Bud is a friend. I’ve used a stainless-steel version of the BCG for two years. Pounds have gone through it. It hasn’t clogged; turns as good as the day I got it. Yes, the custom ones are expensive and have a long wait time, but for good reason. They use a higher grade of aluminum that any other grinder I’ve found, and their QC is impeccable. Also, Grinders for Life (the company that makes the BCG) offers factory seconds for significantly less, most of which are considered seconds because of color. If you care about your cannabis and how you consume it, this is a worthwhile purchase.
I have a BCG, actually. I went with the aluminum one and got different colored plates for each grind setting. It was over $200 iirc. I’ve probably gone through somewhere around 16oz since buying it last June. I think I might be going against the grain here, but there are few purchases in my life that were a bigger let down.
1 it can absolutely still get gummed up to the point of unusability, requiring cleaning. 2 it doesn’t grind any better than a Santa Cruze which is less than 1/2 the cost. 3 if you’re going to buy it anyway, skip the Fine and Course plates.
This is from someone who used Kannastor for about 8 years until the teeth were ground down to nubs, fwiw.
I really do believe that the higher grade aluminum will last a lifetime though. If my original grinder was of higher quality, I wouldn’t have had to buy the BCG in the first place. Too lazy to sell it so it’ll likely see the death of me.
All completely fair critiques. Grinders are an obsession of mine, probably 15 that I have currently and dozens over the years. Just to clarify price pre-tax or S&H, currently a small aluminum with three grind plates is US$112 (20% off on the GFL site, one plate aluminum is $70 and change, SS small with one plate is $120) on sale compared to $89.95 for a large Santa Cruz (on POTV and their own site). I don’t get money from any of them, just to be clear.
You’re not the first person I’ve heard say that their BCG got gunked up, but I haven’t heard many in the last five years. The SCS is a solid grinder, produces a grind quality that is comparable, and is also comparable to the BCG as far as resistance to clogging. The BCG’s threadless design is the major point of differentiation and eliminates the only complaint I personally had with the SCS; threads gumming up. Having owned both for 5+ years, I think they are the two best herb grinders that you can buy.
Also, never get a four-piece BCG. That thing was trash. I know people lover the Old Mate Designs grinder, but the ball bearing is gimmicky and it flings ground bud when spun. Any of the grinders mentioned will provide adequate home defense when paired with a sock.
I should clarify I don’t have any first hand familiarity with the smaller version, all of my critiques were levied against the large BCG, hence the silly price I paid. Not sure if there is a difference in performance between the two versions one way or the other, just wanted to be transparent about the source of my petulant whining. :)