Brilliant Cut Grinder

Bakin4Life

Bakin4Life

Oink
(newbie / first post, fwiw)

I have one of these I got last year, and I must have gotten lucky that I visited them when 2nd's were available -- got mine (aluminum) within about 2wks of ordering, with one extra plate. But I know I'm very much the exception, so I'm not stanning the BCG people.

Rather... I'm curious about their business model -- thinking that it's comprised of only one person, they're an utter perfectionist, etc., etc. Although skimming first / last pages of this thread, it appears that's not the case -- there's an actual staff of people that make these?

Pretty sure it's not a materials issue... the grades of AL / SS they use aren't exotic, correct? I know the grade of aluminum they use is considered pretty hard (Mohs); I'll guess it may be more difficult to machine.

Anyone that can spill tea on these folks? If it's within this 164pg thread (!), a page link would be appreciated :)

BTW... the one I have, I'm very happy with. Would buy it again.
 
Bakin4Life,
  • Like
Reactions: cosimo
cybrguy

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
When the seconds show up on the site they are ready to ship, so it doesn't take them that long to get them out and to the customer. The delays come when they have to fabricate them. They apparently have many more orders then they can produce quickly. I don't know how long the aluminum ones take to ship after order but clearly the SS ones come out very slowly. Their high price reflects how much less common they are and how much longer they take to produce, I assume. It is clear there there are a lot of people willing to wait. @noobvaperct's frustration is not unique but the results he has been experiencing could have been easily predicted.

Early in my experience buying China Glass, it took a long time, sometimes measured in months, because they not only came by container rather than by air, but they sometimes didn't produce stock until they had some number of orders. When they changed to shipping by air, I imagine the number of orders they received increased dramatically after the wait time was reduced. I think part of what keeps the prices high on the stainless grinders is their scarcity. Clearly there are a lot more orders than product. Whether the price would be forced down if they became more available I don't know, but it is something they may consider in terms of their production speed. Clearly, the pent up demand works for them in some manner or I imagine they could find a way around it.
 
E

eyesofgrey

New Member
Ordered a polished stainless standard size grinder with medium and coarse plates on April 26th and have not seen a shipping notice yet.
Each time I’ve reached out they’ve said they had a big number of orders in April & are working through them ans quickly as possible. They also offered to cancel my order & refund my money both times I reached out.
 
eyesofgrey,
  • Like
Reactions: Sidoney
Sidoney

Sidoney

Active Member
eyesofgrey said:
Ordered a polished stainless standard size grinder with medium and coarse plates on April 26th and have not seen a shipping notice yet.
Each time I’ve reached out they’ve said they had a big number of orders in April & are working through them ans quickly as possible. They also offered to cancel my order & refund my money both times I reached out.
Click to expand...
Same here but I'm gonna wait it out. I got impatient though and got an Aroma-3 while I was waiting and for me it's honestly a tiny bit better than the large aluminium brilliant cut I have and both are better than the herb ripper.

In saying that, the BCG has multiple plates which I love and the grind is perfect across all 3. It just gunks up every 5-10 ounces lol and the Aroma-3 is more enjoyable and easier to turn and is yep to look close to ever gunking up just due to the design.

Having so many high quality grinders probably helps with waiting!

I'm looking forward to owning both the aroma-3 and BCG in stainless!
 
Last edited:
Radwin Bodnic

Radwin Bodnic

Well-Known Member
Bakin4Life said:
(newbie / first post, fwiw)

I have one of these I got last year, and I must have gotten lucky that I visited them when 2nd's were available -- got mine (aluminum) within about 2wks of ordering, with one extra plate. But I know I'm very much the exception, so I'm not stanning the BCG people.

Rather... I'm curious about their business model -- thinking that it's comprised of only one person, they're an utter perfectionist, etc., etc. Although skimming first / last pages of this thread, it appears that's not the case -- there's an actual staff of people that make these?

Pretty sure it's not a materials issue... the grades of AL / SS they use aren't exotic, correct? I know the grade of aluminum they use is considered pretty hard (Mohs); I'll guess it may be more difficult to machine.

Anyone that can spill tea on these folks? If it's within this 164pg thread (!), a page link would be appreciated :)

BTW... the one I have, I'm very happy with. Would buy it again.
Click to expand...
Both material grades are pretty common.
Al is a lot easier to machine than SS. It goes quicker and put less wear on the tools. Al is also easier and quicker to finish.
Machined parts price is directly related to machining time and tool wear.

I think that they are making BCGs in house and I bet their CNC have a small capacity. (And probably not fully automated). That's why it takes time to clear the back order list when it's getting long... of course factory seconds are always ready to ship because they are always listed as seconds when they are already produced.

It also possible that their CNC isn't stiff enough to work with stainless steel and that they are outsourcing the stainless steel units to another machining shop. Considering it would be outsourced in Canada and the small series they would order, the price point and production time is totally justified.

I've worked with a shop that outsourced machined Al parts (7075 T6, so harder than the 6000's series of the BCG) and had quotes for stainless steel parts (316L, again harder than the 304 of the BCG), both in Europe and in Taiwan and stainless steel parts never have meet the needed price point to be ever produced. (It was all larger series than what I think the BCG team is producing).
 
Bakin4Life

Bakin4Life

Oink
Radwin Bodnic said:
Both material grades are pretty common.
Al is a lot easier to machine than SS. It goes quicker and put less wear on the tools. Al is also easier and quicker to finish.
Machined parts price is directly related to machining time and tool wear.

I think that they are making BCGs in house and I bet their CNC have a small capacity. (And probably not fully automated). That's why it takes time to clear the back order list when it's getting long... of course factory seconds are always ready to ship because they are always listed as seconds when they are already produced.

It also possible that their CNC isn't stiff enough to work with stainless steel and that they are outsourcing the stainless steel units to another machining shop. Considering it would be outsourced in Canada and the small series they would order, the price point and production time is totally justified.

I've worked with a shop that outsourced machined Al parts (7075 T6, so harder than the 6000's series of the BCG) and had quotes for stainless steel parts (316L, again harder than the 304 of the BCG), both in Europe and in Taiwan and stainless steel parts never have meet the needed price point to be ever produced. (It was all larger series than what I think the BCG team is producing).
Click to expand...
This is exactly the type of answer I was looking for. Appreciate the detail. 👍
 
E

eyesofgrey

New Member
Shit Snacks said:
Yep that was always one of the features about BCG way before they ever started using stainless steel, worth waiting for imo
Click to expand...
Agree it’s worth waiting for (I have a matte stainless bcg) but 16 weeks and counting when they quoted 8 is a test of patience. Eager to get it for sure & I see why they decided to stop doing the polished version. The labor for polishing must be intense.
 
T

The_M

Member
eyesofgrey said:
Agree it’s worth waiting for (I have a matte stainless bcg) but 16 weeks and counting when they quoted 8 is a test of patience. Eager to get it for sure & I see why they decided to stop doing the polished version. The labor for polishing must be intense.
Click to expand...
Mate version get scratched easily as well
 
The_M,
Timps27

Timps27

Feel like I’m winnin’ when I’m losin’ again
Are they at least communicating?

If it’s any solace I have way too many grinders (6 BCG, Old Mate, Flower Mill, Stona…); the one I reach for most is the SS BCG. When it gets to you it will be an amazing piece…but that wait is starting to get egregious.
 
Bakin4Life

Bakin4Life

Oink
eyesofgrey said:
Very happy about that but the 5 month wait time was too much.
Click to expand...
I'd have to reluctantly agree. The only way to combat that is to increase the base time to something closer to reality, so people know going in. Along with that, an e-mail bot that kicks a message at specified intervals (monthly?) indicating that the order is 'still in progress' and 'moving through the system'. Yes, this would kill a certain percentage of orders from people who didn't have the patience.

Marketed correctly, this could be a net positive ('yeah, it's slow, but it's worth the wait', etc.) ESPECIALLY if it's basically a one-man op (which I believe it's not, based on prior feedback.

I love, love LOVE my grinder (factory second), but if you told me the wait for '1st quality' could get to the 5-6mo point... I dunno if I would've waited, myself. The '2nds' are so damned good, and hardly anyone who has one can tell where the flaws are. The only ones I can tell on mine are the ones *I* added. :)

The owner has to do something about this, or revamp his business to sell '2nd quality' primarily. Make that a marketing point, as well. "Where will *your* flaw be?"; or, "Our seconds are better than everyone else's firsts".

No, I'm not a marketing guy. Just someone who's been marketed to, on a daily basis (same as all of you).
Now, if you'll pardon me, it's time for my morning sesh & coffee. :nod:
 
L

Lochos

Well-Known Member
Bakin4Life said:
I'd have to reluctantly agree. The only way to combat that is to increase the base time to something closer to reality, so people know going in. Along with that, an e-mail bot that kicks a message at specified intervals (monthly?) indicating that the order is 'still in progress' and 'moving through the system'. Yes, this would kill a certain percentage of orders from people who didn't have the patience.

Marketed correctly, this could be a net positive ('yeah, it's slow, but it's worth the wait', etc.) ESPECIALLY if it's basically a one-man op (which I believe it's not, based on prior feedback.

I love, love LOVE my grinder (factory second), but if you told me the wait for '1st quality' could get to the 5-6mo point... I dunno if I would've waited, myself. The '2nds' are so damned good, and hardly anyone who has one can tell where the flaws are. The only ones I can tell on mine are the ones *I* added. :)

The owner has to do something about this, or revamp his business to sell '2nd quality' primarily. Make that a marketing point, as well. "Where will *your* flaw be?"; or, "Our seconds are better than everyone else's firsts".

No, I'm not a marketing guy. Just someone who's been marketed to, on a daily basis (same as all of you).
Now, if you'll pardon me, it's time for my morning sesh & coffee. :nod:
Click to expand...
Do you know how often the seconds restock? I'm hoping to snag a "seconds" SS version!
 
Lochos,
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom