Grinding Coffee Beans the Machine Shop Way

Okay, so you bought a bag of heavenly-smelling single-origin beans down at the hipster coffee shop, but forgot to have them ground. What do you do? If you’re [Jimmy DiResta], there’s no way you can run down to Walmart and pick up a grinder for $15. You commune with your tools and spend a few hours building a grinder from stuff lying around in the workshop.

This hand-crank grinder would make a great post-apocalyptic appliance, as long as we still have a way to heat water. [Jimmy] started with an old manual abrasive disc grinder, like for grinding metal, not beans.

After oiling it up to run without a hitch, he pulled out a couple of conical gears and got to work mounting one to the grinder shaft and the other to the business part of a vintage industrial light fixture.

We thought for sure this was going to be a burr grinder, but were a bit disappointed to watch [Jimmy] drill holes through a utility knife blade in order to make a blade grinder. Honestly, we’re kind of surprised that he didn’t machine some burrs, but the result is impressive and lovely nonetheless.

We love that the whole thing quick-disconnects from the grinder thanks to a custom cuff that holds the light bulb just so, we just hope that [Jimmy] gave that light bulb a good cleaning first. Grab a cup of whatever and check out the build video after the break.

Not exactly your kind of shop? You could always print an emergency coffee grinder.