meat grinders?

I'm unhappy with the crush at my LHBS, and I've been looking into alternatives. As a student, I'm on a tight budget, and decent grain mills are on the upper edge of my price range. A friend pointed out that a meat grinder might work. Does anyone have experience using meat grinders, and if so, can you recommend things to look for or avoid?

There is one specific one that I'm looking at, on sale at Princess Auto. It's very similar to the Corona mill, by a company called Power Fist.

if you need cheap but will get the job done find a corona type grain mill.
You can find them all day long for $20 and with a little time adjusting it you can get a great crush. I have hit over 90% eff with one before.

Princess Auto used to sell Corona-style grain mills (their PowerFist line) for $14. That would be your best bet, if you can still find them.

A meat grinder does not operate in the same way as a grain mill. Meat grinders have a rotating blade (normal 4 flutes with carbide tipped blades) and a stationary plate that withholds the meat until it is properly ground. For example a 1/8 inch plate has 1/8 inch holes in it and will produce a fairly coarse sausage grind.

That said, this would not be a good way to go. Corona mill from Ebay is probably the cheapest. Why don't you just ask the LHBS why there crush is not so hot? Maybe they don't even realize it.