So sorry guys, kept putting off making this long post! Mine shipped super quick and arrived before noon today, pretty cool to say the least... Here is unboxing (spare kief screen and sticker in between foam and side btw) along with breakdown of everything included, photos of the different sides:
Simple yet sufficient packaging, the tool helps you remove the kief tray screen and the aluminum plate, which I did (honestly have no intention of using it and was never a particularly interested in it, adding those little aluminum lips into the holes, when I am just going to turn upside down anyway to grind to whatever degree) though it is a nice inclusion with plenty of spare screws, and spare screws for the bottom tray connector pegs... Yeah I suppose with this design he could make any attachment plates, eventually in steel as well, this one is pretty nice though as it is for those that need it.
The kief tray is easy to remove, I like the blue aluminum better than the gold of the plate, and it is very lightweight. It also seems like the little brass or whatever material it is scooper design has changed, it's pretty compact and cute, I think easier to hold with this design although a different type of scoop, honestly I don't have much use for it myself... Unfortunately it ships completely put together, so I guess the little scoop bounces around a lot in the chamber, not a problem for the steel dish bottom tray of course, however it definitely did make noticeable marks on the underside of my blue aluminum kief tray... I don't really plan on using this part, so I don't care personally!
All right now that we've got down to the bare bones three piece grinder that I wanted, let me start off by saying the bead blasted stainless steel is extremely nice... Very smooth and solid, heavy of course, and I like the color in person too! I really like the bottom with the tree, the top is a bit too busy for my taste but the cuts are very grippy although a bit rough in some spots, however there is such a cool effect when the light hits these etchings that you can kind of catch a glimpse of in some photos, but yeah you can only appreciate in person it is just simply incredible and so entrancing, worth it!
On the sides there is softer grip in the lid, while the midsection has a indent all around perfect to fit your fingers and pull the grinder apart. The bottom tray however comes apart by twisting, so you move the mid plate around the pegs and away from the magnets to release. You could also pull the bottom tray off, but it takes a bit of force, and the lower tray piece has such a narrow space for you to grip... Actually because of that it is almost impossible to remove the top grinder portion from the bottom tray without picking the grinder up off the table, to hold it with both hands so you can do the turn release for the magnets... Also I must say it can be difficult to put the top grinder portion back on top of the bottom tray, because you have to line up the three pegs with the three holes so it can take a bit of turning it around instead of simply placing it on every time.
The teeth in the lid are sharp at the tips but not painfully so, thin enough to slice through sticky nugs. The bottom teeth are more uniformed with smaller points, while the holes beneath them are fairly large yet spaced apart except for the middle. The bottom tray is large and smooth, the finish is great like I said, rounded off edges without the kief tray are perfect. Despite the noise, it does turn smooth enough without a gasket, at least with nothing loaded... The wider size (only 2.5in but larger than BCG and FM I am using) and low profile reminds me of SLX form factor for better and for worse!
Okay, I think that covers all the superficial points I could think of for now, let's get into the first impressions with my first usages!
^Love this Willy Wonka strain, trying to savor it so only using a little, many more to try!
^Loaded up carefully with fairly small nugs, stems removed, certainly room for more...
^So I ground upside down for a little while, didn't count, because I wanted a consistent medium grind. As such there's going to be more material stuck in the teeth and sides, I use a toothpick to poke any other bits free and knock the top pieces together (makes a totally different noise being steel haha)
Not too bad for a first run, I'd say this grind isn't super consistent, and it wasn't super easy to achieve, but I have many more strains to try and plenty of testing to do of course... Also this batch did serve me quite well in the tinymight and tafée bowle and vapbong bandit! Now for round 2, indica...