Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinder from scratch

Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by jareds on Friday December 13, 2024 @10:00AM (#42409027)

Either I can't find it or the site needs more detail. I'm totally blind and have a couple of questions I can't find answers to. 1. Is the grinder stepless? Based on the description it appears it is. This is a deal breaker for me. 2. How do you control the Espresso machine? There are many coffee products I can't use do to there interface. I'd like to get a Fellow Aiden coffee maker but the interface is completely inaccessible. It's unclear to me if there app will ever allow you to fully control the machine. If this machine had a documented API I'd be interested. I've looked at the Decent espresso machine, but can't justify the cost since I drink mostly filter coffee.

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Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by jedimastert on Friday December 13, 2024 @10:33AM (#42409376)

> Is the grinder stepless? Based on the description it appears it is. This is a deal breaker for me.

From what I understand stepless is pretty common on espresso grinders. Can I ask why it would be a deal breaker?

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Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by jareds on Friday December 13, 2024 @10:38AM (#42409450)

I frequently switch between three grind sizes, one for a single cup, one for a pot, and one for cold brew. With the Fellow Ode I can easily count clicks to insure I'm at the expected position. With out tactile markings on the dial and a tactile arrow to line up with markings there's no way to make the grind size reproducible as far as I know. I've never tried using stepless grinders for this reason so I may be wrong about how hard it is to dial in when blind.

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Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by smeeeeeeeeeeeee on Friday December 13, 2024 @11:24AM (#42409953)

So to clarify, when I say stepless I mean it doesn't need to click as it rotates, so you have infinite adjustment points instead of say, 36 steps. There are still normal numbers on the dial, though you do need to remember what you had it set to if you switch between brews. Most people seemed to prefer this - I have a hand grinder which I love but the steps are quite coarse and I'm always wishing for an adjustment point between them.

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Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by sparklethunder on Friday December 13, 2024 @11:38AM (#42410053)

It sounds like the person you responded to isn't able to see, so they depend on the tactile/audible feedback.

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Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by smeeeeeeeeeeeee on Friday December 13, 2024 @12:18PM (#42410383)

Oooh I understand now! Thanks.

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Re:Show HN: I designed an espresso machine and coffee grinde... by jareds on Friday December 13, 2024 @12:49PM (#42410669)

I think an option to 3d print a ring of dots that could be stuck to the outer adjustment dial would work, you could add a stick on dot to the inner dial and line things up that way.

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