Herbonaut

The 9 Best Herb Grinders in 2020 for Efficient Smoking, Vaping and Kief Building

Best Weed GrindersToday you're getting a list of the best weed grinders on the market.

From weed grinders made to build up tons of kief, to weed grinders that grind your herb powder-fine, by the end of this post you will take your marijuana use to the next level with a top quality weed grinder from 1 of the following sections:

First up…

4-Piece Weed Grinders for Building Up Large Amounts of Kief

These grinders are THE go-to grinders if you want to build up kief.

A 4-piece grinder has a special screen at the bottom of it. All the little crystals and trichomes that fall through while you're grinding, get caught in this screen.

Over time, this kief will build up nicely, and you will have an extremely potent herbal bland at your disposal. You can sprinkle kief over your weed to give it some extra potency for example. Or vape it/smoke it all by itself (be careful though this will be extremely potent and hard-hitting).

Just remember:

Because of their size, 4-piece grinders are not the best choice if you have portability as a high priority.

Keeping this in mind, let's start with our best 4-piece weed grinder.

1. Space Case Grinder Titanium (4-Piece, Medium Size)

space-case-grinder
  • BEST for catching kief;
  • Doesn't need cleaning;
  • Lasts 10+ years without degrading;
  • Scratch-resistant;
  • LIFETIME warranty!
  • Pricey;
  • Doesn't grind fine enough for 100% conduction vapes.

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Space Case is one of those heavyweight brands in the weed grinder world.

Space Case grinders will last you for 10+ years, without degrading in performance or any materials/coatings coming off, like you get with so many cheaper grinders.

The build-quality of Space Case grinders is unparalleled.

Performance-wise, this weed grinder tears through the hardest nugs with minimal effort every time.

This weed grinder is our top pick if you’re looking for the easiest and most consistent grind. First, you don't need to be grinding for a long time to get the same grind-consistency with all of your herb. Second, it's very easy to get the exact same grind consistency every time you grind.

It’s also unquestionably the best grinder for catching kief. The kief build-up with this grinder after only 10-15 grinds is already so much, you will feel obliged to start using your kief.

Don't you hate it when you pull out your grinder, see all the resin and dirt between the grinding teeth, and quickly realize that you can't grind yet, but need to clean first.

Well, with Space Case grinders cleaning isn't needed. Especially with the Titanium Space Case Grinders:

Nothing sticks to this grinder, your herb will slide off the grinding teeth like soft butter slides off a knife.

Although the grind of the Space Case Grinder is finer than that of the Santa Cruz Shredder…

If you’re looking for a really fine grind (for conduction vapes mostly), you’re going to have to go for a proper 2-piece grinder.

For anything else than 100% conduction vapes, this 4-piece Space Case Grinder will be perfect.

And since the main reason why you would get a 4-piece grinder is to catch kief, and this Space Case Grinder catches kief like nobody's business…

It's our TOP pick of all 4-piece grinders.

Click to see the most recent price:

Next up…

2. Santa Cruz Shredder (4-Piece, Medium Size)

santa-cruz-shredder
  • BEST for convection vaporizers;
  • ‘Shreds' your weed keeping it fluffy, keeping trichomes with your herb;
  • Lasts 10+ years without degrading;
  • Medical grade ultrasonic cleansing procedures;
  • LIFETIME warranty!
  • Pricey;
  • Doesn't catch a whole lot of kief;
  • Not good for conduction vaporizers

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The Santa Cruz Shredder is also known as the ‘medical-grade’ weed grinder and has quite the history and reputation of being one of the highest quality weed grinders you can get.

This has several reasons:

  • It has anodized threaded surfaces to prevent damage that usually occurs between 2 sliding metals, which means you will always be safe from micro-parts of aluminum polluting your herb;
  • A very easy grip and rotation (doesn’t require strength to grind);
  • Strict medical-grade ultrasonic cleansing procedures straight when it comes out of the manufacturing process (to remove any contaminants that get released during the manufacturing process);
  • It’s extremely reliable, durable and scratch-resistant.

All these features make the Santa Cruz Shredder the best pick for anyone that’s obsessive about health or safety.

It’s also the only grinder that really ‘shreds’ your weed instead of grinding it.

What this means is that your herb will come out ‘fluffy’ and with a certain amount of volume keeping most trichomes on your herb.

This fluffy grind is GREAT for pure convection vapes like the Firefly 2 or VapeXhale Cloud EVO.

Although a large 4-piece grinder usually means there’s a lot of kief build-up, the Santa Cruz Shredder does fall short in this area when you compare it to the 4-piece Space Case Grinders.

It gets better:

Its size is big enough to grind any amount of weed of any type with minimal effort.

The bottom line is:

I highly recommend Santa Cruz Shredders, and they're my favorite grinders because I mostly use convection vaporizers and like fluffy grinds in general.

Click to see the most recent price:

Next up…

3. Sharpstone 2.0 (4-Piece, Medium Size)

sharpstone-2.0
  • Great value for money;
  • LIFETIME warranty!
  • There seems to be an inconsistency in the quality of SharpStone grinders.

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Sharpstone, although not known as the TOP brand in the weed grinder world…

Does produce very high-quality weed grinders for a very affordable price.

But be careful:

There are a lot inauthentic Sharpstone grinders in circulation…plus some Sharpstone grinders seem to last longer than others (inconsistent quality).

However, if you do get the real deal, which is also of good quality, these grinders will last you a LONG time (5+ years).

So if you’re looking for a very high-quality weed grinder to catch a bunch of kief that’s cheaper than the Santa Cruz and Space Case Grinders, check out the 4-piece grinders of Sharpstone.

Click to see the most recent price:

Next up…

Chromium Crusher (4-Piece)

Chromium Crusher
  • The cheapest 4-piece grinder that's still decent
  • Zinc coating to prevent aluminum flakes from coming off;
  • LIFETIME warranty!
  • Doesn't catch a whole lot of kief;
  • Pieces of your herb can get stuck

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If you're looking for the cheapest 4-piece grinder, the Chromium Crusher is the cheapest you should go.

This grinder is cheap but of a good enough quality for most of you.

No, it won't last 10+ or even 5+ years, without degrading in performance…

But, 2-3 years, if you treat it well.

It’s made from high-quality zinc-aluminum alloy and is the heaviest grinders of all the grinders in the list.

It's incredibly sturdy though and can take a severe beating.

One thing that could be better with this grinder is the catching of kief.

The kief screen is really fine, so you barely will get any.

Also, there seem to be scratches and imperfections on the inside, which could make you wonder about the safety of this grinder.

One last annoying thing which just doesn't happen as often as with the higher quality weed grinders is the following:

Herb pieces can get stuck around the edges of the grinding chamber. Over time, this builds up and results in an inconvenient ‘cleaning' session.

The bottom line is:

This grinder isn't perfect and does have some downsides, but for its price, you won't find anything better.

Click to see the most recent price:

2- and 3-Piece Weed Grinders: for the Finest Grind & Portability

A 2-piece grinder is the simplest of them all.

You just have a top-piece and a bottom-piece which rotate against each other.

2-piece grinders are actually my favorite grinders because they’re easy to use, compact, small and portable.

3-piece grinders have a compartment to catch the finer parts of your bud, but not kief. You could also store any bud that you didn’t use after your grind in this compartment.

This can be great for portability purposes since easily being able to store some extra herb is always a plus.

Overall, both 2- and 3-piece grinders are practical, easy to use and quite a bit cheaper than 4-piece grinders.

Starting with our first 2-piece / 3-piece weed grinder…

1. Santa Cruz Shredder (2- or 3-Piece, Medium Size)

santa-cruz-shredder-3-piece
  • BEST brand for convection vaporizers;
  • ‘Shreds' your weed keeping it fluffy, keeping trichomes with your herb;
  • LIFETIME warranty!
  • Easier to use than 4-piece grinders.
  • Doesn't catch any kief;
  • Can't do very fine grinds

View at:

You already know why the Santa Cruz Shredders are among our top picks:

  • Medical-grade materials and design;
  • Extremely reliable and durable: will last you 10+ years without degrading in performance;
  • Extremely easy to use;
  • Gives a fluffy grind, which is especially good for convection vapes (and I love it for blunts/joints too).

But the 4-piece Santa Cruz Shredders are expensive.

Luckily the 3- and 2-piece versions are much more affordable.

They just don't catch any kief.

Now:

This doesn’t necessarily have to be a con for everyone.

I don’t need a kief catcher, and I like 2- or 3-piece grinders since you can immediately brush out the kief out of 2-piece grinders.

Also, they’re just more compact, and especially with the small 2-piece grinders you can get a very fine grind (if you grind upside down).

The Space Case 2-Piece Grinder does grind finer than the Santa Cruz Shredder.

However, no grinder is better if you're into fluffy grinds, keeping a certain amount of volume and most of the trichomes on your herb (like you would want with convection vapes).

I also like a fluffy grind for blunts and joints, but the type of grind for blunts and joints is personal.

The bottom line is:

If you want a fluffy grind or want the ‘safest' grinder, but don't need to catch kief, the 2- or 3-piece Santa Cruz Shredder is the grinder you should get.

Click to see the most recent price:

Next up…

2. Space Case Grinder Titanium (2-Piece, Medium Size)

space-case-2-piece-medium
  • Most consistent grinder > easy to get same grind every time;
  • Doesn't need cleaning;
  • Great for fine grinds;
  • LIFETIME Warranty!
  • Doesn't catch any kief;
  • Hard to get a fluffy grind.

View at:

The Space Case 2-piece grinders, performance-wise are the best 2-piece grinders you can get.

Here’s why:

  • You can really choose to go for a more coarse or a really fine grind (controllable with how fast and how often you rotate, a fluffy grind is difficult though);
  • These grinders are extremely consistent, when you got your technique down you’ll get the exact same results each and every time;
  • Any Space Case Grinder grinds through the hardest and biggest nugs with unmatched ease;
  • Just like the Santa Cruz Shredders, they’re extremely reliable and durable (they last up to 10+ years).

Now:

If you're looking for something portable, you probably don't want to be messing around with annoying cleaning sessions.

Well, this beast of a grinder needs no cleaning.

It's also the best 2-piece grinder to get a fine grind with, for if you have a conduction vape or you just like rolling compact and fully packed joints.

Click to see the most recent price:

Next up…

3. Cali Crusher (2-Piece)

cali-crusher-2-piece
  • Durable Because of High-Grade Aluminum;
  • arge Gaps Between Teeth Makes It Easy to Load Your Herb;
  • Easy to Use Because of its Convenient Grip and Smooth Movement;
  • LIFETIME Warranty on teeth/blades;
  • 2-Piece Space Case Grinder Offers More Value IMO;
  • Kief Can Get Stuck in Grooves;

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This Cali Crusher 2-piece grinder is a ‘good' grinder.

But it doesn't get any more than ‘good'. Because its quality lags behind the Space Case Grinders or Santa Cruz Shredders.

Here's why:

The 2-piece Space Grinders are just more consistent and can grind finer than this 2-piece Cali Crusher, plus have better build quality. And the Santa Cruz Shredder just really has its own style of grind: the characteristic fluffy grind, which is very hard to achieve with a Cali Crusher.

It gets better:

These grinders are cheaper than the average grinder and they are still better than most grinders on the market.

Click to see the most recent price:

Next up…

4. Magic Flight Finishing Grinder (2-Piece)

mflb-finishing-grinder-300x300.jpg
  • PERFECT for pure conduction vapes (powder-fine grind);
  • It's really a ‘finishing' grinder, you'll need to pre-grind with a proper grinder;

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Thre MFLB Finishing Grinder is THE go-to grinder if you have a conduction vaporizer like the PAX 2, PAX 3 or MFLB.

It grates your herb into a super-fine powder which is perfect for conduction vapes.

The only downside is that you will have to pre-grind your herb. It just has a hard time cutting your herb up when you put whole nugs into it.

But as a finishing grinder for powder-fine grinds, it's the best you can get!

Click to see the most recent price:

Electric Grinders

If you hate the manual act of grinding your herb, an electric grinder will be a blessing to you.

You just put in the herb, press a button and let the device do its work: it couldn't get more convenient than this.

The best electric grinder currently is the:

Herbagrind Electric Herb Grinder

HerbagrindThe Herbagrind combines the following concepts:

  • Quick grinding results with blades that rotate at extremely fast speeds;
  • A powerful battery for 500+ grinds before needing to recharge;
  • Easily chargeable anywhere with a standard micro-USB-socket, and;
  • A small and sleek design, which makes it great for portability…

To provide you with an electric grinder which not only grinds your herb perfectly every time, but gives you the opportunity to choose the finesse/coarseness of your grind.

How you control this, is with the number of seconds you press the grind button:

  • If you want an extremely fine grind (perfect for conduction vapes), just grind your herb for 10+ seconds;
  • And if you want a more fluffy grind with some volume (perfect for your convection vape), grind your herb for 3-5 seconds.

The best part about this grinder?

The top opening is perfect to load the ground herb into your vape or paper immediately.

It really couldn't get more convenient than this: you will be saving time and effort with every grind.

Now:

The only potential shortcoming with the Herbagrind is if you want to build kief. You can't do that with this device.

This doesn't mean the kief gets lost.

It just immediately comes out when you start emptying the grinding chamber. If you want to build kief, you'll need a 4-piece grinder.

Also, the blades in it are so sharp and fast, that it's not the easiest task to get the same fluffy grind every time. If you want the best consistency and need a lot of ‘fluffiness' in your grind, the Santa Cruz Shredders do this better.

But for convenience, an electric grinder like the Herbagrind can't be beat.

Click to see the most recent price:

Why You Should Stay Away From Most Low-End/Cheap Weed Grinders

Low-end weed grinders usually are best avoided because of potential safety reasons:

  • Metal, aluminum or plastic micro-parts could very well be mixing up with your herb when you use these grinders for a longer period of time.

What do I mean with low-end?

Super-cheap ‘no-name' grinders.

There are a few low-end weed grinders which are perfectly safe though. They just will lag behind in performance and ease of use compared to the mid-range and high-end weed grinders.

However, if you want to spend as little money as possible, they're a good choice:

Aside from these 2, avoid them.

Types of Weed Grinders

Different types of herb grinders serve different kinds of marijuana-lovers.

The differences in weed grinders mainly lie in the following features:

  • 2-piece vs 3-piece vs 4 piece grinders;
  • Small vs medium vs large size;
  • Materials used in the grinder.

If you’re a complete weed grinder newbie this section will help you make an informed choice on what type of grinder will suit you best.

2-Piece vs 3-Piece vs 4-Piece Grinders

These numbers and pieces refer to the number of pieces your grinder consists of.

2-Piece Grinders

With 2-piece grinders, you just have a single compartment. Everything that comes off of your herb stays in this compartment.

Usually with a 2-piece grinder, if you want the kief that comes off of your herb, you'll need a brush to brush it out.

They're very easy to use, small, compact and the most practical and portable.

3-Piece Grinders

With 3-piece grinders, you get an extra compartment to catch the finer parts of your bud (including parts that are coarser than kief).

This extra compartment is also called the ‘storage' compartment since you can easily store a bunch of your herb in there.

4-Piece Grinders

With 4-piece grinders, you get a 3rd compartment with a fine screen to catch and build up the kief that comes off of your herb.

If you want to catch and build up your kief, go for a 4-piece grinder from our top list.

Small vs large grinders

Herb grinders come in different sizes:

  • Small;
  • Medium, and;
  • Large.

Although small grinders are best for portability, if you have average hands you’ll have a much easier time grinding your marijuana with medium to large-sized weed grinders.

Plus medium to large-sized grinders just chew through your herb with more ease than small sized grinders…

…unless you always smoke/vape really small amounts (and if you smoke please do switch to vaping).

Materials used in weed grinders

Different materials can be used for weed grinders, but the most common ones are:

  • Metal (aluminum, titanium)
  • Wood, and;
  • Acrylic.

Metal

Metal (usually aluminum) grinders are the highest quality grinders. But only when the aluminium used in it is high quality and anodized!

Otherwise please avoid that particular grinder, because you might be mixing aluminum particles with your herb…

Trust me; you don’t want that.

Titanium is another very high-quality metal and my favorite material that a grinder can be made of.

Because it requires little to no cleaning and just feels more premium.

Wooden

Wooden grinders are pretty rare these days. They are durable and sturdy. But for performance, we recommend anodized aluminum grinders.

Here’s why:

Wooden grinders sometimes absorb a significant amount of kief in their grains, meaning some of those precious and potent trichomes get lost.

Acrylic

Acrylic grinders are the cheapest grinders around, but also the most prone to breaking.

High-quality acrylic grinders like the Storz and Bickel one can be alright…

…while they last.

They’re also quite hard to clean since you can’t give them an ISO bath to easily scrape off clunked up herb particles and kief (you will damage the material with ISO alcohol).

Conclusion

You learned what weed grinders are best overall.

And what weed grinders are best per specific purpose.

Although you do get what you pay for with weed grinders, maybe you don't need one of them.

The most expensive weed grinders are 4-piece grinders. You only need these if you plan on catching and building up a lot of kief.

If you don't need this, just get the 2-piece grinders of the best manufacturers:

  • Santa Cruz Shredder, and;
  • Space Case.

But any weed grinder in this list will serve you well!

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About Winston Peki

Reviewing vaporizers, growing supplies, CBD products and scientific articles about marijuana and vaping since 2012. More info here.