New tamper & channeling

[Dodger1]

When I bought my Mini II, Chris suggested the Bumper 53mm tamper. However, while it was close to a perfect fit below the ridge on my double baskets, there was a fair amount of free play above it. So I borrowed a friends inside micrometer and determined that a 53.4mm tamper would be close to a perfect fit for my baskets above the ridge.

I had Reg build me a 53.4mm tamper, which I've been playing with for the last couple of days. I'm dosing 16g and use my finger to roughly level the grounds, then I'm using the 53.4 to lightly compact the dose to the ridge. Since it's almost a perfect fit there are no grounds left above the ridge, which is a vast improvement over just using the 53mm tamper. Then I use the 53mm tamper, with ~ 25lbs of force, to compact the grounds.

So far the results have been close to perfect, with no channeling whatsoever; which was a common occurrence when I was only using the 53mm tamper.

[JohnB]

Since selling my M4 & moving on to an SJ then a Major I haven't found those loose grounds on the side to be an issue. Same for the finger leveling, ect. I just dose & try to end up with a centered pile, tamp & pull the shot. Much better pours then when I used to stir/level/ect & no channeling as long as the grinder is properly dialed in to the bean/dose. Shots are creamier & flavors are much easier to pick out.

[Endo]

I wouldn't worry to much about the tamper fit. Here's a shot with a good fit and a loose fit (from the H-B site). Not much difference.

Tamper Fit Effect

623_tampersizecollage.jpg (169.29 KiB) Viewed 4988 times

[Dodger1]

I just dose & try to end up with a centered pile, tamp & pull the shot. Much better pours then when I used to stir/level/ect & no channeling as long as the grinder is properly dialed in to the bean/dose. Shots are creamier & flavors are much easier to pick out.

Thanks for the tip, works like a charm and it's easy to do.

[oton]

I just dose & try to end up with a centered pile, tamp & pull the shot.

That's something like Stephen Morrissey did in WBC '08, right?

My Compak K3 is dosserless, so I always have some clumps... however I never used that WDT thing... mess with a yogurt container and a stick seems stupid to me... when I tamp all the clumps dissapear, no?