Herb Grinders

[Winegums]

In that case I suggest the GR8TR as it is significantly taller than the SLX & that will allow a lot more leverage when it comes to grinding as it is twice as tall.

Like any grinder a quality crank handle grinder will perform better, longer than an el cheapo. Then again that goes for most things in life I spose.

Go for it @Winegums as I think with the right design & materials you could really tap into the aged care sector. Just thinking about my parents & their friends. If they used cannabis they would all go for a quality crank grinder for ease of use. You might lose the hard fought 3/4 piece market that is saturated with quality products & that is actually a smart move really. If you bring something different that will appeal to a different demographic with a unique selling point you will have a point of difference.

A hand cranked convertible 3 or 4 piece high quality grinder does have a place & people crying out for one (literally).

Not true, I've had a few of these over the years since I get them for free or $20 with a vape purchase. I think they are AMAZING crank grinders that yield a medium to coarse grind. Easiest on my wrists i've ever experienced, and rarely ever need cleaning. I've thrown nugs in there the density of rocks! Kannastor USED to make them, but stopped.... but I don't think they, nor ANY other manufacturer has the "screw on" threading that prevents it from spinning or awkward grinding. Once it's on, it's a few twirls of the crank, and you're good to go. Love it, but want the Gr8tr or SLX for a finer grind, but not sure if they will cause my wrists tendonitis like all the others have. I think i've written about this in this thread before too.

http://torontovaporizer.ca/zeus-vortex-grinder.html

I honestly just need the leverage for the type of cutting. The idea is to smear off as few trichs as possible by not rubbing the bud against other bud that is getting spun around in the grinder, and the cutting teeth/internal surfaces. To do this it needs to be cut only once and have proper back relief on the teeth, which diamond pattern and the newer shredder teeth don't have. Since the tooth pattern can only cut in one direction it needs to be a unidirectional grinder. Ideally the bud will just pop out the other side of the meshing teeth and fall into the collection tray.

I'm definitely over building the power train of the grinder because 200lb gorillas don't like to take out their stems then give it a hard crank -_- . Tbh it should munch through stems with little effort, and it'll have ball bearings in it so it's always smooth and slop free.

You just lost a lot of people right there.

Then this grinder wont be for them possibly? I could just make the crank handle fold away when not in use. So you would have the option to use your hands or the crank if you hit some tough nugs.

 

[biohacker]

That's another reason I love the crank I have (Zeus Vortex), it simply "cuts" and you can do it in one direction only, or back and forth, or for finer grind (and destruction of trichs), use it upside down. It's the only grinder so far that has caused my wrists no problems. Thanks Stevenski for the heads up on the gr8tr, I used a friends, and although you're right it's taller and would be the best for me, I still felt like it needed too many twists compared to my crank....which literally can grind in just 2-3 very easy effortless turns. But still I need the finer grind compared to this...and a huge down side is that from time to time, I will get a tiny rock hard bud spinning around in there, and it's frustrating, which is why I don't think the crank is the be all end all grinder. I'd love the SLX, Gr8tr, and the Zeus in my collection, then I think I would be complete! lol

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Then this grinder wont be for them possibly? I could just make the crank handle fold away when not in use. So you would have the option to use your hands or the crank if you hit some tough nugs.

I've never used one. I'm just sharing information I've read throughout this thread. Pretty much everyone says the cranks always break, from what I remember. And when that happens, you don't have a grinder. If you could make it work how you said, then I suppose that would be fine. But from what I've read, that hasn't been done yet, even though it's a known problem with that style of grinder. I assume it's because you probably can't really have a crank and a rotating lid at the same time.

I don't really know. Like I said, I've never used one.

 

[Winegums]

I've never used one. I'm just sharing information I've read throughout this thread. Pretty much everyone says the cranks always break, from what I remember. And when that happens, you don't have a grinder. If you could make it work how you said, then I suppose that would be fine. But from what I've read, that hasn't been done yet, even though it's a known problem with that style of grinder. I assume it's because you probably can't really have a crank and a rotating lid at the same time.

I don't really know. Like I said, I've never used one.

The crank wouldn't be weak at all. That's the design flaw of other manufacturers building their products to a budget. Die cast pot metal, zinc, Alu, etc. They all use inferior materials for the task and don't engineer for those materials so it breaks.

I intend to have a tool steel crank and will ensure that it is not the weak point of the grinder. Again I have a simple folding design to leave both options open.

 

[FlyingLow]

My hesitancy to jump into a crank, along with weakness and breakage issues previously reported, is simply that it is NOT simple and I like to KISS.

The crank, the bearings, all the moving parts create more areas to loose pollen and build up residue.





Brings me to a great question: For those of you with 4-pieces, how do you decide when to clean your pollen collection chambers? Do you do it when you can no longer see the bottom of your grinder, or do you let it build up to the top?

 

[Smelly Dog]

My hesitancy to jump into a crank, along with weakness and breakage issues previously reported, is simply that it is NOT simple and I like to KISS.

The crank, the bearings, all the moving parts create more areas to loose pollen and build up residue.





Brings me to a great question: For those of you with 4-pieces, how do you decide when to clean your pollen collection chambers? Do you do it when you can no longer see the bottom of your grinder, or do you let it build up to the top?

I've seen folks on the Reddit forum save it until a rainy day or when you're low on bud and want to spike your bud with a lil kief. They let it almost fill the bottom of the tray, or let it fill half way, then they take pictures of it and post, i drool when I see those kief filled bottom compartments!

I have my first grinder coming in tomorrow with a kief collection compartment, it's a GR8TR.

 

[FlyingLow]

I've seen folks on the Reddit forum save it until a rainy day or when you're low on bud and want to spike your bud with a lil kief. They let it almost fill the bottom of the tray, or let it fill half way, then they take pictures of it and post, i drool when I see those kief filled bottom compartments!

I have my first grinder coming in tomorrow with a kief collection compartment, it's a GR8TR.

I think you missed the point of my question or I did not communicate properly. Not asking when to use the material collected, I was asking how often and when does one decide to collect the pollen from the grinder [and put into another container]... If I only pulled out pollen on a rainy day or when I was low on bud, my chambers would be too full to collect any more.

 

[Smelly Dog]

@FlyingLow

Oops, I understood wrong, lol! I waked and baked a lil too hard this a.m.

 

[FlyingLow]

All good, just trying to figure out what others are up to, excited to hear how your own collections go with the new grater.

I try not to disturb the 4th chamber except when removing to collect material to put into my collection jar.

 

[ginolicious]

This is funny! I opened my puff pollen catcher and it is over flowing. Guess its time to go into my jar and then press into bubble hash for the vapir rise.

 

[Vaponly]

Had a chance to use my new GR8TR and all in all think it is definitely an upgrade from my (oldschool) SCS 4-peice mini.

In order to achieve my preferred grind I normally had to use my SCS upside down and twist back and forth until it felt done. This would give me a fairly uniform fine grind with some chunks here and there that I would break apart by hand when transferring to a storage container. The sides would always be caked with impacted material that needed to be brushed out. This part usually took a while to complete because particles would get everywhere.

With the GR8TR I removed the top threw a couple of nugs inside, put the top on, twisted a few times while applying gentle pressure with the grinder right side up and... Bam! A perfectly uniform fine grind in less than a quarter of the time it used to take with my SCS. Because of the way the grinder is designed it makes alot less mess when brushing the stubborn particles out the grinding section too.

The only thing I did not like was that the FREE bonus screen it came with was 60 mesh just like the one in the grinder. Would have been nice if it was an 80 mesh just to give you a little variety.

 

[Winegums]

My hesitancy to jump into a crank, along with weakness and breakage issues previously reported, is simply that it is NOT simple and I like to KISS.

The crank, the bearings, all the moving parts create more areas to loose pollen and build up residue.

Sometimes simple isn't what is going to get you the results you want. If I thought that the design would break I wouldn't even bother making it. It is a relatively simple design, and far from being too complicated.

As for your concerns about more areas for kief and plant material to collect, they are unfounded. I don't see any reason why it would be any harder to clean, or have more or less areas to get dirty. It's not like the current grinders on the market don't have a ton of surfaces for weed to get stuck to.

Brings me to a great question: For those of you with 4-pieces, how do you decide when to clean your pollen collection chambers? Do you do it when you can no longer see the bottom of your grinder, or do you let it build up to the top?

I scrape my bottom dish out when I can get a bowl sized scoop of kief. I rarely let it build up more than a mm or two.

 

[DrHermman]

Hi guys!
I just bought a 2.5" 4pc solid top Kannastor grinder I found on sale.
Been digging this thread lately, and I saw you are all pretty excited with the GR8TR... As I think that one would be a little too much for me, I went for the 4pc.
Has anyone tried it?
I hope it will serve me well... At least i believe it will do better than the plastic one i've been using for some years now
Peace

 

[Smelly Dog]

Had a chance to use my new GR8TR and all in all think it is definitely an upgrade from my (oldschool) SCS 4-peice mini.

In order to achieve my preferred grind I normally had to use my SCS upside down and twist back and forth until it felt done. This would give me a fairly uniform fine grind with some chunks here and there that I would break apart by hand when transferring to a storage container. The sides would always be caked with impacted material that needed to be brushed out. This part usually took a while to complete because particles would get everywhere.

With the GR8TR I removed the top threw a couple of nugs inside, put the top on, twisted a few times while applying gentle pressure with the grinder right side up and... Bam! A perfectly uniform fine grind in less than a quarter of the time it used to take with my SCS. Because of the way the grinder is designed it makes alot less mess when brushing the stubborn particles out the grinding section too.

The only thing I did not like was that the FREE bonus screen it came with was 60 mesh just like the one in the grinder. Would have been nice if it was an 80 mesh just to give you a little variety.

My GR8TR solid body is coming in today, it's almost 1530 here, USPS delivers at my apartment building right about now, usually before 1600, I'm about to hunt down the mail lady for my package, my USPS delivery lady is a sweet heart.



EDIT:

@DrHermman , if it's the same grinder I'm receiving today I'll be able to answer your questions after I use it. I'm not even sure if my GR8TR is 4 piece or more, it looks complicated by the pics I saw on the grinder to tell ya' the truth,lol!



EDIT#2: My frigging grinder didn't show up, the USPS tracking website still is reading yesterdays destination. I guess they'll update me with a new delivery day....

 

[Winegums]

Hey guys, I finally got to do some drafting today and I managed to finish a rough top view cut away, through the drive shaft of the grinder. It's missing a lot of details like screws, retaining rings, and most importantly the cutting head and die.

The grinder will be a square rectangular prism in design, top loaded, and side cranked. The herb will come out the bottom and fall into a tray once it is chipped off the nug. The cutting head and die will be designed for user removal if the grinder gets dirty enough to warrant a cleaning. The grinder should remain relatively smooth as it will be scraped clean by the die and there's little surface area of the cutting head in contact with the die.

The location of the drive shaft will likely change once I figure out an optimal tooth length so a larger amount of nugs can be loaded into the hopper. In theory this could be used as an on demand grinder since it only grinds what is at the bottom of the hopper. Once I can get some other views drafted it'll make a little more sense. I pretty much vomited my thoughts on to the dwg...

I'm a trained as a drafting technician but haven't used it in years. I also have some CNC machining knowledge that I've picked up at work.

 

[FlyingLow]

Not sure what I am looking at, but certainly look forward to seeing what you develop. I imagine you'll have a lot more info and updates as you progress, perhaps it may be time for a dedicated thread with a focused attention on your device- similar to how the Custom Glass Ideas/Designs Thread compliments the Cheap High Quality Bubbler Thread.

 

[Winegums]

Not sure what I am looking at, but certainly look forward to seeing what you develop. I imagine you'll have a lot more info and updates as you progress, perhaps it may be time for a dedicated thread with a focused attention on your device- similar to how the Custom Glass Ideas/Designs Thread compliments the Cheap High Quality Bubbler Thread.

Perhaps it is time for this to have a thread of it's own. I guess that means it needs a cool project name doesn't it?

The Chomp Box?
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Without the other views, annotations and fill the drawing is hard to read. I kinda wanted to get the ball rolling on this rather than let it get stale, so I rushed this out as a sneak peak.

 

[HomeFree]

I am looking for a grinder that does not cut/chop the material and glands, just gently pulls the flowers apart with 2 or 3 pieces (obviously can be 4 piece). I generally grind .3 grams or so at a time, rarely up to .5 grams, but never really any more than that. I would be fine with on that would hold .2 grams to be honest, can always grind twice.

The santa cruz shredders look like they use teeth that don't cut as much, but I would have to use one to know for sure. I like a light fluffy grind. I wonder why there are no grinders with + shaped pins in them, rather than diamond shaped sharp ones. SCS looks pretty close to what I am envisioning.

Maybe I will just get some of those 5 blade scissors instead. That way it is cut once or twice and not 15 times with tons of friction. I definitely grind dense herb. Airy herb I do okay with, and just stir. But super dense material does not vape evenly or even very well in my vaporizers.

 

[DrHermman]

Hey @Smelly Dog , I believe they are not the same... Yours in deed looks a little more complex, but i'm sure you will be able to handle it
I just wish mine has a quality similar to the GR8TR, as they are from the same company and the guys that have one of those seem to be happy... (I have never used a grinder from Kannastor)
Hope you get your grinder soon!!
Peace

 

[Stevenski]

Perhaps it is time for this to have a thread of it's own. I guess that means it needs a cool project name doesn't it?

The Chomp Box?
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Without the other views, annotations and fill the drawing is hard to read. I kinda wanted to get the ball rolling on this rather than let it get stale, so I rushed this out as a sneak peak.

Could not think of anything but this & that is a good thing .

Hey @Smelly Dog , I believe they are not the same... Yours in deed looks a little more complex, but i'm sure you will be able to handle it
I just wish mine has a quality similar to the GR8TR, as they are from the same company and the guys that have one of those seem to be happy... (I have never used a grinder from Kannastor)
Hope you get your grinder soon!!
Peace

If you are referring to the standard Kannastor 4 piece I have heard nothing but compliments about that range. I only have a storage puck & it is very nicely crafted + you can use it to convert the 4 piece grinder to a 3 piece if you ever want for under $20.

 

[DrHermman]

Thank you for the info @Stevenski ! Really appreciate it!!
Peace

 

[Winegums]

Could not think of anything but this & that is a good thing .

Yes! That's exactly what came to mind as well. It will take bites out of the nug rather than chewing the whole thing.

Fun fact: The chain chomp will actually break the chain after a min and chase you.

 

[SpeedDemon4]

Status update on EZVape order as of today.

Ordered March 15
Had to call and was told grinder would ship in a week.
Two weeks passed and no update.
Emailed and called last week and still have not received update.

I will try again tomorrow and if I don't receive anything by the end of the week then I am canceling my order.

 

[DrHermman]

Bad news for me and my 2.5" solid top 4pc Kannastor!
This morning I received an email from Grasscity telling me the description of the grinder I bought on their place was wrong, and they haven't got my grinder. They offer me instead the solid top/ clear jar but I had already checked it out and decided it doesn't meet my needs...
So I asked for a refund. I hope they are quick and don't make a problem about it... It's actually the first time something like this happens to me!
It's a bit disappointing cause they had a great deal, and I don't find it anywhere else near that price...

I guess this means i'm back to the search... and back to my good old 4pc amsterdam plastic grinder!

I hope all you guys waiting for the GR8TR can get it soon... (maybe I can save some more money for that one now )
Peace

 

[Bizkat]

Status update on EZVape order as of today.

Ordered March 15
Had to call and was told grinder would ship in a week.
Two weeks passed and no update.
Emailed and called last week and still have not received update.

I will try again tomorrow and if I don't receive anything by the end of the week then I am canceling my order.

We ordered around the same time. I'm still waiting. I would hate to cancel my order though- such a good deal.

@Smelly Dog Did you receive your grinder?