I bought a nice upgrade during the 4/20 sale. My old grinder was looking beat up inside and I don’t want to be smoking little bits of anodized aluminum. So I went looking for a stainless steel grinder. I bought this:
Herb Ripper Stainless Steel Grinder ($129)
I got the classic 4 piece. It is a very nice grinder. Made in the USA in Ohio. Cool guy named Kevin runs it and he replies to email pretty quick.The lid is usually engraved with a nice HR logo. They do not do custom engraving. I did ask for a plain lid and they were able to accomodate that.
Arrived in a nice box:
The blank lid and the pollen screen with ball bearing. They call is a ball agitator (placed on top of the screen to agitate pollen through the screen)
The assembled unit and the scraper they send with it
The pollen screen fits right in the lower chamber with a small gap to the bottom
Cutting surfaces
It is small. I know you can read dimensions off the website but sometimes that doesn’t translate the way you think it does. Here it is next to one of those small cans of catfood. You know the ones you’ve seen at the store.
It’s heavy feeling but a nice quality weight. I mean its steel.
So how is it?
The finish and the knurling are perfect. I didn’t see any machine marks on the outside at all. The teeth are sharp and I’ve only used it once but it cut easy. It is new so I expect the cut to be sharp and easy. The magnet that holds the top on has a good pull and feels secure.
A really nice feature is the thread pitch the used for screwing the top on. My current grinder has a fine thread, 3-4 full turns to lock, and it is hard to get lined up sometimes. This one is a medium/coarse thread. It lines up easy and it takes about a half rotation to lock down. It’s quick and doesn’t look thin enough to clog easy.
The cut is a bit fluffier but nothing super different. I do think overall it’s a nice luxury. If you want something made in the USA & steel instead of aluminum it’s worth the money. If you smoke a lot or frequently you may find the small size won’t work for you.
If you want something more the size of regular grinders I think you would want the XL version. I would probably recommend it over the classic except the price on the XL is considerable at $179. But again American made & stainless steel, high quality stuff costs a bit.
