My first Pepper / Salt Mills

[punkinn]

Which I survived the creation of thanks to JimInOakville (thank you again and again, Jim!) and lots of others also who gave suggestions and advice (I had notes written everywhere!)...

Maple burl.

They're not 100% identical in shape, but the flowering on one burl made it almost impossible to shape so I was lucky just not to lose that end of the one mill. They work GREAT too!!

Happy holidays everyone,
Nancy

 

[leatherjunkie]

Nancy,

Those look great.[:0]

someday i will be able to get some wood like this.

love that wood that you used.

Leon

 

[punkinn]

Leon,

Thanks a lot! I got the wood at globalwoodsource.com and for the awesome price of $8 per blank! They were 12 x 3 x 3 or something like that... Global has wonderful wood and if you look (and ask Russ) you can get good prices.

Nancy

 

[Jim in Oakville]

Hi Nancy,

It was my pleasure to help, you did all the work.[]

Honestly when I got your email I walked around with a Huge Smile, ear to ear. Just knowing that you were so happy with the result, but more so what you gave back to me...the feeling of knowing I was able to share and knowing it meant so much to you...I am the one who feels blessed.[]

Now that is a great feeling!

[:I]

 

[bnoles]

Nancy,

Excellent job.... those are beautiful.

I am working my way in the direction of turning my first peper mill and yours is an inspiration to that end.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dario]

Very nice Nancy...I too am planning on making some. Any tips? []

 

[opfoto]

Nancy,

Absolutlely wonderful lookings mills. I wonder if you could share info as well, tools needed etc. I would like to get what is required toolwise beforehand. TIA

Marc

 

[punkinn]

Hey Dario!

Tips... oh geeez I was just relieved to get through these without screwing them up!

Uhh.... measure carefully; measure several times; drill on the lowest lathe speed; call Jim when you panic.... The delux mechanisms from CSUSA are what I used; they work really well.

I know that's not much help, but shoot, I'm still a newbie at anything but pens! []

Merry Christmas to you and Jo and your beautiful little girl.

Nancy

 

[punkinn]

Marc,

I found that I didn't have the forstner bit I needed after it was almost too late; so make sure you have all the sizes listed in the instructions for whatever mill kit you're using, and you may very well need an extension for the forstner bit shank too; even though I drilled as far as I could from one end and then turned around and did the same from the other side (yes, they met in the middle!), I still needed the extension.

That is all you need to consider other than normal turning tools; oh you will need a jacobs chuck to drill, and a chuck that holds tenons from both the outside and inside (I'm not sure of the proper names, sorry). We have a One Way chuck w/ two sets of jaws that I ended up switching back and forth quite frequently (so get used to doing that - I sure learned how in a hurry!). Measure carefully for the overall length of both the body and top piece and you'll be fine.

I really enjoyed doing these; it was the first thing I had really made (other than pens) for my boyfriend and that made them quite special - he liked them, too!

Have fun! I will probably make another set one day.

Best always,
Nancy

 

[Jim in Oakville]

I used a Oneway Talon chuck with spiggot jaws .

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and also one with standard jaws. I happen to have a few chucks so I leave the spiggot's on the Talon and also use a Stronghold, but you can easily switch out the jaws on the Talon to the regular ones.

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Hope this helps