Now that I am well acquainted with my small 4-piece Santa Cruz Shredder, here's a proper review of it. If you don't want to read the whole review, just read the following paragraph:
My small 4-piece SCS is 95% perfect, and the bottom three pieces may be perfect. However, the lid seems to have one design flaw, which creates an awkward mild sensation of friction while operating the grinder, though it doesn't seem to be the kind of friction that causes metal flaking or any potential health risks. Still, it shouldn't be that way, and consequently my nearly perfect grinder kind of annoys the shit out of me every time I use it. For a grinder that is so perfect in essentially every other way, this single apparent design flaw is kinda huge to me; possibly unacceptable. Yet it seems to have an easy fix, which I believe must be addressed by the manufacturer, if it hasn't already. Still, 5 stars.
OK, now the full review:
After extensive inspection/fondling of my small SCS, I found only two detectable imperfections with this grinder: 1) the small scratch on the lid, and 2) the feeling of friction between the outside of the "male" part of the lid and the part that surrounds the male part when the grinder is fully assembled. Since I have already discussed this in earlier posts, I won't say anything more about it here. But that friction does bother me quite a bit.
The threading on this grinder is flawless. My large SCS feels like it has flawless threading when it's clean, but its threads provide some resistance after little bits of herb and kief have migrated onto the threads. So far that kind of obstruction has not happened with my small SCS. Every time I have assembled or disassembled this grinder, the threads have felt 100% perfectly smooth. (I know that's redundant, but it might be the most effective way to describe the threading.)
The small blemish on the lid is the only visible imperfection. When I operate this grinder, I don't feel any nicks or imperfections on the exterior. Nothing. Even as good as my large SCS feels, I do feel a few nicks and imperfections when I use the large. Consequently when I use the small, it just feels unbelievable in my hands, in every way.
The diameter of this grinder is very close to perfect for my hands, if not perfect. It's so much easier for me to get the right kind of grip on this grinder than it is for me to get even a decent grip on my large SCS. The height of the grinder probably helps me get a better grip, too. (This grinder is a couple millimeters taller than the large SCS.)
I love that the small 4-piece SCS has a deeper storage compartment than the large SCS. That really helps if you have shaky, uncoordinated, and/or otherwise poor hand function.
I can't stress enough how much I mean perfect every time I say "perfect." It's just such a pleasure to assemble, disassemble, and operate this grinder. I can't help being reminded, every time I touch it, how nearly-perfect this grinder is, regardless of whether I'm using it or just pretending to use it (which I do a lot). There is no resistance; the parts simply rotate effortlessly (excluding that one issue). And I never have to try more than once to engage the threads; the threads simply engage on the first try, every time, which is a lot more awesome than you realize until you experience it over and over.
One more thing, which is essentially a given with every Santa Cruz Shredder: The strong magnet will never allow the lid to come off accidentally. Before I had my first SCS, I didn't even notice the fact that my two cheap grinders have very weak magnets. But now that I'm accustomed to never having to worry about unwanted separation of the toothed pieces on my SCS[es], the weak magnets on my cheap grinders are very noticeable, and consequently I am infinitely more likely to accidentally drop all or part of the cheap grinders.
Perfect, I say!
Well, except for that one lid issue. And even though I may be overly sensitive to that kind of thing, I honestly do believe there's something really not-right about the design, which I think could be corrected by changing the design of the outer surface of the lid's bottom third to include horizontal grooves, rather than vertical grooves or no grooves.
Even with the friction thing, which bugs the shit out of me, I give this grinder 5 stars (of 5 stars). Everything else about the grinder is just so perfect that I can't give it fewer than five stars. Now if I can only persuade Santa Cruz Shredder to replace my lid with a new one containing horizontal grooves...
