Herb Grinders

[Aimless Ryan]

If by "SC" you mean Santa Cruz, I can tell you a whole bunch of potential or known negatives. I think Santa Cruz Shredders are probably by far the best grinders on the market, but I can still tell you a lot of issues I've experienced with my own Shredders. (I have five of them.)

Just confirm to me that when you said "SC," you meant Santa Cruz and not Space Case. Because around here that's what SC means. Santa Cruz Shredder = SCS.

 

[CuckFumbustion]

@Aimless Ryan. The 'Santa Cruz Shredder' aka SCS on this forum. Yes I would like to hear your negatives for that. Conversely, the Space Case, <ahem> 'SC' is a diamond teeth 'grinder', which has the cutting problems that I was contrasting to my <ahem again> 'SCS '.

One negative, turned positive for me with the SCS is how materials collect on the top lid and require a poker to clean.

You have 5 SCS's. Are they different sizes? I did consider the next size up as being a potential 'upgrade'. But yea I'd like to hear your take. TX.

 

[whatitdew]

What do you mean by over engineered? Because there's actually less (yet larger) teeth in these, to me that's under engineered if anything, but maybe I'm missing your point.

• Original 4-Way Quicklock technology, just a quarter turn to lock & open.

• Patented radial cut blades for maximum shredding: cuts one way, fluffs the other.

and the way the replaceable screen was built

How is this brand cheaper than scs when they are priced from $70 - $90?
I bought my medium 4-piece scs for around $55 shipped

• 
  
• Original 4-Way Quicklock technology, just a quarter turn to lock & open.

• Patented radial cut blades for maximum shredding: cuts one way, fluffs the other.

and the way the replaceable screen was built

As for Kannastor I mean their regular line of grinders not these new grater ones. a comparable size 2.5" will run you around 50 bucks.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

@CuckFumbustion OK. I was pretty sure that's what you meant, but I just wanted to be absolutely sure before exhausting my brain by compiling my thoughts about something that might end up not being useful to anyone.

Here's the biggest problem I have with Santa Cruz Shredder: Too much inconsistency in the design of their grinders.

I can tell by messing around with my five different Santa Cruz Shredders that the people at SCS spend a lot of time trying different designs and different design combinations. For example, the texture of the male edge (the bottom part of the lid). My large 4-piece has small horizontal grooves around the male edge, while my small blue 4-piece has vertical grooves around the male edge. My other three Shredders have an essentially flat/smooth male edge. The texture of the male edge actually makes a huge difference, too. And horizontal grooves make the best surface, as far as I'm concerned.

Similarly, different Shredders have different screens. My large and two smalls have a fairly coarse screen, while my mini has an extremely fine screen. Too fine. (But the others are not fine enough.)

I could give some other examples, but I think you probably have a good idea what I'm saying.

Which is cool. I totally understand why they try so many different design elements and design combinations, because I work like that. They are still a very young company. Also, I feel very confident that they're going to find the magic combination soon, then start producing grinders with more consistent design elements.

If you took certain elements from each of my Santa Cruz Shredders, then made one grinder with only the best elements, you'd have just about a perfect grinder. Which tells me very clearly that the people at SCS already know how to make an essentially perfect grinder. Apparently they just haven't figured out which of the different design aspects make the best combination, as you never really know which of the many different combinations you're going to get when you buy one of their grinders.

From what I can see, you know what you're going to get if you buy a Space Case. I have three of them (2-pieces), and the design/feel is very consistent between the three. However, I don't like them as much as I like Santa Cruz Shredders.

Here are the best aspects of my Santa Cruz Shredders:

Best finish/feel: Small matte orange 4-piece. By far. Love it. The feel and the look. Especially as someone with very broken/weak hands.

Best sifting capability: Diamond Grind 5-piece. None of my Santa Cruz Shredders is worthy of this title.

Nicest threading: Small blue 4-piece (or the matte orange one). The threading on the blue one is perfect, even though I have never applied Grinder Grease or cleaned the grinder. Unfortunately, the vertical grooves on the male edge make this grinder essentially unusable.

Most precise exterior: Small blue 4-piece and mini rasta 4-piece. (It's hard to explain what I mean by most precise exterior right now, but the different pieces on my other two SCS 4-pieces don't line up precisely. It doesn't affect the quality of the grinder, but I know SCS already knows how to make it how it should be, because I have two of their grinders that are perfect in this department.

Nothing about the mini 2-piece is better than any of my other four SCS grinders. It's still a decent grinder, and I still use it sometimes, but I wouldn't recommend it, aside from the fact you can get one for $15, or sometimes even a little less.

I probably could say a lot more, but I hope that helped.

 

[CuckFumbustion]

@Aimless Ryan, You definitely touched on some of the points I was trying to rethink/reconsider. Good set of contrasts with other types. Exactly where I wanted this conversation to go. TX!

Diamond Grind 5-piece for sifting. Now I'm considering putting a wider mesh round screen shaped in a dome to make a poor man's 5pc.

Space Case grinders seem to be the #2 choice for nearly all the reviews that I've read claiming SCS is #1. But there are others trying out their own design. Some do have slightly better ergonomic design on the outside. But I only need to grip hard when I get too lazy and put too much in at once. Too much force might cause some mashing and stick-age. Anyway....

The biggest revelation to me was the amount of reworkings of the SCS design that you mentioned. I do notice how some manufacturers seem to try to impress me with the amount of holes or teeth and now why SCS tweaks their design as often as they do. What might be the widest variation of change? The size and spacing of the holes being a thing with me. Since I sometimes do the double grind method.

Your posts did help me look wider at the subject. Now I don't feel quite so narrow minded. If you feel like elaborating more, I'll take it in and offer my 2 cents worth. Thanks!

 

[Aimless Ryan]

The Diamond Grind 5-piece is already a poor man's 5-piece. EZGRINDERS tends to have really good prices on the three different Diamond Grind 5-piece sizes. Right now the small 5-piece is $29, which qualifies for free shipping (http://ezgrinders.com/brands/diamond-grind.html).

I have the medium (56mm), and it just keeps impressing me. I bought it almost entirely for sifting, but I used it to grind yesterday (upside down for a few turns or more), and I thought the quality of grind came out really nice. This grinder is not even close to being high-end, and the threading kinda sucks, but it's a really good grinder overall.

 

[CuckFumbustion]

I did get a cheapo 4pc and decided to take the plunge with my SCS. Did not want to go the long upgrade path with a shredder. After the threads seized up on my cheapo, I did the homework
and stayed happily ever after. Read all the tech info on the SCS site and it was an impressive read. Oh it's medical grade materials too. I can taste the metal react with the materials, if it is from the cheap grinder. Still considering that MFLB as a lightweight portable.

While visiting the site you mentioned, I saw this. Diamond Grind Tornado Grinder It's a grinder and a pollen press. Sure why not? Their 2pc looks very small and perhaps more lightweight then most metal 2pc I've seen?


Thanks for the alternative choices, I'll keep my eye open for the next new thing.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Free shipping today only at EZVAPES (for everything they sell; not just grinders). No coupon code necessary. If you want an additional 15% discount, enter "sunshine" in the coupon code field. (I'm starting to get the feeling EZVAPES does free shipping every Wednesday. But maybe not.)

The reason why I always seem to know about these things lately is because I am on their email mailing list. I almost never subscribe to these kind of mailing lists, but EZVAPES has not sent me excessive emails, or anything like that.

I think this offer may be limited to shipments within the United States, but it didn't say that in the email.

 

[srama21]

@Aimless Ryan How do the grinds differ on all those SCS grinders you have? Is it fairly consistent across all?

 

[Aimless Ryan]

@srama21 The best I can say right now is that it seems pretty consistent between all of them.

I was actually going to post what I am about to say before I even knew your post existed.

I used my large 4-piece SCS today for the first time in several weeks. I guess the biggest reason why I rarely use it is because it's just so much bigger than I feel like I need (and because I love the feel of the small matte SCS.)

I rarely grind more than about 0.3 g at a time (because I hate not having anything to grind). Grinding is part of my ritual. Considering that, there's not much of a reason for me to use the large. But it just keeps sitting there and taunting me. So I had to use it today.

I put half a gram in the lid (three smallish nugs). This grinder could easily fit a lot more than half a gram, but it felt nice to put in only half a gram. First of all because my fingers have trouble finding room for even smaller amounts when I use smaller grinders. Between the size of this grinder and the placement of its teeth, there was all kinds of room for me to put the bud, and the lid still closed as easily as if the grinder had been empty.

Beautiful grind, too. So beautiful that I don't even remember what it looked like (because that's exactly what I've come to expect from Santa Cruz Shredder).

 

[whatitdew]

New large matte purple shredder and a new matte black medicinal use only small 4 piece. Matte colors are so nice!

The small matte black is the one I have always wanted. It also seems to be old stock. It has the old tooth design and even the old pollen chamber is flat not a concave dish like the new ones. It also has the old super fine screen. It is perfect.
the size of the large is perfect for me for a bigger stay at home size.

All i.need now is a matte blue or green 3 piece and I'm good on shredders lol

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Dude, that's so sweet.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

New large matte purple shredder and a new matte black medicinal use only small 4 piece. Matte colors are so nice!

The small matte black is the one I have always wanted. It also seems to be old stock. It has the old tooth design and even the old pollen chamber is flat not a concave dish like the new ones. It also has the old super fine screen. It is perfect.
the size of the large is perfect for me for a bigger stay at home size.

All i.need now is a matte blue or green 3 piece and I'm good on shredders lol

Is that a.... Raekwon grinder?

 

[FlyingLow]

love the medical logos.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

@Aimless Ryan How do the grinds differ on all those SCS grinders you have? Is it fairly consistent across all?

I have used a couple of those grinders since originally answering your question, so I want to update my response (before I forget what I've experienced lately).

Using these grinders strictly right-side-up:

Small matte orange 4-piece gives me a nice, even grind. Medium or medium fine grind.

Mini rasta 4-piece gives me an inconsistent grind. Although it's a really awesome grinder in most ways (that don't matter), I'm beginning to think it might suck at doing the one thing that matters most. I'm going to give it one more chance.

When I used the large gun metal 4-piece recently, I believe it gave me a comparable grind to the small orange.

I am not going to comment on my 2-piece, since the grind is largely dependent on the user.

I haven't used my small blue 4-piece in a while, because of the grating sensation.

Interestingly, the teeth are different on my two small 4-pieces. I think I've heard that the blue one has newer-style teeth, while the orange one has older-style teeth. I have no idea if that's true.

Because of this, I may give the blue one another try. Just to see how the grind compares to the orange one.

 

[KidFated.]

Because of this, I may give the blue one another try. Just to see how the grind compares to the orange one.

Please do when you get a chance.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Would've already done it if I had seen your post in time. However, I didn't. So I'll try to remember to use the blue one tomorrow.

I'll try to remember to get some pics, too. I'll probably grind about 0.4 g.

 

[Aimless Ryan]

Please do when you get a chance.

I decided to grind about 0.4 g in each of these grinders this morning. Strictly right-side-up. Single pass.

I don't know how clear this is from the picture, but the herbs in the blue grinder appear a tiny bit finer than the herbs in the orange grinder. Also, the herbs in the blue grinder appear to take up less space than the herbs in the orange grinder, which suggests they are in fact ground finer.

If not for the vertical grooves on the male edge of the blue grinder, I would love the blue one. However, those grooves make this grinder essentially unusable, because of the friction/grating sensation it creates.

Any other pic angle requests before I destroy the evidence?

EDIT: After inspecting the second picture, I have to say I think the grounds in the orange grinder look considerably better than the grounds in the blue grinder. More consistent, fluffier. Like gnocchi. The grounds in the blue grinder appear to be somewhat inconsistent in size, and they just don't look as appealing to me.

Something I noticed while looking closely at the first picture is the difference of the shape of the bottom teeth between the two grinders. The long edges of the teeth on the blue grinder are much flatter than the same edges of the teeth on the orange grinder. However, the short edges of the teeth on the blue grinder appear much more concave than the same edges of the teeth on the orange grinder. (Is concave the right word?)

EDIT: EZVAPES apparently stopped offering grinders through Amazon. What this seems to mean is that you probably won't be able to find many good deals for grinders on Amazon anymore. At least in the near future. There will surely still be some good deals to be found on Amazon, though.

 

[VegNVape]

Eh yo!

Just checking in to say that my SCS consistently tore shit up like a trooper while out on manoeuvres this weekend.

No surprise there I guess . . . it never fails to perform, but how often do I actually take the time to appreciate this tireless little workhorse in it's own right?

. . . . er . . . . ?

So after countless missions of impeccable outcome, I thought that I'd finally let the little guy have a (albeit, brief) splash in the limelight for a change . . . in the form of 1 quick & sexy glamour shot . . . .


There it is!



Slave to the grind y'all

 

[FlyingLow]

How many of you only use your grinder right side up?

I always go upside-down and fine.

 

[CuckFumbustion]

How many of you only use your grinder right side up?

I always go upside-down and fine.

I go right side up until my 4pc SCS is full, then I sometimes 2nd grind upside-down and fine. Like your method.

Yea, I do all that after I believe everything has fallen into the chamber of my 4pc SCS. Then I tip it upside down. The SCS I own has less holes, So the holes actually do more work separating the materials in this way. Kinda like a pepper mill. I regrind just before It is ready for use.

Now, If I want to go ultra fine, I do all that and set my SCS right side up again. Take of the top grinder lid off and tamp it on say a coffee filter. Put the top back on upside down, do a couple more turns, then lift the lid and tamp a second time. Only the lightest of particles will stick to the top of the lid when it is being taken off. So I tamp that out every end step. Nice little trick I taught myself.

 

[whatitdew]

Never upsidedown. I use a arizer air and find the normal grind consistency to be just fine. I sometimes hold the grinder sideways. My herb is always fresh I grind a few grams of whatever strains and keep in jyars classics. Jam my air stem in to pack a load and I'm good to go. I wish they had these portable vaporizers around when I was a kid I would of never got busted by my parents! lol

 

[Pyr0]

Beginning to loose faith that my Massdrop order will arrive lol

DHL Tracking was spotty and delayed and the tracking number I have for Royal Mail unrecognised and is supposed to signify an item coming from from Germany, not the USA
A friend who ordered the same grinder had his delivered here @ work last Tuesday.

Royal Mail say any enquiries must be made by the sender and I'm getting no response from Massdrop support.

I'm thinking I should have just paid the extra for one, the waiting is driving me up the wall lol

[edit] I've even received orders from DHGate that were placed after this grinder was despatched.

 

[VegNVape]

How many of you only use your grinder right side up?

I always go upside-down and fine.

Hey man

My guess is that anyone in possession of more than a couple of vapes could more than likely gain at least some benefit from the varying grind consistencies achievable in an SCS 3or4 piece by adjusting the number of rotations as well using it inverted.

The way I use my shredder depends on what I'm packing. Ideally I want minimal contact with my good stuff before it hits my vape so if I can get away with a coarse, or even no grind, then I probably will. However some devices truly do need a fine grind to allow them to shine So flip him, I will.

Er, so, in answer to your question I say - not me!

My SCS is always dizzy in a spin!

 

[Snappo]

Hey man

My guess is that anyone in possession of more than a couple of vapes could more than likely gain at least some benefit from the varying grind consistencies achievable in an SCS 3or4 piece by adjusting the number of rotations as well using it inverted.

The way I use my shredder depends on what I'm packing. Ideally I want minimal contact with my good stuff before it hits my vape so if I can get away with a coarse, or even no grind, then I probably will. However some devices truly do need a fine grind to allow them to shine So flip him, I will.

Er, so, in answer to your question I say - not me!

My SCS is always dizzy in a spin!

For an even finer grind I sometimes simply empty & reload back into the top chamber and repeat the grind. Ain't no big deal time or effort-wise. For me it's much easier, faster, and more efficient than shaking it upside down to get all the ground herb up through the holes and back into the top chamber. From there I hold it level & sideways, grind, shake it around a bit, grind a bit more ...done!