I think I'm getting the hang of this

[TellicoTurning]

This is a piece of spalted maple from an old tree that fell in my backyard a couple of years ago... foolish me, I thought it was oak and burned most of it so I could clean up the yard... I saves about 30 pieces though and am starting to work on it... This is another of the crush-grind peppermills... I like these kits... they are more forgiving than the standard... if you're short on the body, you can just cut the shaft to fit.

 

[JDPens]

Wow, that looks really good. Is the gray-green streaks part of the grain or spalting?

 

[DavePowers]

Looks nice. Where did you find the kit for that one?

Dave

 

[TellicoTurning]

Josh,
The grey is part of the spalting.. the line that runds down the side runs through to the other side.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Dave
This is a kit from CSUSA..I think you can buy the kit from any of our suppliers though.

I modified the turning just slightly.. according to the directions, the cap sits flush on the top of the base, but then I got some wobble that I didn't like.. so I cut a tenon on the top of the base to fit into the cap.

 

[bob393]

Very nice!

 

[BigRob777]

Chuck,
Very nice mill. I bought some wood like that from a guy in this forum, without the black line. I just sold my kits, as I don't want to do all that drilling, but I am starting to wish I hadn't. If you want a little constructive opinion, I think you would have a better overall look, with more contour, though you'd have to use a thicker blank. I like the function of the flanged out base, to keep it stable on da table.[]
Rob

 

[TellicoTurning]

Rob,
You are probably right.. but you work with what you have... this particular limb was about 3-1/2 +/- diameter when I started.. by the time I got the bark off and got it round I was working with only a little over 2 inches.. it's drilled pretty close at the base.

here is another that I did from a piece of elm.. it was somewhat larger and I got a better contour. Problem with the elm mill is I followed the directions exactly and the cap fits flush to the base, there is some wobble in the cap... I'm modifying them slightly to put a tenon on top of the base to fit inside the cap and stop the wobble.

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The base on this one is almost 3 in dia.