

[mmm_crema]

Post by Craig Andrews
Talking about replacement burrs here from KitchenAid customer service.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/115651#115651
Craig.

Yeah, I have a P/N for them somewhere here, so they are available.

Post by Craig Andrews
After looking at these photos, I don't see how your honing technique would be completely effective - the cutting surface of the burrs is not only at the outer edges but along each of the ridges that form the "teeth" of the grinder.

Quite true, and the honing I describe only puts an edge on the outer
part of the burr till it starts to slope downward... about 1/8 - 1/4
inch. But this seems to be enough. This is the area of any flat burr
that does the really fine cutting (if I am not mistaken). The results
speak clearly with a nice fine grind. I have been using my modded A9 at
work with a fair bit of grinding. Lots of espresso and adjusting back
to drip and back again.

Craig, to answer an earlier question you had about the adjustment
possibly creeping now that the detents are covered? I have found that
it really holds tight, as tight as the stepless Mazzer adjustment.

Emil

[Craig Andrews]

Post by mmm_crema

Post by Craig Andrews
Talking about replacement burrs here from KitchenAid customer
service.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/115651#115651
Craig.

Yeah, I have a P/N for them somewhere here, so they are available.

Post by Craig Andrews
After looking at these photos, I don't see how your honing technique
would be completely effective - the cutting surface of the burrs is
not only at the outer edges but along each of the ridges that form
the "teeth" of the grinder.

Quite true, and the honing I describe only puts an edge on the outer
part of the burr till it starts to slope downward... about 1/8 - 1/4
inch. But this seems to be enough. This is the area of any flat burr
that does the really fine cutting (if I am not mistaken). The results
speak clearly with a nice fine grind. I have been using my modded A9 at
work with a fair bit of grinding. Lots of espresso and adjusting back
to drip and back again.
Craig, to answer an earlier question you had about the adjustment
possibly creeping now that the detents are covered? I have found that
it really holds tight, as tight as the stepless Mazzer adjustment.
Emil

Thanks Emil! {:-D
Cheers!
Craigo.

[Jack Denver]

If I read this correctly, the replacement burrs would be no better than the
originals. What would be good if there were "aftermarket" tool steel burrs
that fit, but the two hole pattern is non-standard - all the Italian
grinders, AFAIK, have 3 holes.

Post by vt

Post by Carmen

Post by Craig Andrews

Post by Carmen

Post by mmm_crema
Hi all,
One of my many coffee related projects has been my recent purchase
and modding of the Kitchenaid A9 grinder. My interest in this grinder
was the small overall size, yet still a flat burr design, and nice
solid weight.
I was initially dissapointed before I even owned the grinder. My
research told me it was messy, noisy, produced uneven grinds and had
soft stainless steel burrs. Fortunatley I could see beyond its
out-of-the-box deficiencies. To make a long topic shorter here is a
list of what I have done to improve the performance of it...
Toss out the hopper.
Remove the burrs and honed them nice and sharp on a 4000 grit
hone.(makes HUGE difference)
Made "stepless" with a metal disk cutout.
Secured lower burr with a plastic pen tube retainer.
Removed adjustment stop screw.
Changed the power switch to a momentary push button.
Removed the discharge cover so the chute can "breathe" (no more
clogging)
Added a removeable spout to direct the grind discharge downwards.
See the pics at
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmm_crema/sets/72057594138561689/>
The grinder is now quite a performer. I have been using it for espresso
at work and at home and it easily grinds fine enough to choke my
Silvia. Also I would say it is very clean, there is little mess and
very little or no static. It grinds as good as and quicker than my
Mazzer Mini. So for $100 US you can have a bullet proof little gem!
I
had a thread over at CG on this and there was not alot of interest, so
I figured I would put the info here for all to see.
Not sure if the link here is clickable... if not cut and paste I guess.
(till I figure out how to add a link)
Well that is my first contribution to the group. I have been a lurker
here for quite a while and wanted to start out with a hopefully helpful
post for someone.
Regards, Emil.

Thanks for sharing Emil. I've got the KitchenAid Pro Line, which is a
wonderful machine and it allows me to place the brew basket (from a
commercial Bloomfield) directly under the downspout of the grinder
creating a de facto doser situation since all that goes in the top is
the weighed whole beans. I may play with the PL for espresso shots
(haven't used it for that yet) and see how it fares against my
Starbucks-branded Solis. If it doesn't do well I now know what to do!
:-)
One side issue: burr replacement. The Pro Line has replacement burrs
available for it, but I haven't seen any for the A9. Are there any?
Carmen

I'm not Emil, but no., I've not seen any...
Craig.

If not, ouch. I hope it's compatible with someone else's burr set.
Carmen

It appears this reviewer on coffee geek was able to get replacement burrs.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/kitchenaidretro/JonR10

[Craig Andrews]

Post by Jack Denver
If I read this correctly, the replacement burrs would be no better
than the originals. What would be good if there were "aftermarket"
tool steel burrs that fit, but the two hole pattern is non-standard -
all the Italian grinders, AFAIK, have 3 holes.

The replacements are the same shit OEM originals. Yes, I'm sure 99.9% of
us here know that about tool steel burrs. I've looked & tried, no dice.
I have a Briel Robot with tool steel burrs that would fit if I remember
when I tried about 1 year ago, but with the 3 hole pattern, no way.

That is unless a Titanium, Cobalt, or a nitrided tipped drill bit would
drill the burrs for the two hole pattern.
Craig.

[D. Ross]

| That is unless a Titanium, Cobalt, or a nitrided tipped drill bit would
| drill the burrs for the two hole pattern.

I think it would be better to drill new mounting holes in the burr carriers,
if commercial burrs of the same diameter are available.

- David R.
--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

[Craig Andrews]

Post by D. Ross
| That is unless a Titanium, Cobalt, or a nitrided tipped drill bit would
| drill the burrs for the two hole pattern.
I think it would be better to drill new mounting holes in the burr carriers,
if commercial burrs of the same diameter are available.
- David R.
--
http://www.demitasse.net

There isn't room, it doesn't have a solid base to mount the burrs, but a
skeletonized one, only room/area for 2 holes..
Craig.

[D. Ross]

"Craig Andrews" <***@deletethis.rogers.com> wrote:

| There isn't room, it doesn't have a solid base to mount the burrs, but a
| skeletonized one, only room/area for 2 holes..

Could you screw some kind of metal disk to the base, then mount real burrs
to the disk? Or maybe use epoxy or resin to fill in the skeleton, then
drill new holes in the epoxy?

- David R.
--
Less information than you ever thought possible:
http://www.demitasse.net

[O***@gmail.com]

Or take all the money you saved by buying an A9 instead of a Robur and
have a machine shop fabricate a set of burrs to your custom
specifications.

Will

Post by D. Ross
| There isn't room, it doesn't have a solid base to mount the burrs, but a
| skeletonized one, only room/area for 2 holes..
Could you screw some kind of metal disk to the base, then mount real burrs
to the disk? Or maybe use epoxy or resin to fill in the skeleton, then
drill new holes in the epoxy?
- David R.
--
http://www.demitasse.net

[mmm_crema]

So I'm back with the A9.



I bought and modded another one so that I have one for home and at
work.
I noticed some differences between the first one that I bought and the
one that I picked up last week. One has a thin bar across the chute
opening and the chute itself has a wider opening that slopes downward.

Anyways, I did the stepless mod, momentary switch, burr retaining
tube, and burr sharpening and re-assembled. Well, it grinds, but to my
dismay not like the first one I hacked. I was getting very uneven
grinds. After thoroughly examining it I determined that the lower burr
carrier was not quite running "true" , or had a ever so slight wobble.
So now I needed to basically somehow align the burrs, or more
specifically true up the lower burr. I do have access to a lathe but
chose to simply shim the lower burr to the carrier using paper shims I
cut out myself.

It was really not very complicated to do and the shims did the
trick. While it is not perfectly aligned with the upper burr it is now
very close. Also the sound it makes when grinding beans is like a sweet
melody now. (well, maybe not a melody . . . kind of a shhhh noise if
you
will). And, most importantly the grind is fantastic. Very even and
fine.
I had to back off the adjustment a fair bit due to the quality of the
grind.



Emil "sold my Mazzer for A9's" Kitka