There are so many styles of weed grinders that can meet different needs that making an informed choice takes a best-of guide. There are different materials to consider, sizes, brands, styles and extra features too.
Before jumping into what makes the best weed grinder, you have to consider yourself first. Are you a frequent smoker who grinds a lot of herb? Where will you do your grinding, at home or out and about? What’s your budget? How strong are your hands?
While it all comes down to personal preference, there’s no sense buying more grinder than you need. There’s also lots of good reasons to have more than one option. So stick with this Dankstop guide to find the best weed grinder for your next smoke sesh.
Parts of a weed grinder
All weed grinders have parts in common, although some have more features than others. But in its simplest form, a weed grinder has a lid and grinding chamber, both with “teeth” that shred the bud to an even consistency.
Weed grinder teeth come in as variety of shapes including diamond, spikes, spearheads, shark, straight and more. All are designed to work top to bottom, shredding weed to a consistent size without jamming.
Other special features of weed grinders are covered in Weed Grinder Special Features. which we will look at include kief chambers, removable screens, quick-lock systems, ergonomic design, magnetic lids, crank handles and more.
Weed grinder special features
For the best weed grinder special features, you can truly get a spectacular grind. Modern technology and manufacturing now gives new strength and clearer view to the best herb grinders.
Windows are now common with the advent of super clear, dense plastics. Some models can even feature real scientific glass windows which are easier to clean that plastic and resist damage more.
The strength of modern alloys also allows for cool features like durable crank handles. This can be beneficial for those with arthritis who have a hard tome with hand-crank weed grinders.
Card herb shredders
Standard round herb grinders can be bulky to carry and have lids that may not lock, making portability less than lacking. So, for a grind on the go, keep this cool card in your wallet.
Made to tuck away inside a billfold’s credit card slot, card shredders go anywhere you go. They can be made of plastic or metal and have various configurations to shred a bud like butter on a box grater. It’s an excellent emergency setup when stashed with rolling papers.
3-piece herb grinders
A 3-piece herb grinder comes with an additional chamber to collect perfectly-sizes shreds of herb. These grinders have the top (with teeth), a center chamber (also with teeth) that has precise diameter holes in its floor, and a base that collects the ground material once shred.
A 3-piece weed grinder creates a more uniform size shred of weed than does a two piece. It’s the exact size holes on the center chamber that make this happen. Once organic matter has been ground small enough, it falls through to the collection chamber.
While a precise grind is great, there’s still a lot more to weed that is going astray with a 3-piece herb grinder.
4-piece herb grinders
When you add a fourth chamber to a weed grinder, it’s used to collect the powerful kief that comes with kind bud. This prized powder, once the gooey trichomes on the living cannabis plant, will easily go astray like dust in the wind without this additional chamber.
With a 4-piece herb grinder, there’s a top and center section, both with teeth, and holes in the chamber floor. Those holes allow perfectly-sized pieces of weed to fall through once ground down by the teeth. The grinding process loosens the kief, which also falls to the collection area.
Also in the collection chamber is a screen that allows the kief powder to fall through to the kief chamber, but no other organic matter. So, it’s pure terpenes- the stuff hash is made of.
5-piece herb grinders
The 5-piece herb grinder is similar to the 4-piece in that it is made for kief collection. The difference between the two is an extra screen, even finer than the first, to separate that terpene-rich dust into two levels of kief, clean and dirty.
It’s the second chamber, at the lowest level, that has the finest screen, allowing only pure terpenes through for clean kief. Above that, in the first kief chamber, there’s a wider screen that allows bigger pieces of ‘dirty kief,’ or terpenes plus a fine level of organic matter.
The rest of the 5-piece herb grinder is the same as regular grinders- top and grinding chambers with teeth, and holes which allow uniformly ground weed to fall through.
Electric herb grinders
Electric herb grinders have been around for a while. Today, the power of the motor and the battery life of DC models make this line of tools more viable than ever. There are also AC models that plug into the wall and even USB models for on the go charging.
The main issue with electric grinders today is power. Unless there’s a built-in way to let weed of a certain size leave the cutting chamber, it’s very easy to overdo the cut. Overgrinding weed is easy to do when the power comes at the press of a button.
The best electric herb grinders today account for weed waste with various ways to avoid overgrinding. This is especially helpful for large amounts of herb to grind on a regular basis.
