Product Description
Watch the set-up and use video here. Note: The video features our original ARO Orbit™, but the set-up is the same for the new PRO version.
Introducing the ARO Orbit PRO™, the ultimate professional-grade spirographic espresso distribution tool. Crafted from durable aluminum and featuring precision ball bearings, the ARO Orbit PRO™ is engineered for both dedicated home baristas and professional cafés. We've optimized every aspect of this tool – from meticulously engineered gear ratios and pin placements to an ultra-smooth mechanism that spins with the touch of a finger. Elevate your espresso with unmatched consistency in every pull. Perfectly fluffed and distributed baskets of espresso are just a few spins away.
Here's a quick geometry lesson: Hypotrochoids and epitrochoids are curves defined by tracing a point attached to a circle that's rolling along the inside or outside of a fixed circle, respectively. Spirographs use this concept to create dazzling geometric patterns. The ARO Orbit PRO™ utilizes this mechanical motion to efficiently distribute and fluff the grounds ensuring a consistent extraction every time, no matter how early in the morning it is.
Key Features
- Durable Aluminum Construction: Built to endure the most demanding environments, the aluminum housing is provides a sleek, professional appearance while ensuring superior strength and longevity. Finished with a premium, scratch-resistant matte black anodize, it resists wear and corrosion, maintaining its pristine look over time.
- Precision Ball Bearings: Equipped with maintenance-free, sealed ball bearings for an ultra-smooth mechanism that effortlessly rotates with the touch of a finger.
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Novel and Innovative Gear Design: Features three separate gears working in harmony for optimal mixing, distribution, and fluffing in as little as four spins.
- The Sweeper: This extended-armed gear whips the pins at high velocities slicing through any clumps in its path.
- The Scrambler: This short-armed gear bounces the pins back and forth across the basket to scramble and mix the grounds, ensuring even distribution and a level bed.
- The Edge Dancer: This small gear pushes and pulls grounds near the edge for complete basket coverage.
- Precision Pins with Plenty of Spares: Utilizes 10x, 0.25mm diameter pins to trace dozens of hypotrochoids and epitrochoids, distributing and fluffing espresso grounds in your portafilter basket. 20x pins are included in every order.
- Adjustable Needle Length: Features the ability to adjust the needle length for a custom fit with virtually any portafilter basket depth.
- Magnetic Portafilter Attachment: Equipped with 9 powerful neodymium magnets to enable one-hand operation on most* portafilter baskets. It auto-aligns for a secure grip, ensuring consistent and efficient distribution every time.
- Efficient Distribution: Spirographic mechanical motion ensures consistency and fluffs grounds in seconds, providing a uniform and level espresso bed. Ideal for commercial cafés where every second counts!
*Note: The magnetic portafilter attachment works best on baskets that attract magnets. For non-magnetic baskets, two-handed operation may be necessary.
Set-Up and Use
- Install 10 pins by inserting them into the holes in the gears. If a pin hole is hard to reach, try rotating the tool a bit so that the gears move into a new position. You can also remove the adjustment sleeve to get better access to the pin holes. Be careful here and take your time. Our pins come with a flat-tip, but they are still pokey!
- With your portafilter basket empty, place the tool inside of the basket to determine if you need to adjust the pin height on the tool. Holding the tool under a bright light will help significantly. If an adjustment is needed, hold the jam nut and rotate the adjustment sleeve until you reach your desired height. Then tighten the jam nut against the adjustment sleeve to lock its position.
- Fill your portafilter with espresso grounds and place the tool on top. You will notice a white circle around one of the pin holes. The tool can be rotated until the white circle is closest to the edge of the tool. In this configuration, the pins are furthest away from the edges and the tool is easier to place on your portafilter without a pin getting caught outside the basket.
- Spin the tool 4-8 times, no need to overdo it. After the final spin, hold the tool on top of the portafilter and give the portafilter a few light taps on the counter to settle the grounds. Give the tool 1-2 more final slow spins and gently remove it from the portafilter basket.
- Place the tool in its stand, tamp your grounds, and go brew some espresso.
Watch the set-up and use video below. Note: The video features our original ARO Orbit™, but the set-up is the same for the new PRO version featured in this listing.
What's in the Box?
- ARO Orbit PRO™ gear mechanism with adjustable pin height sleeve
- Stand for storage
- 20x pins (0.25mm diameter*), including two pin storage tubes
Compatibility
See image below for more details!
- 58mm
- 55mm (La San Marco/Dalla Corte)
- 54mm (Breville/Sage Barista)
- 53mm (La Spaziale/9Barista)
- Cafelat Robot*
Note: The magnetic portafilter attachment works best on baskets that attract magnets. For non-magnetic baskets, two-handed operation may be necessary.
If you have a different type or size of portafilter, please contact us. We plan to offer additional options to increase compatibility in the future, so please let us know what you're using.
*The ARO Orbit PRO that is compatible with the Cafelat Robot includes extra-long, 0.35 mm diameter pins to reach to the bottom of the tall Cafelat professional and pressurized baskets. You’ll receive two packs of 10 pins; each pack contains eight 87mm long pins and two 77mm long pins. Place the two shorter pins in the outermost holes on the largest gear—these holes are angled outwards which ensures the grounds at the basket’s edges are fully mixed in for complete coverage.
Care and Maintenance
For daily maintenance, simply brush off any loose grounds and/or wipe clean with a cloth. When it's time for a more thorough cleaning, remove the pins, sleeve, and lock nut from the gear mechanism. Wipe down the gear mechanism with a damp cloth while avoiding getting water inside the rotating parts. The pins, sleeve, lock nut, and stand may be hand washed with lukewarm water and soap. Be sure to rinse well, and dry immediately. The ARO Orbit PRO™ is not dishwasher safe.
The three small gears are additively manufactured from PLA – keep away from extreme heat. Do not store on top of your espresso machine.
Other Useful Info
Total height of the tool when placed in its stand is 71mm (in its shortest configuration).
The outside diameter of the 58mm stand is 76mm. For the 55mm, 54mm, 53mm sizes, and Cafelat Robot version, the outside diameter of the stand is 70mm.
The pins are 55mm long and have a diameter of 0.25mm.
The gears can be removed using a 1.5mm allen key inserted through the center holes. Proceed with caution as reassembling requires the gears to be attached with a specific orientation. Please contact us for further details!
The Cafelat Robot version includes an extra tall, matte-black, 3D printed plastic stand designed to hold the longer pins. Its weighted base keeps everything stable, and the integrated catch tray neatly collects stray grounds for a tidier workspace. All other versions come with an aluminum stand.
I have already tested several WDT tools over a longer period of time. The ARO Orbit pro is by far the best of all, even the slightly higher price was worth it. i can only recommend buying it.
When this came out I was really excited to purchase it because my former spirographic WDT tool (different manufacturer) made of 3d printed plastic was starting to fall apart. I do really appreciate the aluminum construction because I don't have to worry about it breaking as easily but am disappointed to see some of the key features present in other tools (including my previous one) missing.
First of all, the tool simply sits and does not firmly secure into the base or onto the portafilter (using magnets or preferably a twist mechanism). This makes it more of a hassle to use, and it can be easily knocked off. Additionally, there is no finger guide to make spinning a breeze, and the little divets all around the top component are not deep enough. Anyone who has spent time using spirographic tools knows that the speed at which you spin them should be neither too fast nor too slow or you will still end up with clumping. Going at the proper speed with this device is a bit of a pain because my finger easily slips so I have to apply just the right amount of pressure to the side.
Hope these improvements are made in future iterations. Sadly not sure I will get to experience it anyway because these things have gotten so expensive.
I have a Cafelat Robot, which has a very tall basket. This limits the WDT tools that can be used to make an even and flat puck. Enter the ARO Orbit PRO for the Cafelat Robot. Thanks to Nate for making this work with the Cafelat Robot basket and for the excellent customer service. The magnets work well to keep the basket attached and the gears are very smooth. I now consistently get a nice, even, and flat puck, which was challenging for me with the Cafelat Robot's tall basket. The storage base is great, too. Thanks Nate!
I have both full plastic and aluminium versions. Even if the internal gears are still made of plastic, action is smooth and performs as good as similar expensive sphirographic distribution tools at a fraction of the cost.
Love this tool! It moves super smoothly. Couple things though..
1) the magnets aren't quite strong enough, I seem to constantly push the device off my filter. It doesn't seem to fit as snugly as the 3d printed version with the square brackets. There's nothing to stop the main body from spinning on the filter.
2) the lip on the storage base needs to be a bit higher, it feels like it's gonna fall off.
3) There's a couple different ways I spin this. First is by grabbing the ring and spinning it, and Second is by placing my finger on top and going in circles. Placing the finger on top does help it stay in place better, it would be maybe nice if there were a couple 'finger' indentations on the top that you could do this with. Grabbing it and spinning is difficult due to the fact there are no square indentations to prevent the main body from spinning also.
Hi Michael,
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback! We're glad to hear you're enjoying it!
Regarding the magnets, the issue you're experiencing is likely due to the basket you're using. Some baskets do not attract magnets well, which can reduce the hold. In cases where the basket doesn’t attract magnets strongly, two-handed operation may be necessary for optimal use.
We appreciate your suggestion on the storage base lip height and the idea of adding finger indentations for spinning. Both are great points that we’ll take into consideration for future iterations! Thanks again for your support and for helping us refine our designs.