Reddit reviews AMIR Digital Kitchen Scale, 3000g 0.01oz/0.1g Pocket Cooking Scale, Mini Food Scale, Pro Electronic Jewelry Scale with Back-Lit LCD Display, Tare & PCS Functions, Stainless Steel, Batteries Included

I got mine on amazon for $11. small (perfect for my office) and is a quick read. I don't care about timers since i use my phone. and if it craps out in a year or gets wet and shorts out - I spent $11 on it.


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Pretty much the same one I have. Tenth gram resolution. 3000g max (good for roasting). $11 (It's 13 now, but it'll drop). Does everything I've asked of it (I no timer, but I don't want one. I have another timer on my machine). A functional bargain. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DGEWHN4/

I had to break this into another comment due to per comment character limits.

The following previously belonged to the above comment, but was moved here due to the above mentioned limts.

> Something you can do now: Build a filament drybox. Seriously, some filaments such as certain Nylons can go bad in just a few hours, depending on ambient humidity levels. All filaments are susceptible to moisture absorption, and ideally should be kept in something like a Spannerhands holder, even while printing, but at worst you should store them in a big plastic tub with silica gel beads to keep them dry.

> If I had to give one last tip, don't stock up on too much filament yet! Seriously! I thought I would be printing mostly in PLA but now that I've had a few weeks to work with it, I've learned I prefer PETG more, and now I have so much extra PLA! I'm sure I'll find something to do with it, but for my final tip I would add "And get a good variety!". Services like MakerBox (referral) let you try a bunch of different filaments on the cheap. It's not a ton of each filament (about 50g), but I love the variety of materials and colors.

Original second level comment begins:

Final Tips: Bonus Round!

1. Extruder Indicators are pretty cool (and USEFUL). You can get the magnets super cheap (or amazon).
   
2. Learn how to do An Atomic Pull (AKA Cold Pull), and learn it well. Do this every time you switch filaments (See "Doing it the lazy way" at the bottom of the page). You'll help remove built up deposits each time, which will help ensure a long, jam free life for you nozzle. This also skips the bleeding necessary when switching filaments (on your next "Load" you'll get a few mm of old filament and then pretty much pure new filament after that, instead of the 100mm or so of transition). You can skip doing a proper Cold Pull if you're using a brand new printer anyway. Just do a lazy pull each time you switch filaments, and then a proper Cold Pull maybe every 100 print hours, or after using extremely difficult (wet or super exotic) filaments to help remove any residue that may cause future jams or other issues. This does require undoing and redoing the idler tension again, but once you've done it a few times you can do the whole pull and filament swap in under a minute (minus hotend heatup/cooldown time). White Nylon is great for proper Cold Pulls, partially because you can crank the temp up very high (which ensures any residual filament in the hot end should also melt), White PLA would be okay for example, but may not properly pull PETG or ABS from the nozzle. White is great thanks to the color, of course, which allows you to see any residue easier; However, any color may be used. If you only ever use PLA, then PLA would be just fine for a Cold Pull. Seriously though, start by doing Cold Pulls from Day 1 and you'll easily cut out 50% of your future issues.
   
3. The small metric fasteners used in the printer are cheap. They are used in a lot of designs found online, so you should stock up (alternate source). The primary fasteners used are M3 Socket Head Cap 0.5 pitch, mostly full thread. You can also get the nuts very cheap. Square, Nyloc, and Hex. I can get the exact lengths used in the Mk3 if anyone needs them, though I'm not sure the exact grade used, it only really effects corrosion resistance.
   
4. You can also Calibrate the Extruder steps/mm and extrusion multiplier. Many people will tell you only the later is necessary but I prefer to do both anyway. Theoretically it does make a difference, but practically you can just compensate for steps/mm with the extrusion multiplier, and for all intents and purposes the result is the same, so "many people" are totally right.
   
5. You can also Calibrate the PID. You probably won't have to do this for PLA out of the box, but may find you have some temperature swings with PETG or ABS temperatures. The Official Help Article also discusses this method and how to calibrate using the LCD if you prefer. I like to keep my Mk3 settings vanilla (I've never used an M500 directly, and avoid them when I can), so I like to get my PID values manually and set them in my start GCode instead, which also allows me to setup my slicer so each switching filaments automatically switches PID profiles. The bed can be calibrated as well, but again you probably won't need to do this unless you're experiencing temperature swings more than -/+ 5°. One or two degree dips/spikes is perfectly normal (though theoretically can be tuned out, requires proper enclosure for stable ambient temps, etc).
   
   There are tons of other accessories you can get ahead of time. None of these are necessary, but are small things you might end up using (or wanting to try :P), and should help get you started getting a wishlist together. Besides the ones mentioned in this comment (and the one that precedes it) already:
   
   

• Wire Snips beat the included pliers hands down. For $4 how are you not going to pick these up right now? The cutting edge on a pair of pliers sucks and it doesn't help that it's ****ing halfway down the length of the tool. I tried to get away with just using the included tools and simply gave up trying to use the included pliers to cut zip ties. If you have Prime, get a pair of these now. Get a pair even if you don't - they're worth the shipping cost too. Thank me later.
  
• 608 bearings (for prints such as TUSH),
  
• Loctite 222 (helps prevent screws from vibrating free, not necessary thanks to Nylocs used in Mk3),
  
• A humidity sensor (for filament dry box and checking ambient),
  
• An accurate scale (for calculating remaining filament),
  
• A small fan (enhanced print cooling when needed (not very necessary except for ultra extreme bridges), enhanced circulation in filament dry box),
  
• Small bags (for silica beads),
  
• PTFE tube and matching Bowden Couplers (for something like Spannerhands),
  
• Lubit-8 (for the LMU88 bearings),
  
• SuperLube (Silicone Grease w/ PTFE for Bondtech Extruder gear maintenance),
  
• Canola Oil (for lubricating/cleaning filament and seasoning the nozzle/hotend (not necessary with modern hotends)),
  
• Small Brass Brush (also for Bondtech Extruder gear maintenance),
  
• Nozzle Reams (for the extremely rare jam, because you're doing your Atomic Pulls, right?),
  
• Extra Nozzles (no need for the kit, just an example. Hardened nozzles (black) are a good idea for composites, last longer than Brass, regardless of filament used. Prusa Mk3 comes with 0.4mm nozzle preinstalled, but you can easily swap the nozzle),
  
• E3D Hotend Sock (helps lock in heat for (theoretically?) lower current usage and more stable temperatures, also helps keep plastic off the heat block in case of print failure),
  
• Magigoo (or other adhesion aids) (for certain exotic filaments, otherwise not necessary with Mk3),
  
• Tempered Glass or Borosilicate printbeds (for certain exotic filaments),
  
• And of course, Isopropyl Alcohol (70% or better, preferably 91% or better) and Acetone, just to name a few...
  
  Edit: Upon rereading my comment I realized I have a problem.. I own every product I just listed..
  
  ^^Except ^^for ^^the ^^nozzles ^^kit ^^so ^^it's ^^not ^^that ^^big ^^of ^^a ^^problem, ^^right?... ^^Right?!

I use this AMIR scale I picked up off Amazon for $11. It has 0.1 gram accuracy and I check it with a calibration weight one a week. It still works perfect a year later.

I own this one, its been great!

Amazon, free shipping, total cost $10.99

AMIR Digital Kitchen Scale, 3000g 0.01oz/ 0.1g Pocket Cooking Scale, Mini Food Scale, Pro Electronic Jewelry Scale with Back-Lit LCD Display, Tare & PCS Functions, Stainless Steel, Batteries Included

https://www.amazon.com/AMIR-Electronic-Functions-Stainless-Batteries/dp/B01DGEWHN4/ref=sr_1_36?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1520881968&sr=1-36&keywords=kitchen+scale

I’m in the same boat. Right now I’m leaning towards:

AMIR Digital Kitchen Scale, 3000g 0.01oz/ 0.1g Pocket Cooking Scale, Mini Food Scale, Pro Electronic Jewelry Scale with Back-Lit LCD Display, Tare & PCS Functions, Stainless Steel, Batteries Included https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DGEWHN4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_F0UyCbJ6SPCXR

Let me know what you choose.

This is the one I use: https://www.amazon.com/AMIR-Electronic-Functions-Stainless-Batteries/dp/B01DGEWHN4/

Sometimes it goes to another dollar off on sale.

Decent, has little waterproof plastic box covers. Cheap, fast.

I think the general opinion is that using a consistent method of coffeemaking is most important. But how to achieve this?

There are several variables involved in coffeemaking, and if you're sloppy, it's hard to get consistency, or even to refine your technique once you start to get it right. So I will list a few variables and how to keep them consistent.

1. Grind. A good electric burr grinder will produce a more consistent grind, with more particles of the correct size and fewer "fines" which are basically coffee dust and undesirable. By varying the grind, the water flows through the coffee grounds at a faster or slower rate, decreasing or increasing the brewing strength.
   
   
2. Water to coffee ratio. This requires a gram scale to measure the coffee, and to measure the water as you pour it. Water is easier to measure by weight since 1g of water by weight = 1ml of volume. A cheap digital scale with .01g accuracy can be bought for about $10.
   
   
3. A good brewing device. I am fond of pourover, I use a Hario V60, but even commonly available, cheap devices like the Melita Filter Cone are acceptable. These single-cup or small batch coffee methods offer good control which allows you to make coffee in a consistent way, which helps you refine your skills easily.
   
4. Temperature control of the heated water. I have used a thermometer in a pot of water on the stove, but an electric kettle with temperature control is much easier. The temp of the water has a great effect on the quality of the brew, and inconsistent temps make it hard to home in on the brew quality you prefer.
   
   But above all, the quality of the coffee is probably the biggest effect on a good tasting brew. Always use fresh, whole beans and grind them immediately before use.
   
   Here is what I use:
   
   
5. Baratza Virtuoso grinder. A a bit more expensive than the entry level $130 Encore, but a good quality grinder. Warning: do NOT buy a refurbished Baratza grinder. You will save $30 and they will charge you $30 shipping, you could buy it new for full retail price with free shipping for the same total price.
   
   
6. Hario V60 #1 filter cone and "natural paper" filters. Amazon sells the plastic cone for $6 and 100 paper filters costs about $6.
   
   
7. Gram scale, I bought this scale for $11 but I noticed similar scales are popping up on Amazon "lightning deals" lately, for a whopping discount of $1.
   
   
8. Bonavita .7 Liter temperature controlled kettle. Hey they stopped making the smaller kettle, now it's only the 1 liter model for about $70. Oh well.
   
   So I spent about $300 total, you could get the $100 cheaper grinder and do this all for $200. And you would be a very happy coffee drinker.

I got one of these cheap ones.

It works. Seems as precise as it can be, clear display, easy controls. But it's irritatingly slow. For coffee beans that's not a problem. But when pouring slow drip it's irritating. I often overshoot.

> My current machine doesn't have any recipe settings

Very few do, but that's OK! All you need is a cheap scale and a stopwatch. Measure the ground espresso going in (the "dose"), then put the scale on your drip tray and set the cup on the scale (you'll see me doing that in the picture I posted of my machine). Press the button on your machine and start a stopwatch (on your phone or whatever) to set a timer.

If your machine allows for manual control, stop it somewhere before the desired final shot mass. There will be some espresso dripping out after you press stop so you'll have to learn approximately when to stop (on mine there's about 3 grams or so, so for 27g I'll stop at 24g). If your machine is fully automatic, first check to confirm that you can't control it manually, otherwise you just need to let it run until it's done and hopefully it's not a straight timer.

Finally, if the 27g shot (or whatever the recipe would call for) took too long, then adjust your grinder to a looser grind. If it ran too quickly (again, based on the recipe), then adjust your grinder for a finer grind.

This is the basic process for following an espresso recipe. Espresso is a super tweaky process and everything you do impacts the result in one way or another. Using the scale and stopwatch you can track the process against your recipe and then you can use your grinder settings to control the result.

I got this one for my AeroPress needs. It isn’t waterproof, but it is cheap enough that if it breaks I can replace it 10 times and still be ahead of the acaia one.

3000 g x0.1g scale