Just starting to clean up a Mahlkoenig VTA 6 grinder, that some of you may know by its “R2D2″ nickname that was a chance bargain. Something of an oddity – it is single phase and still has its sticker in German (which is coming off) as well as an odd plate that restricts the grind to certain settings (that isn’t going to last long either!).

Burrs are massive – 120mm, and it grinds coffee incredibly fast -2.5kg a minute on the coarsest setting. Even at a Turkish grind it chewed through 250g of coffee in about 20 seconds. Scary. Puts my current kitchen grinder, which is no slouch – a Bunn G3A – to shame.

I’d really like to give it a new coat of paint, but first and foremost just want to give it a damn good clean!