Who is here? 1 guest(s)
 Print Thread
Sandbox Smart R1 and R2 roasters
mtbizzle
Just saw this apparently new roaster. The price in relation to the batch size is obscene. Aside from that, curious what everyone's thoughts are!

https://www.youtu...HoVu5NQe7I
Edited by renatoa on 01/31/2022 1:41 AM
Roast: Kaldi wide, SR800 + projects
Grind: Lab sweet, Bentwood, giota w/ MP burrs, Commandante
Pull: Decent, La Pavoni, Elektra Microcasa a Leva, Faemina anno 60, Kim Express
 
renatoa
Price is new Taiwan dollar = 0.035 USD, so $732, reasonable for a bling roaster.

If BT is measured right, it could be a bargain as a sampler, given the curent price of other samplers.

I flirted for a while with such build roaster, bigger basket, 2-300 grams load, using as heat source a TO, but the gloves operating of hot basket was been indeed annoying, so moved to other build.
Also, all the chaff remaining in the basket and burning... not good...
Edited by renatoa on 11/16/2020 2:49 AM
 
renatoa
On Amazon, as combo with a cooling tray:

https://www.amazo...08J818GMR/
 
Turnado
Bella Barista will stock Sandbox Smart R1 very soon. I?d like to see the reviews of this one. Could be just right for learning profiling at 100g batches.
 
renatoa
Analysed the machine and I would refrain to buy it for many reasons.

No visible chaff management. I built years ago such machine and the mesh baskets are bad for chaff, more than half will remain inside, and burnt. Smoky flavors.
Inconsistency in load and dump beans. Doing these operations with a hot basket and gloved hands is an operation hard to reproduce exactly, that make you give up quickly.

The most important is the reported temperature, as it is measured can't be enough precise for the requirements of an accurate RoR to be computed. Could be a reason RoR is not drawn on the graph, just shown as numbers only. Too jumpy and ugly to see, maybe.
The temperature is measured using three IR sensors, placed in a vertical bar cluster, you can locate them right side of the shaft, about 3-5 hours position.
The problem with that placement is that area contains no beans, it is simply void, in a normal operation, when the drum turns. Check the image showing a normal beans pile distribution. The beans are in left side, in the 6-9 hours segment, where are located also the radiant elements.
The area where IR sensors are placed is exactly opposite of the beans pile, where is absolutely clear, just air, no beans.
So those sensor can't measure anything other than the drum metal, and even this is questionable, because it is shinny, not a good target for an IR measurement. And the hue will change in time, as the drum is seasoned.
Someone could write a piece of code to compute the beans temperature and simulate the whole roast process more accurate than this measurement system. I highly doubt this measurement is capable to show FC, flick or crash in a roast.
I say this because I did such piece of code for Gene roaster, and the results of simulation were close to reality within 5 degrees window of approximation. I mean my code shows 195 C degrees when FC occurs, while Gene display reads 238 C degrees, hot air exhaust obviously.

So, until more clarification from the manufacturers, for me this machine is just a nice try of contemporary design that roast coffee with a certain approximation. Others do it better for less money and larger loads.
renatoa attached the following images:
drum-rotation-diagram.jpg nvv9ju5jsbvfee.jpg

Edited by renatoa on 02/14/2021 2:34 AM
 
renatoa
Available to buy at bellabarista, nothing new since last review.
So I would keep my money for other machine.
 
baldheadracing
Dave C did a review. He's usually pretty spot-on.

https://sway.offi...UqjfiA30Eu
 
renatoa
R2 announced:



... some $2000 early bird price on a crowdfunding style site.

https://www.zecze...1361c77795
 
renatoa
More R2 videos...
~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~
Edited by renatoa on 03/07/2022 1:23 AM
 
renatoa
Starting commercial campaign...

https://dailycoff...me-market/

Bullet price for half capacity... they should work hard to convince me... Grin
Edited by renatoa on 02/08/2022 1:07 PM
 
allenb
I would be very cautious of any IR roaster's ability to steer RoR during the development phase without hearing feedback from real third party reviews/tests results first. Also, any new product will need 2 years minimum to work out the bugs and modify the design.

Also, toooo expensive for my tastes
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
renatoa
If anyone bought or evaluated the R2, can we have some insight about the airflow of such machine ?
 
allenb
My guess is that with only 900 watts for 500 grams charge, there is only natural, unassisted upward convection for smoke to leave the machine. The F2 add-on fan is only 5 watts so is probably just enough to remove smoke but not cool down the bean environment too much. I would really like to hear how they control the roast when beans get close to first crack.
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
renatoa
Asked because will evaluate soon a very similar roaster, but not a clone, having the same heating principle, IR inside the drum, but a very strange airflow.
Reverse sense than a normal drum path, and the natural convection... i.e. airflow descends instead going up!
Air admission is through the bean chute, i.e. upper side of front panel, and the exhaust of smoke and chaff through a slot at the lower side of the back panel.
 
allenb
That design actually sounds logical. They're trying to move the normally rising heat given off by the IR heaters and other hardware downward and across the coffee instead of it just escaping without any possibility of being reclaimed.
1/2 lb and 1 lb drum, Siemens Sirocco fluidbed, presspot, chemex, cajun biggin brewer from the backwoods of Louisiana
 
renatoa
Unlike R2, the other roaster has the heater placed in upper right quarter of the drum, i.e. 1-2 hours, as seen from the front.
Similar to Ceroffee roaster, but not flat ceramic radiant, just a straight tube, probably halogen lamp.
This sounds better to me than the central position of R2 heater, more clearance to beans bed, and also heating the drum, thus adding a touch of "contact" transfer.
 
Jump to Forum: