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Arcade Crystal Coffee Grinder Mill Vtg Antique Wall Crank & Canister Lid As-Is
$ 68.64
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Description
As-Is- please read the full description!Here is an antique Arcade Crystal coffee grinder with an original No. 3 canister and lid. It does not have the catch cup or the stand for one. It is painted a bluish-greenish-grey, which has achieved a weathered look over time.
I disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled this grinder and used it for espresso with a Gaggia Classic several times. In a blind test, my family unanimously agreed that it makes a significantly better shot than our Capresso Infiniti (a low bar for espresso, but it's what we've got and it's not terrible).
I'm selling it because I bought a Spong grinder, which doesn't have a canister and is more suitable for using fresh beans each time. We're not daily coffee drinkers, so half-ground beans would be sitting for a while between uses. The arcade grinder looks incomplete when mounted without its canister, and (I think) a little odd with an empty canister.
All-in-all, it's a very stylish antique grinder and makes solid coffee. It has a strong old-time look without being kitschy.
Defects/idiosyncracies:
-The canister has a crack/chip at the base where the threads are. Not much glass is actually missing, but the integrity is definitely compromised. There is a visible cracked place about the size of a nickel (see pictures). The glass is also very chipped/rough around the bottom edge where it makes contact with the metal. When I got the grinder it had been stabilized with several wide rubber bands around the threads, and the previous owner may have tried to use glue to repair the crack. I have removed as much of this as I easily could. I don't store coffee in the grinder between uses, so I just put the canister aside and didn't use it.
-The canister seems to fit the grinder very loosely. It is definitely an original Arcade Crystal canister and not one of the more bluish reproductions. I don't know if the grinders originally used some kind of gasket between the canister and the grinder- that would definitely protect the glass from chipping as the grinder was used, and could be what the previous owner was trying to replicate with their runner bands.
Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.