Just bought a Brevetto Astoria (super jolly). What do you think?

[Mike_v]

I just bought a Brevetto Astoria from craigslist for $175. What do you think. I am planning on cleaning it really well as it has been sitting in her garage for 6 years. Is there any particular way that I should clean the burrs? Are the burrs even still good? I was going to take steel wool to the doser knob to try and get out the rust/pitting. The doser seems to rub a little when one spot hits the 8 to 10 O'clock area. any recommendations for making that better? What else should I do? What kind of grease should I get for the grind adjustor. Should I get rid of the timer switch and just buy a simple toggle to replace it with? Any other thoughts. I was thinking about stripping it down and repainting it in the future but not sure if it'll even be worth it after I clean it up.

Thanks for any ideas.

Mike

 

[Mike_v]

 

[CoffeeJunky]

The grinder looks pretty good to me. It looks little worn out on the edges but it should do its job. Use the air gun to clean out the dust and wipe it out really good and you got the 500 dollar grinder. Great find....

 

[Surfer]

How many pounds was ran through it, if you know? Hard to tell from the pics, can just clean and grind and see what the results are, but it's fairly inexpensive and easy to put new burr set in.

 

[Mike_v]

I'm not sure. The lady told me it has been in her garage for 6 years, she owned it for 10, and it was in a cafe that her parents owned and she ran prior to sitting in her garage. I ran some coffee through and the burrs were so bad that it wasn't even close to a consistent grind. I cleaned the whole thing out, but broke the doser lens so I bought that at the same time as the new burrs. I don't know if it was ever cleaned. The screws to the burrs were so tight that I had to use my small impact to get them out and one of the heads got a little more stripped than I would like (don't want it to cause problems next time I have to clean it) so I ordered 6 new screws as well. It just keeps adding up, but I guess better than the $700 alternative. It took more work than I expected to clean it all out, but it looks much better now. Oh yeah, I also swapped out the timer for a toggle switch. Works like a charm and I like the switch better than forcing the timer back off when I am done grinding.

 

[shadow745]

Regarding the burrs... the "worn/flat" spots on edges are by design. Actually helps control/restrict particle size as ground coffee exits. For cleaning I recommend a good soak in a detergent (Cafiza, JoeGlo, etc) solution, followed by a hot water rinse and drying with compressed air or a hair dryer. When mounting burrs be sure the surfaces are spotless as it doesn't take much obstruction to cause alignment issues.

Also be sure the burr carrier/grinder housing threads are spotless to ensure smooth adjustment and no cross threading. If a bit of lube is necessary I strongly advise the use of DC 111, which is a fantastic food grade lubricant that has many uses. Do be aware that any lube you apply to the threads is subject to getting gummed up over time from coffee being attracted to it.