2 piece vs. 4 piece Grinder

[Nevertheless1090]

I know we have a herb grinder thread but let's dig a little deeper in that discussion.

As the title states, which type of grinder do you prefer, two or four piece and why? If your feeling fancy, include the name of your favorite grinder, whether it be spacecase, cosmic, Santa Cruz ect.

I'll start. As of right now my preference is a medium two piece space case. I like the two piece because I can grind it up really fine or chunky depending on how I need my herb(versatile!). Also, I have a kief box so I don't think I need a four piece for kief.

Look forward to FC's thoughts as I'm in the market for a new grinder and it will help others too!

 

[Tweek]

I just like a grinder that grinds, man.

But I generally go for the 4 piece, as I do not use a kief box. I do have a two piece volcano grinder, that is awesome and a 4 piece santa cruz thats nice as well.

 

[mvapes]

I have a sharpstone 4 piece and a large SCS 2 Piece. I use that piece to grind large quantity for BHO runs. My go to is my 4 piece, all in one just makes it so much easier than a pollen box.

I also take real good care of my grinders, ISO washes weekly and I use grinder grease.

 

[PAZ]

4 piece SCS, it's a tank. I don't have a Kief box, which is another reason but I also love the freezer/coin trick that you can do with a 4 piece grinder to build up the kief.

 

[MileHighLife]

I use a 2 inch 4 piece sharp stone if I'm grinding a bowl to vape or a 3.5 inch 4 piece sharp stone if I'm grinding for dry ice hash. The 3.5 inch has larger holes so the herb isn't ground up nearly as much as the smaller sharp stone grinder but it destroys large amounts in one go. I've beat the hell out of the 2 inch for 8 years now and it still works great.

 

[sk]

It doesn't really make a difference to the kief having a 4pc grinder, apart from that its collected separately instead of staying with the bud (you still smoke the kief with a 2pc). I do prefer the grinders with the holes for the weed to drop down though, makes it a tonne easier to roll up when you're on the road

 

[SD_haze]

I bought a 2pc for the price.
I would have preferred the 4pc just not at more than 2x the cost.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

My perferences re grinders:
Coffee grinder is top preference, but I'll leave that there since its a bit of topic for this thread.

I have yet to use a 4pce grinder that gave me a fully satisfactory grind, I always have to finish it with a 2pce or scissors.

With a 2pce, while the name brands can be a bit pricey, the cost seems fair enough since it looks like most of the machining goes into the teeth etc.
with a 4pce, they just seem to be price gouging IMO.
They can be over double the price, for another bit of metal that would take less work to make.
A 4pce should cost like 1.5x a 2pce max IMO.

So for hand held, hand powered grinders, my vote is:
Santa Cruz Shredder 2pce - grinds well every time.
El-Cheapo 4pce - to put the pre ground bud into just to sift out the kief.

Honorable mention to space case 2pce, used to be my favorite grinder before the SCS, and the Storz & Bickel acrylic grinder, which always gives surprisingly satisfactory results.

Now I've just gotta get a proper kief box and do away with my 4pce altogether

 

[Nevertheless1090]

I have a sharpstone 4 piece and a large SCS 2 Piece. I use that piece to grind large quantity for BHO runs. My go to is my 4 piece, all in one just makes it so much easier than a pollen box.

I also take real good care of my grinders, ISO washes weekly and I use grinder grease.

Hmmm, grinder grease is something I need @mvapes .. Where do I acquire it?

On another note, I love my pollen box but I notice I use it less since it takes time to get what you want out of it. It seems like the four piece would do the job for when I'm feeling lazy. Thanks for the opinions and keep me' coming!

 

[Tweek]

There is alot of price gouging in the grinder market in general, whether it's 2 or 4 piece. Alot of times, you are paying for a flashier look, and a heavier build. To be honest, as much as I love my Santa Cruz Shredder, I admit I overpaid.

My 2 piece, acrylic Volcano grinder, which retails for under $10 is fantastic.

 

[z9]

A good grinder should last forever if Its cared for. I don't see any problem in spending $50 or $60 on a good one, some are vastly overpriced though. I have a 5 piece diamond grind that the girlfriend bought me, purchased before the SCS came out. The SCS is better quality and grinds better IMO. But this gets the job done, 5 sections, one coarse screen and one fine screen. I recently removed the section with the fine screen and now I have a seemingly endless supply of coarse, not-quite-kief kief. It collects almost as fast as I can use it.

 

[Tweek]

A good grinder should last forever if Its cared for. I don't see any problem in spending $50 or $60 on a good one, some are vastly overpriced though. I have a 5 piece diamond grind that the girlfriend bought me, purchased before the SCS came out. The SCS is better quality and grinds better IMO. But this gets the job done, 5 sections, one coarse screen and one fine screen. I recently removed the section with the fine screen and now I have a seemingly endless supply of coarse, not-quite-kief kief. It collects almost as fast as I can use it.

I see a problem with it now. Never used to, but my Santa Cruz Shredder is having all sorts of wear and tear issues. Sure, it's heavier in build and has special teeth and all that, but it's not proving itself any longer lasting than some cheaper grinders I have used, thus far...which is a shame, because I really love it.

I have seen the same wear and tear on my Space Case grinder as well. Both of these units were $60+...for that price, it better damn well last IMO...and so far, no go. If one were ultra concerned about chipping paint/metal, they would have to discard these or at least send them back again for warranty. The Santa Cruz is not that old, either.

 

[z9]

I see a problem with it now. Never used to, but my Santa Cruz Shredder is having all sorts of wear and tear issues. Sure, it's heavier in build and has special teeth and all that, but it's not proving itself any longer lasting than some cheaper grinders I have used, thus far...which is a shame, because I really love it.

I have seen the same wear and tear on my Space Case grinder as well. Both of these units were $60+...for that price, it better damn well last IMO...and so far, no go. If one were ultra concerned about chipping paint/metal, they would have to discard these or at least send them back again for warranty. The Santa Cruz is not that old, either.

Really!? I've messed with all of the grinders mentioned here, some of my friends have had them for years. I popped a screen out in a 3 year old diamond grind but it was my own fault, thats been my only problem. One person may have had a problem with chipping on their space case, but I haven't heard anything bad about the others. I borrowed an older two piece space case for about a year and it was built a tank, no chipping or any problems. My $45 grinder is working perfect after almost two years; no frills, basic teeth and magnet, no chipping, but not the smoothest spin. From what I've seen they last and I don't visit the grinder thread so I don't know much information from outside my circle. I'm not disputing your experiences Tweek, just sharing mine.

There is alot of price gouging in the grinder market in general, whether it's 2 or 4 piece. Alot of times, you are paying for a flashier look, and a heavier build. To be honest, as much as I love my Santa Cruz Shredder, I admit I overpaid.

My 2 piece, acrylic Volcano grinder, which retails for under $10 is fantastic.

There's a lot of price gouging in the marijuana market in general, grinders are just another example. I'm sure that $10 acrylic two piece does work great, I had a similar no name one that worked well. I just like the weight and durability of a metal grinder, chipping aside (not a problem I've ever experienced); I enjoy being able to store my bud in the grinder, which I then put in a vacuum sealed container. Like you said you pay for "flashier look, and a heavier build" I just prefer the heavier build... the flashier looks generally come along with it and further raises the price. I don't think its necessarily overpriced, but having problems like you say at that price is unacceptable.

 

[t-dub]

I prefer the large, 2 piece, SCS . . .

 

[John Lewus]

4 piece SCS large for me. Keeping a kief box seems wasteful for me. The most important thing about a 4 piece is it is all self contained with limited touching. I grind, scoop into a glass jyarz to seal, and then Suck the rest into an elb. Clean grinder, ground buds preserved and stored for the next few days, and very little finger or table contact.

 

[treeman]

Honestly, I've tried a lot of grinders. I own a 2pc titanium Space case and have tried many 4 pc metal grinders and I find I get a much better grind, hands down, from any generic acrylic sharktooth grinder. These cost £2 here and last a long ass time. They grind identically to the acrylic storz and bickel grinders and I just find the results miles more usable than any metal one. For that reason I can't justify spending anywhere near the cash wanted for fancy name brand metal grinders. Those SCS do look quite slick though.
As Fred says, coffee grinders trump them all, got mine for £10 delivered. Space cases cost upwards of £40, no brainer in my eyes.

 

[tranceporter]

I used a 4 PC cheapo chromium crusher for about a year til the the plastic teeth starting falling out from grinding sticky buds. I now use a 2 PC space case and honestly I don't miss the kief that much. The space case grinds much better and was only 25 bucks on Amazon.

 

[t-dub]

I tried the kif thing and it seemed to be like robbing Peter to pay Paul . . . @max showed me the way with the 2 piece tools . . . I will never buy another 4 piece.

 

[Dreamerr]

Ah show us the way max showed you t-dub...don't be selfish with your knowledge

 

[t-dub]

Ah show us the way max showed you t-dub...don't be selfish with your knowledge

Nothing to share really, he just told me they aren't worth the effort or price and when I tried it myself, I thought he was right.

 

[Dreamerr]

I like 4 piece for ease not kief. I give the kief away a lot of the time...stop yelling at me. I like that the herb falls into a diff chamber. I also like my huge grinder but it doesn't go medium to fine enough so twigs and stuff make it through. I have a scs 2 piece which I use but not for huge loads like I just finished as it hurts to turn it and it is two pieces so harder. Believe or not I just used the freebie from vapeworld which I do really like. I just wish it was bigger. We all know I am strange. I don't need the kief screen just a big chamber underneath would be great.........searching for yet another grinder.

 

[z9]

I like 4 piece for ease not kief. I give the kief away a lot of the time...stop yelling at me. I like that the herb falls into a diff chamber. I also like my huge grinder but it doesn't go medium to fine enough so twigs and stuff make it through. I have a scs 2 piece which I use but not for huge loads like I just finished as it hurts to turn it and it is two pieces so harder. Believe or not I just used the freebie from vapeworld which I do really like. I just wish it was bigger. We all know I am strange. I don't need the kief screen just a big chamber underneath would be great.........searching for yet another grinder.

You can pop a kief screen out, I've accidentally done it! Here's my old 4 piece

Not that I'd do it to one purposely... but I used this for a long time as it is.

 

[Dreamerr]

I never thought to do that :duh:. I still have to find a huge one for big loads that is smooth and doesn't let twigs through or grind powder fine. Woman are so picky. The scs hurts my hands as most two pieces do cause the herb doesn't fall away.

Thanks

 

[Tweek]

... I still have to find a huge one for big loads ...

You saucy devil

 

[MileHighLife]

I never thought to do that :duh:. I still have to find a huge one for big loads that is smooth and doesn't let twigs through or grind powder fine. Woman are so picky. The scs hurts my hands as most two pieces do cause the herb doesn't fall away.

Thanks

The new 7th floor grinders have a removable screen ... could take it out and have a large chamber instead of sifting and they come in 4 inch

Edit: and they are butter smooth ... same teeth as space case and really nice machining