Hand coffee grinders are used to grind coffee manually with your hands. The driving force that cranks the blades or burr plates is not an external power source but your own arm. The good thing is that since quality hand crank grinders are made with minimal parts, they are usually around longer than electric appliances.
Whats really remarkable about these hand held devices is that most of these grinders are not made of plastic. Which is why the grounds hopper does not get all the static mess around the walls. They usually have wooden or porcelain grounds hopper.
Of course the only negative point is the manual labor. And most manual grinders come with only one grinding range, that is automatic drip. But there are people who have the time and energy and turn the task into a ritual of sorts. Its true though that the grind from a quality hand grinder will be much more consistent than both a blade grinder or even a basic burr grinder.
Serious coffee drinkers indulge in the hand grinder. Despite the leaps in grinding technology many old fashioned coffee drinkers still invest time on the hand coffee grinder. True the coffee is robust and you do like the fruits of your labor.