Need info on techniques for turning a peppermill. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Replies
Turn around the hole. :)
By that I mean, drill the full size hole in the blank first them make end jigs to hold the blank with the hole centered on the end stocks.
To drill the hole, make a sliding jig to hold the blank and put the drill bit (forstner?) in a chuck in the head stock. Then push the jig holding the blank into the bit.
That's how I'd do it. Probably a better way though.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
PlaneWood
I'd mount the bit in a chuck in the tail stock with the work piece chucked on the headstock. That, I realize, requires both a chuck for the drill bit and a scroll chuck of some kind to hold the work piece but then you don't have to re-mount the work piece after turning the hole. I never seem to be able to maintain concentricity when I reverse chuck a piece.
Now - question to the originator .... where do you find the hardware for the pepper mill? I'd be interested in doing some mills myself.
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Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
I don't mean to preempt Plane Wood, but I get my pepper mill mechanisms from Woodcraft after trying others (some cheaper). They sell several different sizes and all have stainless steel grinder/mill pieces, and they are actually sets which include parts for both pepper and salt applications. The store where I buy mine also supply copies of instructions, but they are a bit confusing unless you're good at analyzing poorly written copy. I found that the best way to drill out the body was to use a large twist drill in the tail stock rather than a Forstner or spade point drill. You're definitely correct about not moving the workpiece around in the lathe. I've even made jigs to support the piece and allow me to reverse it, but I've never been able to match the position exactly. Actually, I'm writing an article on how to turn a certain style of pepper mill but haven't submitted it to anyone yet. Stay tuned ...
Thanks, Jim & ToolDoc, for the pointers to hardware for the pepper grinders. I've probably seen them in the various catalogs I get periodically but didn't take notice of them at the time since the idea just occured to me that these would make nice projects for the lathe.
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Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Dennis -- If you order the mechanisms from the Woodturners catalog you need to know that they don't work well unless you use small peppercorns which aren't always what's on the shelf at the supermarkets. Otherwise, if you just put any ol' peppercorns in them, the mill won't easily accept them and you'll have to knock them around occasionally to get the corns down into the mill. Makes it look like there's something wrong with what you've done. That's why I went to the more expensive ones that are sold by Woodcraft. The manufacturer or the brands aren't disclosed, so you'd be safe if you just try one and see. Good luck.
Thanks, Jim.
BTW - I noticed in a catalog I got from OneWay, they have a threaded MT#2 tail stock item that allows mounthing your lathe chuck on it (on the tail stock) to facilitate reverse chucking of an item to maintain alignment. In other words, say you turn a spigot or tenon on a piece while on a face plate. Mount the chuck on the tail stock using this setup, bring the chuck up to the tenon or spigot, grab the piece, remove the piece and chuck off the threaded tail stock device, remove the face plate or whatever, mount the chuck on the head stock and according to Hoyle, you should have near perfect alignment.
You wanna be the white rat to try this or do you want me to?
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Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
Nawww...if I buy any more stuff for my lathe I'll feel I have to use it more often and there goes my justification for all that other stuff I got. Sounds good, though, and would go a long way toward solving a particularly tricky problem. Might even mean you could forget using a jam chuck which is never precise. Why don't you get one and tell us how terrific it is...
> ....Why don't you get one and tell us how terrific it is...
hhahahahah....
Nothing money can't solve, - right?
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Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
DENNIS: Here are some sites for you to check out they all specialize in Lathe goodies for you turning types...
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com
http://www.woodcraft.com
http://www.woodworker.com
http://www.packardwoodworks.com
Happy turning......ToolDoc
I have a method for turning ring-pots which might be adaptable to solve your problem. The pot blanks have a pre-drilled 11/2" dia. hole and are mounted on a wood mandrel which is glued into a piece of wood screwed to the face-plate. I cut grooves in this mandrel with a 1/8" parting tool and put a rubber O-ring in each groove and these hold the blank securely while turning.You could let the mandrel come all the way through a pre-drilled hole in the pepper mill blank and support it in the tailstock.
Did you get an instruction sheet with the mechanism? Even so, you may need to make a test with scrap wood to see where you need to modify the recommended approach. It's not as easy as you might think and you may need to buy some assessories for your lathe to do a decent job. I would recommend you order an instruction sheet from the Woodturner's Catalog if you don't have one already. It's only a couple of bucks. In my own case I had to buy a larger cone for the tail stock and a big twist drill to make the cavity for the mechanism. It's too complicated to go into here and several factors depend upon the design you choose for the body and the length of the mechanism. If you get an instruction sheet and still have questions, email me. Jim
Need info on techniques for turning a peppermill. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Usually I hold the peppermill over the top of the pot or plate and turn the top back and forth. A sharp rap on the base helps clear the mechanism and keep your countertop clean... oh, wait, wrong forum. Sorry..... ;-))
...if I had a hammer... oh, wait; I have a hammer... if I had a bigger hammer:))
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