Thanks processhead. Looks like there is variation out there and others have experienced it in the #12 grinders as well. I don’t grind tons of meat. Perhaps I should just learn to sharpen the cheap (2 for $12.99 Amazon) knives and be happy.

I use a flat plate of glass with wet dry sandpaper to true various blades and mating surfaces for my other projects. I googled up grinder plate and blade sharpening and indeed there was a nice video on how to true up and resharpen grinder parts that way. Its really cool actually.

But the carbide tipped cutter looks like it would be a real performer. Afraid I should just send it back.

Too late to send the Chinese copy cat grinder back, and besides, it appears well built. Nothing against the stuff from Walton’s of course, but I was on a limited budget at the time.

My Vevor 7 liter horizontal came with a 10mm tube. Bout 6" long. And it has nice machined metal gears. Checked with a magnet. Not potmetal, but steel. The piston is either cast aluminum or potmetal. My only worry is the seal around the piston. It will get old eventually, and there are no parts from Vevor. But it looks like a carbon copy, sizewise, of a LEM.

The piston is cupped to match the end of the tube. Leave only a little residue in the nozzel where the tube attaches. Probably 1 oz or 2 oz waste out of 15 lbs.

I don’t know. The geometry of the grinder/knife interface troubles me. If all four blades of the knife are not equally riding the disk, you end up with lots of poor cuts.