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Different types of weed grinders

Grinding your weed is really important. It allows you to increase the surface area of your bud, making for better, more even burning or vaporization. This in turn allows you to extract more cannabinoids from your cannabis and makes for an all-round better experience.

If you’ve ever walked into a head/smoke shop, you’re probably familiar with the wide variety of grinders available. To better understand how each of these grinders work, we take an in-depth look at the different types of weed grinders available, including everything from graters to elaborate electronic models. To better understand how each of these grinders work, we take an in-depth look at the different types of weed grinders available, including everything from graters to elaborate electronic models.

Grinder Blog from Coffeeshop Smokerdam in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid

ACRYLIC GRINDERS

As the name suggests, acrylic grinders are made of acrylic. They are possibly the cheapest choice found in smoke / head shops and usually come in 2 or 3-part versions, the latter with a kief compartment.

Although some users are loyal to their acrylic grinders, most agree that they're not very good at all. Since their teeth are made of plastic, they easily lose their strength, making it hard for them to actually bite through your buds.

In addition, acrylic grinders are considered to be difficult to use, primarily because lids can become hard to twist after a short period of time. This is caused by the sticky kief that's built up in the grinder crevices.

WOODEN GRINDERS

Like acrylic grinders, their wooden counterparts are also not very effective in grinding weeds. If you're looking for a clean, evenly grinded bud, it's just not for you.

Wooden grinders typically have only 2 pieces; a lid and a grinder, generally with metal teeth that mimic nails. Again, these teeth are not very sharp and sometimes fail to tear through hard, compact nuggets.

To top it off, wood grinders seem to have a similar problem to acrylic grinders; lids can be notoriously hard to twist, especially when you're trying to grind extremely dense weeds. At the end of the day, wood grinders typically don't have a kief compartment, which means that you're missing many of those delicious trichomes.

METAL GRINDERS

Metal grinders are by far some of the most efficient grinders available, particularly among the manual models. They boast powerful metal teeth that can easily tear through even the thickest buds, and can be easily twisted.

Metal grinders are also highly robust, making them suitable for those planning to grind cannabis on the go, as they can easily be tossed in a bag or even dropped and, aside from a few scratches, they will continue to function like new ones.

Apart from the material from which they are made, grinders may also be differentiated by how many pieces or sections they are made of. The most popular versions are 2, 3 or 4 pieces:

2- PIECE GRINDERS

These are the most simple models available, with a lid and a grinding compartment only. Although these grinders do not have a kief / pollen tray, they are significantly smaller and more compact than 3 or 4-piece grinders, which may make them appealing for on-the-go use.

3- PIECE GRINDERS

3-piece grinders have an extra compartment built to capture the weed after it has been ground fine enough to move through tiny holes in the middle compartment. Although they still don't enable you to catch any kief, they're a lot more practical because you don't have to empty them on the surface and risk losing some of your precious herbs.

4- PIECE GRINDERS

Out of all the manual grinders on this list, four-piece versions are probably the best. They have a compartment for collecting your ground buds, as well as an extra compartment protected with a fine sieve to trap any kief or pollen.

ELECTRIC GRINDERS

If you're tired of manually grinding your weed and are searching for a consistent, efficient way to get perfectly ground weed every time, we suggest investing in an electric grinder. Although these grinders come in a number of shapes and sizes, they typically resemble stick blenders loosely.

Simply load your cannabis into the grinding compartment, mount it to the grinder, make sure it's tightly closed, and press the grind button. In a few seconds, you're going to have perfectly grinded cannabis right at your fingertips, ready to pack in a cone, rolled in a joint, or loaded into a vaporizer.

CARD GRINDER

Card grinders are a popular alternative to the traditional grinders we discussed above. They work much like a cheese or vegetable grater, except they involve rubbing your buds against a metal grater.

Although they may appeal to some users only for their novelty, they are generally not praised for their actual ability to grind as they appear to spit weeds all over the place and are simply impractical compared to some of the models we've covered above.

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