It means adjusting between an espresso shot and a French Press could take the best part of a day and leave your hand very tired.

One rotation of the worm drive moves the grinder about one setting.

It's great for small adjustments between different espresso roasts but not big jumps.

I have seen some people take off the worm drive handle and put on a guitar string winder for quicker winding.

I have never venured more than a few clicks.
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I have a Capresso Drip. It works great for daily stuff. I enjoy my french press when I have the time on the weekends. As far as beans go. I am a home roaster, which opens up another door of toys.
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The Rocky is quite easy to adjust from French Press to Espresso or even Turkish Coffee.
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The Macap, which is the grinder both
Pete and I have, uses a stepless worm drive to adjust the grind. What that means is it is infinitely adjustable, which makes it
perfect for espresso grinding where very small adjustments can make
or break the shot. It also means it isn't the fastest to
make LARGE adjustments, as it takes
quite a few spins of the adjustment lever to
move from an espresso grind to a drip grind, in theory this is a pain. In
pratice, it's not so long as you're only swinging back and forth once or twice
a day. It's really a non issue for me in practice
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I just did a price check and found:

Rocky>> $359

Vario>> $429

Macap M4>>$494

Not bashing any brands, but Geez, under $150 difference for what I feel is a world of difference for a long, long time????

Less than that for the Vario which has been getting rave reviews.

Seems quite easy to me, but I am quite opinionated and there certainly is a big market for Rockys. I just hate plastic parts.

Buy the Macap, set it for coffee, adjust it to espresso when you get the machine, and be happy.
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If you want to save money... Have you checked Craigslist? Grinders and machines come and go all the time.

The Rocky is stepped. When the grind comes to espresso, you still have a swing of 3 steps in getting the grind "just right", so although it is not infinite, you'll hit the sweet spot. The Silva does maintain temperature as steady as the high end machines, but you still end up with a nice espresso.

I am not as perfection obessed as I use to be with espresso. As long as it comes out within in time, I am happy. If the comes out more on one side than the other, I don't shed a tear.
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I'm completely anal and obsessed.

I can't get over it if my espresso pull is faster than 25 seconds to make 1.75 oz shots, 30 seconds being optimal. I have a timer and push it the second the shot starts and break stuff if it comes out too fast. 22 second pulls go right into the sink.

The Macap allows exactly 5 seconds to be added or subtracted by one complete rotation of the worm drive.

I only floss with one type of floss, oh forget it. Buy what you like, not what me and Vic use.
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AHhhh, ok, I think I get it. But will this be ok for my day-to-day needs pertaining to coffee from a, say, Capresso MT500? Thanks again!
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Thank you! For the price, I'm better off with the Macap, its just that the statement that said "not for coffee use" scared me, as I will be using it for my coffee until I get the "real" espresso machine this summer. Again, thank you.
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I agree, totally. Stupid question; can you give me primer on what type of grind (fine I am pretty sure is for espresso) is what? For instance, when I get the grinder, how will I know the type of grind to use for my day-to-day coffee? And how much to how much water?

Thanks again for educating me. I owe you guys so much......
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No problem. The lower the number, the finer the grind. The higher the number, the coarser.

For coffee, I would guess you would set at about 5, but it's a matter of seeing what comes out and adjusting from there.

Keep asking questions because Italian grinder and espresso machine user manuals are as bad as they get.

And to make things more tricky, the numbers on the Macap are hard to read. Most likely, you'll find the spot where coffee grind is perfect, put a little mark on it and go left or right a notch or two if you want to adjust. Same with Espresso.

Once you get your hands on it, it will be a breeze. I completely disassembled my Macap, cleaned the burrs, painted the number ring silver and put black lines where the numbers are, and reassembled in under an hour.

If you make the choice to get the Macap, I have step by step directions for taking it apart, which is easy and you will only do once or twice a year, or once a week if you are anal and opinionated like me.
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How will I be able to tell what is the right coffee grind? Taste? (damn I must sound stupid...lol)
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I couldn't tell ya that one. Can't remember the last time I drank coffee.

My wife brews, and always has, Cafe Bustello in her drip and it is espresso grind and seems to work fine.
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So the same setting can be used in a drip as in an espresso maker? Good to know........man, I'm slipping down the coffee slope.....
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NO. You would not get a satisfactory result.

The only reason that review on the Macap says it's not good for coffee is the inconvenience of changing from an espresso grind to a drip grind. As far as the quality of the grind is concerned, that is not the issue.
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This article explains some good facts about grinders in general, and look for the section on the Macap M4, it should explain some things for you.

http://www.home-barista.com/espresso...-features.html
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A chart of different grinds:

http://www.ineedcoffee.com/03/coffeegrind/
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Thank you so much! Off to read!
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I'm thinking of going stepped because it will be used for both coffee and espresso on a pretty consistant basis. Thoughts on my loss of adjustment?
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What about the best day-to-day drip coffee maker? Any input?
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