About the service
I offer specialised restoration services for antique coffee mills — cast-iron box mills, wall-mounted hopper grinders, and hand-crank drawer models from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Every project begins with a full mechanical assessment: the grinding burrs are inspected for wear, chips and misalignment, the crank spindle and bearing bushings are checked for play, and the hopper lid, drawer runners and hardware are catalogued before any disassembly begins.
Cleaning is done by hand, never by aggressive blasting that would erase decades of honest patina. Cast-iron housings are degreased and gently de-rusted with controlled mechanical and chemical methods matched to the original finish — japanning, nickel plate or painted lacquer — so the piece keeps its character rather than looking artificially new. Wooden bases, drawers and hoppers are cleaned, re-glued where joints have loosened, and finished with period-appropriate oils, waxes or shellac depending on the original build.
Mechanical repair covers re-seating or replacing worn burr plates, re-machining crank shafts, fabricating missing knobs or drawer pulls to match existing hardware, and restoring the tension adjustment mechanism that controls grind coarseness. Every mill is reassembled, lubricated and function-tested by actually grinding coffee through several adjustment settings, so you receive a mill that is not just beautiful but genuinely usable.
My portfolio includes dozens of completed mills for collectors, cafés wanting working display pieces, and family heirlooms passed down through generations. Typical turnaround runs one to three weeks depending on the extent of repair and part fabrication needed. I welcome photographs of your piece before booking so I can give an accurate estimate of scope, cost and timeline before any work begins.
Cleaning is done by hand, never by aggressive blasting that would erase decades of honest patina. Cast-iron housings are degreased and gently de-rusted with controlled mechanical and chemical methods matched to the original finish — japanning, nickel plate or painted lacquer — so the piece keeps its character rather than looking artificially new. Wooden bases, drawers and hoppers are cleaned, re-glued where joints have loosened, and finished with period-appropriate oils, waxes or shellac depending on the original build.
Mechanical repair covers re-seating or replacing worn burr plates, re-machining crank shafts, fabricating missing knobs or drawer pulls to match existing hardware, and restoring the tension adjustment mechanism that controls grind coarseness. Every mill is reassembled, lubricated and function-tested by actually grinding coffee through several adjustment settings, so you receive a mill that is not just beautiful but genuinely usable.
My portfolio includes dozens of completed mills for collectors, cafés wanting working display pieces, and family heirlooms passed down through generations. Typical turnaround runs one to three weeks depending on the extent of repair and part fabrication needed. I welcome photographs of your piece before booking so I can give an accurate estimate of scope, cost and timeline before any work begins.
