coffee grinder then mortar and pestle.

Is there some reason why a loofa won't do?

Or a good washcloth?

Or how about plain old fashioned sand? I mean if you want tiny sharp stuff like ground up nuts wouldn't sand would be a cheap easy alternative You do know that nut shells are so harsh that they are used as a sand blasting compound with some advantages over sand.

Maybe I should ask what it about nut shells that you see as somehow worth all the effort of grinding 'em up just to abrade your skin.

Which leads me to wonder why any one would want to do that in the first place.

I mean won't the dead cells just fall off on their own and wouldn't one prefer not to dislodge the living ones while they are still useful?

You can probably guess that this exfoliation stuff has really got me as tad confused.

You would have to mill them.. The most primitive would be a rock with a channel worn into it with a somewhat similar shaped stone to push across it. Many cultures still use them to grind corn. Here in the Southwest you still see them on occasion at various swap meets and farmers markets.

Not up to the labor... you do the next step up... 2 stone disks one with grooves the size of material you need the other flat. Hook up a mule to an extended arm and walk him around in a circle. This was a huge tech leap by western man in the milling of various materials.

The problem with your basic coffee grinder... Not strong enough and no consistency control... a coffee burr grinder will smoke on ya as well.

That means it is gonna get pricy cause you are looking for a fairly specialized machine.

So where does that leave you. I would consider buying preground seed grit... I have seen it at health food stores. You can replace coffee grinders <the expensive types> repeatedly. Or you can try to use a rotory grinder and end up with a burned out motor and razor sharp shards.

So don't have a cheap answer for you that is easy... But maybe these are things you can look at when trying stuff out.
oh heres a link to a place that sells preground material
www.pinemeadows.net/exfoliates.php


JSin

Set up a belt sander as a grinder so that it spits the ground shell to a container under it. You'll need to attach it to a bench or something, and lock the switch in the on position. Pick up a switch for a router table so that you can turn it on remotely, or otherwise wire up a light switch. So at this point, you place a container under the belt sander, turn it on and proceed to push nut shells into the sand paper. You'll want to use the roughest grit paper you can.
Be carefull not to grind the shell down too far or you'll end up exfoliating your' finger tips of usefull flesh.

How about putting the stuff in a steel container under a few pounds of ANFO and lighting that off.

Even the ANFO is a DIY project.



I'm still wondering why nut shells are desirable over other things and I'm still curious about the whole exfoliation thing.

almond shells are pretty fiber-y...I'm not sure they would work as well as walnut or apricot seed shells. Good luck, though. If you have really dry skin you might try using less soap or moisturizing more, or not shaving. Shaving and soap dry the hell out of skin, but a good salve or NATURAL lotion can help a lot. Excess exfoliation causes microscarring which eventually reduces the elasticity of the skin.