blindbudsmoker
New member
Hi, new here but wanted to throw 2 cents out there since I couldn't find much info on the main stream tumbler machines. As of today I have had a bitter time with the O'kief people so I figure for the 50 bucks I have to pay to ship it back I can write a review.
The two machines I have had access to are the O'kief 625g unit and the agriculturalpollenextractor or APE 160g unit.
This review is biased on the fact that the O'kief never actually got put to work. I Have turned it on and watched in run for 10-15 minutes. I have been running a APE unit for the past year, 20+ hours a day. And it works. It has some flaws that I will explain later. But as of the last couple months figured it was time to upgrade and go bigger to maybe get things done a bit faster. So after a bit on Google I settled on the O'kief 625g unit. Figured it was going to be substantially bigger based on its capacity rating. Well it turns out there is no universal measure for capacity. The O'kief rating based on grinding up all your stuff before you start if you plan on getting 625g of anything in there. It is almost the exact same size as the APE unit at 160g capacity.
So pros and cons of the two machines
APE Pros
- Very Very fast. The thing spins very quick, I know for connoisseur this is a bad thing but for people trying to move through some material its crucial.
- The loading and unloading is quick. Not really important but u don't have to unscrew anything or take apart nothing.
- Its can be used 24 hours a day with no rest.
- Cheap
- Very quite
APE Cons
- It is kind of messy. Its not really a sealed unit so after a few weeks you will start to have a kief build up all over the room its in. (this was the main reason I wanted a new machine).
- Its on a odd axes, as in the drum falls off the little holder so you have to place a 2x4 under one side so it stays at a angle.
- It slips, this could be a good or bad thing depending who you are. Once the material is pretty much done it will start to slow it down and eventually stop it from spinning. We used heavy duty rubber bands around the opening to keep it going.
- The new screens are a bitch to get mounted on a new drum, tore one trying to get it on, very snug.
Customer service with APE has been good/ok. The 2 orders I've placed one was lost but immediately replaced. All by email and I hate this.
O'kief Pros. Not from personal use, just observations.
- Quality, IMO with the steel screen and how slow it spins you can come up with some of the best kief your material could produce.
- The style is very clean and tidy so you should be able to collect 100% of your product.
- It has a built in paddle inside the drum which is a clever idea so you don't need to toss bouncy balls or kids toys inside to move the material around.
- The construction is done very well, don't think you could drop it but it all fit together very tightly.
O'kief Cons
- Slow, Very very slow. 12 rotations a minute slow. For quality this is fine but for moving through material this would be a nightmare.
- Very noisy. For a tiny little motor it is loud. You wouldn't want this thing in a room you hang out in.
- The longevity of the machine. In the manual it states that non stop use of the machine will void the warranty. It recommends one hour at a time with a cool down period.
Customer service so far with O'kief has be terrible as of today writing this. The lady Becca is very hostile. Her last response to me when I asked if they would help with return shipping since I feel the capacity is a bit misleading was this.
"Out of the thousands we have sold you are the only person with this issue. No we do not pay for return shipping. READ YOUR RECEIPT. I'm done with this conversation.
Becca
Customer service representative"
I have been very civil trying to figure out a way to keep the machine, I really like the enclosed aspect but its not going to happen.
So my final verdict would be if your looking to get work done with good quality I would take the APE machine. If you want the best quality but take your time doing it the get the O'kief machine. This is if money is not a issue.
The two machines I have had access to are the O'kief 625g unit and the agriculturalpollenextractor or APE 160g unit.
This review is biased on the fact that the O'kief never actually got put to work. I Have turned it on and watched in run for 10-15 minutes. I have been running a APE unit for the past year, 20+ hours a day. And it works. It has some flaws that I will explain later. But as of the last couple months figured it was time to upgrade and go bigger to maybe get things done a bit faster. So after a bit on Google I settled on the O'kief 625g unit. Figured it was going to be substantially bigger based on its capacity rating. Well it turns out there is no universal measure for capacity. The O'kief rating based on grinding up all your stuff before you start if you plan on getting 625g of anything in there. It is almost the exact same size as the APE unit at 160g capacity.
So pros and cons of the two machines
APE Pros
- Very Very fast. The thing spins very quick, I know for connoisseur this is a bad thing but for people trying to move through some material its crucial.
- The loading and unloading is quick. Not really important but u don't have to unscrew anything or take apart nothing.
- Its can be used 24 hours a day with no rest.
- Cheap
- Very quite
APE Cons
- It is kind of messy. Its not really a sealed unit so after a few weeks you will start to have a kief build up all over the room its in. (this was the main reason I wanted a new machine).
- Its on a odd axes, as in the drum falls off the little holder so you have to place a 2x4 under one side so it stays at a angle.
- It slips, this could be a good or bad thing depending who you are. Once the material is pretty much done it will start to slow it down and eventually stop it from spinning. We used heavy duty rubber bands around the opening to keep it going.
- The new screens are a bitch to get mounted on a new drum, tore one trying to get it on, very snug.
Customer service with APE has been good/ok. The 2 orders I've placed one was lost but immediately replaced. All by email and I hate this.
O'kief Pros. Not from personal use, just observations.
- Quality, IMO with the steel screen and how slow it spins you can come up with some of the best kief your material could produce.
- The style is very clean and tidy so you should be able to collect 100% of your product.
- It has a built in paddle inside the drum which is a clever idea so you don't need to toss bouncy balls or kids toys inside to move the material around.
- The construction is done very well, don't think you could drop it but it all fit together very tightly.
O'kief Cons
- Slow, Very very slow. 12 rotations a minute slow. For quality this is fine but for moving through material this would be a nightmare.
- Very noisy. For a tiny little motor it is loud. You wouldn't want this thing in a room you hang out in.
- The longevity of the machine. In the manual it states that non stop use of the machine will void the warranty. It recommends one hour at a time with a cool down period.
Customer service so far with O'kief has be terrible as of today writing this. The lady Becca is very hostile. Her last response to me when I asked if they would help with return shipping since I feel the capacity is a bit misleading was this.
"Out of the thousands we have sold you are the only person with this issue. No we do not pay for return shipping. READ YOUR RECEIPT. I'm done with this conversation.
Becca
Customer service representative"
I have been very civil trying to figure out a way to keep the machine, I really like the enclosed aspect but its not going to happen.
So my final verdict would be if your looking to get work done with good quality I would take the APE machine. If you want the best quality but take your time doing it the get the O'kief machine. This is if money is not a issue.
