Thanks for your reply!

It’s a Eureka Olympus 75E Coffee Grinder with Titanium Burrs

tompoland I B should have known better with your links! Now I want one of those when my £8 one from Etsy in plastic is just as good.

CardinalBiggles check out Etsy as well as usual coffee suppliers, a lot of printed styles with different needle options and most can have needless swapped out for different sizes to play around with. There are of course wood and metal options for more money.

        simonc there is something sick inside of me that is secretly delighted when someone else falls for an unreasonable tempting delight as I have done. At least it’s only a $50 puck rake and not a $3,000 grinder … this time.

          It’s not essential, but good distribution is. I don’t WDT and don’t get spritzing or spraying. I tried WDT for a bit and didn’t see any significant or consistent improvement.

          I use a naked all the time with my Evo (lever). I have not had a spritzer in decades. I grind into my Niche cup. Put the pf ring on, invert, waggle from side to side, do not level, WDT, RDT, genuflect or anything else, tamp and away we go….I believe our host and I share the same workflow! The results are always good and whilst others are busy reciting the Lords Prayer we are drinking coffee by this stage!
          Keep It Simple Stupid

          https://www.suddencardiacarrestuk.org/2024/02/thank-goodness-for-madeira-cake/

            I tend to only WDT when I am using lighter roasts, they tend to be more prone to channelling and can be more inconsistent if puck prep isn’t good. It is more of a faff but I get better extractions by doing it so I don’t mind. I have a 3d printed WDT that works well and was cheap.

            My puck prep would be dosing cup, into the portafilter, WDT, tap to flatten, then tamp and pull the shot.

            Coffee Roaster. Home: Sage Dual Boiler, Niche Zero, Ode v2 (SSP), 1zpresso ZP6 Work: Eagle One Prima EXP, mahlkonig e80s, Mazzer Philos and lots more

            tompoland There are WDT outliers here e.g. someone uses a toothpick and apparently to good effect and at the other end of the spectrum I bought a couple of these the last time I won lotto https://sworksdesign.com/WDT-Tool-p387817741

            Toothpick guy here. 😉 I’ll be the last to dissuade anyone from getting a new tool of any sort. I do woodworking as a hobby, so I completely understand the allure of a new tool.

            But my toothpick does seem to be an effective WDT tool in my hands, so my suggestion is while you’re sorting out the details of what WDT tool you want to try out, use a toothpick in the meantime.

              I no longer use the dosing ring, which has already simplified the workflow.

              Transfer to the PF, a quick WDT to mainly break clumps and distribute, and tamp.

              I would like to see how @Rob1 and dfk41 prep their pucks.

              The side tapping doesn’t work for me. I either spill the powders or make the puck uneven. I remember seeing @DavecUK’s old YT video. May be, he can post a new one.

              • Rob1 replied to this.

                  I can’t side tap, even though I know how to do it, and the theory. I still mess it up, it’s quicker/cleaner for me to quickly wdt then tamp

                  Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

                  I use a short magnetic dosing ring which means you can just dump the grounds in from the cup without doing the fliparoo and then tap while the ring is still on.

                  No mess and a nice level bed ready for tamping.

                  Interestingly I used a leveller the other day after the above and forgot to tamp after, and the shot came out pretty nice.

                  LMSC side taps, one tap to settle, tamp.

                  It takes some time to learn how to side tap without getting the grinds to pile up unevenly or spill out.

                    6 months later

                    Made my own WDT tool recently. Prefer to the one I’ve been using for the past 4 years. I shall leave you to work our which one is which.

                    I grind into the PF basket. The basket sits on a small block of wood, with a hole drilled in the bottom so that it fits nicely onto my Niche; it’s stained to match. I have tried a number of dosing rings and funnels, but found a very tall one of stainless steel one on Etsy that eliminates any stray grind spray. Rotating the basket (while it sits on the block of wood) during grinding ensures more even distribution but requires focused attention during grinding; it also uses time/effort that could be spent on other shot/drink production activities.

                    I carefully WDT (deep, mid and then top rake) with four 0.35mm needles (any more needles moves the grounds around, which is not good). Thinner needles flex too much and tend to bend closely together and thereby move the grounds too much. Thicker needles move the grounds too much. I then tamp with a 58.5mm EzyTamp (to ensure level tamping).

                    I don’t tap on the sides or bottom. Tapping on the bottom seems to introduces a puck density variable that is not easily controlled. My shots run a tad slower when I bottom tap. The flow seems to vary if you bottom tap once vs twice vs hard vs soft. I don’t need yet another variable, so I just stopped doing that.

                    The above eliminated most instances of channelling. Adding a top screen (the thicker Normcore; I also have a thinner one) eliminated all channelling and keeps my group head screen very clean.

                    I might (someday) get a PF stand. But it would not really save much time or effort.

                    WDT does take more time, so if you are in a hurry, there are faster distribution methods. My espresso production speed is a bit too slow when I have guests and need to pump out 4 doubles.

                    I’ll post some pics later this morning.