Fifty bucks on a 'vintage' coffee grinder that looked cool but barely works

Saw this old hand crank grinder at a garage sale in Phoenix last weekend. The guy said it was from the 40s and it looked amazing on the counter. Paid $50 for it, brought it home, and spent an hour trying to grind beans. It took like 15 minutes to get a half cup of powder that was half chunks. My morning coffee routine got destroyed. Ended up buying a $25 electric burr grinder from Target that does the job in 10 seconds. Anyone else fall for the 'vintage is better' trap on something and regret it?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.grant9d ago

Ha, I bet that grinder was originally designed for a completely different purpose or for much coarser stuff. Plenty of old grinders were made for spices or cornmeal, not coffee beans.

parker1839d ago

I mean, did you at least get a solid arm workout out of it before you gave up? I'm picturing you standing there cranking away for 15 minutes while your coffee gets cold and you're sweating before you've even had your first sip. That's rough. What was it about that grinder that made you think it would work better than something modern? Like was it just the aesthetic or did you actually think old school engineering was superior for grinding beans?

taylor129d ago

Bet you it was one of those cast iron ones with the wooden drawer, right? Those things were built for spices and pepper, coffee beans have way more oil and density so they just laugh at that old school design.