Upgrade Kit compatible with Hario Skerton Original

Bottom line, it works. You get a far more even grind. It grinds a little more quickly, too.Now, having said that, I'm not sure that the grind makes all that much difference. I don't really taste a difference (using an electric drip machine). I do find less grounds at the bottom of the carafe. I'm a coffee perfectionist, so to me, it was worth $13. Your mileage may vary.Installation may or may not be easy. The basic instructions are extremely easy. When I was done, however, I noticed that the burr turned with a slight wobble. There's a video on the company website meant to tell you exactly how to fix that wobble. However, it recommends adjusting two parts, the burr cylinder and a nut; my Hario didn't have that particular nut, so I had to do what I could with the burr cylinder. And even then, the directions were basically, "Loosen it up, wiggle it around until it's straighter, then tighten it down again." The guy in the video didn't even get it right on the first couple of tries! The video faded out, then faded back in again, and he announced, "Now it's fixed."To be fair, however, I did manage to fix the wobble based on the video, and as I said, this item does work.

The stabilizer “upgrade” does reduce play of the burr shaft on the original Hario Skerton. There’s a small amount of play left, but not enough to allow the burrs to come into contact as they can do without the stabilizer. This does indeed improve the consistency of the grind, especially with coarser settings. The underside of my older Skerton (circa 2008) does not look exactly like the grinder in the instructions, however the stabilizer still fit correctly.Will you taste a difference in your coffee? Doubtful, however the more consistent grind should leave much less fine sediment in your cup. Still, the upgrade kit brings older grinders very close to Skerton Pro without having to buy a completely new grinder.

I bought this upgrade after hearing about it for quite some time now. I have to say that I am very impressed. Not only do I have a more consistent grind size across the entire spectrum (fine espresso to coarse French press) but the usability of my Skerton has improved too.Usability/Experience:I used to get snags where the beans would get stuck in the burrs at an odd angle and need more force to crack them. This would cause me to lose my grip on the base and/or handle, get inconsistent grind size, and possibly tip the mill so the beans would rattle and maybe spill (I don't like using the silicone lid). Now that I've installed the upgrade ring I never experience these snags and the operation of milling my coffee takes much less effort and goes much smoother. I have also noticed that the mill is significantly quieter with this ring installed. I used to feel bad disturbing people near the office kitchenette with the noise of my Skerton (still quieter than a co-worker's Baratza) but not anymore. It's not whisper quiet but it is a noticeable difference and I don't hesitate to use it. The bean fragments also don't jump out nearly as often as they did without this mod. It seems like the bar across the circle helps catch fragments and this makes the silicone lid mostly unnecessary.Installation:If you actually look at the instructions that come with the mod (gasp! read something the part comes with??) then the difficulty experienced by other users is avoided. You do not need to remove the burr on the spindle. You undo the ring, place the mod disk on the plastic housing, replace the fixed burr, and replace the ring. Be careful to center the fixed bur before tightening all the way and don't over-tighten the screws or you could crack the ceramic. Then, you thread the smaller burr shaft like through the metal mod disk like installing a screw. Once you get to the end of the threads, it should slip right over the unthreaded part of the shaft (might need to force it a tiny bit at the very last thread). Then you just install the handle and adjust per usual. Took me 5 minutes and most of that was just trying to center the fixed burr (I'm a bit of a perfectionist with things like that).Overall:Couldn't have been easier to install and now my inexpensive Hario mill is quiet, easy to use, and produces a grind consistent with the Virtuoso mill I have at home. For $10, why wouldn't you do this?