Groundskeeper

4-13-2024 UPDATE: Now includes a tab-less base for greater compatibility with portafilters with wider tabs, as well as a base for storage. The lid has been updated with a clear portion to allow better visualization of the charging status indicator light.

Needles: Get additional and/or more needles here.

Please note: Charges via any USB-C cable (NOT INCLUDED). As a recently released product, I am still working out support for excessively deep or shallow baskets. As of now the included needles are compatible with Decent Espresso baskets ranging from 15g to 22g. I would guess that these baskets are very close in dimension to most other baskets of similar size, but I cannot guarantee perfect compatibility with other larger or smaller baskets. If you use a basket smaller than 15g, it is very easy to cut the needles shorter with some end cutters, however, you will have to do this yourself. 

What: Automatic (motorized) and rechargeable WDT tool based on the Umikot project spirographic gear assembly (with permission). There are numerous WDT devices available but to my knowledge this is the only currently available option that is automatic. Furthermore, the needle mounting points are sleeved with silicone which allows use of multiple diameter needles interchangeably (or even multiple sizes at the same time!). Needle depth can be controlled by extending or retracting the needles, as well as selecting different depth portafilter mounting rings from the Umikot project.

Why: The goal of WDT is to homogenize the coffee in your portafilter before tamping to improve subsequent water flow uniformity. Currently it seems most WDT implementations use 0.4 mm needles as a tradeoff between efficiency (puck coverage) and grounds disturbance (the larger the needle, the more coffee is pushed around vs just declumped). My goal was to make it feasible to perform WDT with extremely small needles, which should in theory provide the grounds declumping with minimal "stirring" or redistribution of grounds. I achieve this by spinning tiny needles very fast, which allows full puck coverage in a much shorter time than would be possible with a manual or hand-turned WDT tool. 

Lead times: I am currently building these to order, so please allow up to 2 weeks to ship, although I will try to ship within one week.