It works! I just used this video to align my used EK-43. I have a DECENT espresso machine so I can tell how much pressure is coming from each shot with set profile. Neither the used EK burrs nor the new Gorilla black (turkish) burrs would get the pressure above 5 bar at even when the burs were as fine as I could get them. After 30 hours of trying to align with aluminum shims 2 different times I got all the tools. I sanded the chamber and then the carrier, and then the chamber again to make sure. (I"m pretty sure the burr carrier that was the problem.) Alas today I ram my first shot that wen't up to 12 bars of pressure. My used EK is now a functional espresso grinder. Thanks!
sand papers used= 220; 400; and 600. I used loctite spay adhesive lightweight bonding; goo be gone; and 3-in -one oil as referenced in Rao's blog. I don't think I needed to use all these things. I simply wanted to double check just in case as I only had EVOO not just Olive oil. though I think that would have worked. Best of luck to all others on this endeavor. It works!!
We used a double sided tape called Xpress-it, you can get this or similar from the hardware store its nice and sticky but also very thin between the burrs. Thanks for watching.
I couldn’t get the sandpaper ring to stick to the back of the burr. So instead I just rubbed it around the chamber in a circular motion, seemed to give me good results, but I might try to stick the sandpaper to the back of the burr.
@@maxphills5502 It works because the burr (while on the axis) sands itself a pretty perfectly perpendicular resting surface. Without a burr you have no chance of achieving a precise tilt defined by mere microns. That being said - considering the first grit is the most important one you might have done enough work for it to turn out okay while it was still attached.
You have two options, you can put the shear plate in up side down and attach the drill that way, or use a 25mm spade bit with a little rag around it (no shear plate required) The latter being the safer option !
GREAT video, thanks a log. i have a question that probably can get a advice from you. i measured my ek43s fix burr by a dial indicator, the deflection was 0.01mm~0.02mm, which is good in my opinion. however, the pre-breaker is way off. i firstly used sigma to measure the moving burr, the result was perfect, 0mm deflection on burr itself. so i measure the pre-breaker(without a burr attached) on lethe, and the deflection was from 0.01mm ~ 0.1mm. so , in my case, better i sand the pre-breaker and keep the chamber untouched, right ? thanks in advance.
Hey and thanks. It is difficult to say with out seeing it in the flesh but it sounds like you are correct, you could always go back and do the chamber on the fixed side after if you are still not getting good results. Thank again.
@@dawnpatrolcoffee4951 thanks for the reply, and i just sanded my ek, the result is so satisfied. 23.5% of yield is so easy to achieve whereas 21.4% was the highest yield i could get before sanded, and of course the taste is better indeed.
I'm a little confused what you did with the tape. Double sided tape to the interior of the burrs to hold the burrs together, and double sided tape to the outside to attach sand paper to? Also. How do you clean the grinder after all of this?
Hey, I'm a newbie on this thing. Can you explain what an alignment is? English is not my mother tongue, so I thought aligning meant adjusting... Or calibrating. But this is so advanced... Why do people spend 1500 USD dollars if their grinder still needs a difficult process to do at home?
Sometimes the flat burrs of the grinder are not parallel to each other due to imperfections in the grinding chamber, and alignment fixes that problem. As to why someone would buy a $2700 EK43 if they have to align it, it's because there are very few grinders capable of EK43 quality that come with alignment out of the box. When you narrow that down to grinders that can grind at the rate that the EK can grind, there are essentially no other options.
@@Terranova911RS unlike yourself we are not a grinder manufacturer nor do we pretend to be. We are simply showing a method that we find more practical (whilst still being cost effective) than the simple marker and aluminium shim alignment that has been around for some time now. I think we can all agree that after spending several thousand dollars on a grinder it would actually be best if it came already fully aligned. Thanks.
Jeez. This makes me so sad. I thought you might at least sand the actual back of the burrs- not the casing itself. Wow, all you guys that liked this video must be minted.
It works! I just used this video to align my used EK-43. I have a DECENT espresso machine so I can tell how much pressure is coming from each shot with set profile. Neither the used EK burrs nor the new Gorilla black (turkish) burrs would get the pressure above 5 bar at even when the burs were as fine as I could get them. After 30 hours of trying to align with aluminum shims 2 different times I got all the tools. I sanded the chamber and then the carrier, and then the chamber again to make sure. (I"m pretty sure the burr carrier that was the problem.) Alas today I ram my first shot that wen't up to 12 bars of pressure. My used EK is now a functional espresso grinder. Thanks!
sand papers used= 220; 400; and 600. I used loctite spay adhesive lightweight bonding; goo be gone; and 3-in -one oil as referenced in Rao's blog. I don't think I needed to use all these things. I simply wanted to double check just in case as I only had EVOO not just Olive oil. though I think that would have worked. Best of luck to all others on this endeavor. It works!!
So much work to get a world class grinder to work as it should..
That sounded real good afterwards
This is awesome! Thanks for videoing this ! For the last step, oil help with the tape, what kind of tape is it sticking behind the blade? Thanks!
We used a double sided tape called Xpress-it, you can get this or similar from the hardware store its nice and sticky but also very thin between the burrs. Thanks for watching.
I couldn’t get the sandpaper ring to stick to the back of the burr. So instead I just rubbed it around the chamber in a circular motion, seemed to give me good results, but I might try to stick the sandpaper to the back of the burr.
It only works when the sandpaper is fixed to the burr
Why is that? It seemed to pass the market test and I noticed a noticeable improvement in sound and extraction.
Also I should specify. The first square of 220 grit was fixed to the burr. The rest I just couldn’t get to stick
@@maxphills5502 It works because the burr (while on the axis) sands itself a pretty perfectly perpendicular resting surface. Without a burr you have no chance of achieving a precise tilt defined by mere microns. That being said - considering the first grit is the most important one you might have done enough work for it to turn out okay while it was still attached.
Ah okay. Would it be worth it to sand the chamber again with the sandpaper fixed to the burr, or would that be too much sanding?
You've done a great job!) Thanks a lot!)
Thank you so much
Thank you so much! It's very helpful.
How did you use the drill on it with the shear plate? There doesn’t seem to be room to fit a bit to make it spin.
You have two options, you can put the shear plate in up side down and attach the drill that way, or use a 25mm spade bit with a little rag around it (no shear plate required) The latter being the safer option !
GREAT video, thanks a log. i have a question that probably can get a advice from you. i measured my ek43s fix burr by a dial indicator, the deflection was 0.01mm~0.02mm, which is good in my opinion. however, the pre-breaker is way off. i firstly used sigma to measure the moving burr, the result was perfect, 0mm deflection on burr itself. so i measure the pre-breaker(without a burr attached) on lethe, and the deflection was from 0.01mm ~ 0.1mm. so , in my case, better i sand the pre-breaker and keep the chamber untouched, right ? thanks in advance.
Hey and thanks. It is difficult to say with out seeing it in the flesh but it sounds like you are correct, you could always go back and do the chamber on the fixed side after if you are still not getting good results. Thank again.
@@dawnpatrolcoffee4951 thanks for the reply, and i just sanded my ek, the result is so satisfied. 23.5% of yield is so easy to achieve whereas 21.4% was the highest yield i could get before sanded, and of course the taste is better indeed.
Hello, Did you guys do this for the burr carrier as well?
We didn't feel the need as the new Ek with the black burr carrier seem to be made to a really tight tolerance.
@@dawnpatrolcoffee4951 Thanks for the reply and the insight.
How did you prove that?
Do you guys have any experience alligning the burrs of a baratza forte?
I'm sorry we do not
Check out this document: docs.google.com/document/d/1NhuLcI60Ti28p1fQmYzImISQxfokYLU1Gm85KQ9DgOg/edit?usp=drivesdk
I'm a little confused what you did with the tape. Double sided tape to the interior of the burrs to hold the burrs together, and double sided tape to the outside to attach sand paper to?
Also. How do you clean the grinder after all of this?
Hey, if you click the link in the description you will see a diagram which should give you a better idea. Thanks
Hey, I'm a newbie on this thing. Can you explain what an alignment is? English is not my mother tongue, so I thought aligning meant adjusting... Or calibrating. But this is so advanced...
Why do people spend 1500 USD dollars if their grinder still needs a difficult process to do at home?
Sometimes the flat burrs of the grinder are not parallel to each other due to imperfections in the grinding chamber, and alignment fixes that problem. As to why someone would buy a $2700 EK43 if they have to align it, it's because there are very few grinders capable of EK43 quality that come with alignment out of the box. When you narrow that down to grinders that can grind at the rate that the EK can grind, there are essentially no other options.
And how do you know that your burr carrier is without run out? Chances are good that you are transferring the problem just from a to b
We do a simple white board marker test, also this method could be used for the carrier if needed. Thanks
@@dawnpatrolcoffee4951 You did a marker test and a sound check and think that this is accurate?
@@Terranova911RS unlike yourself we are not a grinder manufacturer nor do we pretend to be. We are simply showing a method that we find more practical (whilst still being cost effective) than the simple marker and aluminium shim alignment that has been around for some time now. I think we can all agree that after spending several thousand dollars on a grinder it would actually be best if it came already fully aligned. Thanks.
Dawn Patrol Coffee Thank you for this video!
@@dawnpatrolcoffee4951 There is a huge difference between being cost effective and showing how to destroy an EK... just my 2c
Would this method also work on a Mahlkonig Peak?
Sample I don’t see why not it just depends on the geometry of the back of the burr and how it sits against the grinder body.
what kind of oil did you drop on that sandpaper?
We used olive oil, but any food grade oil will work. Thanks
Jeez. This makes me so sad. I thought you might at least sand the actual back of the burrs- not the casing itself. Wow, all you guys that liked this video must be minted.
Why? If it fixes the issue and they are removing a minimal amount.
plastic