Peppermills

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kentonjm

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Just finished up a few peppermills this weekend.
 

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Really nice looking mills... great design. And love your blanks.did you do the glue-ups yourself?

Although personally, I'm not partial to those that use the top knob... I prefer the Crush/Grind style. I did buy 6 of the multiple sized mills from PSI and so far have made 3 of them... I'll make the other 3 soon, but think I'm going to modify the drilling instructions... the 1 1/16 through hold seems a little small to me. I'll probably go to the 1 9/16 drill bit for the through hole and only drill the 1 1/16 at the bottom for the grinder.
 
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kentonjm

Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2016
Messages
149
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Really nice looking mills... great design. And love your blanks.did you do the glue-ups yourself?

Although personally, I'm not partial to those that use the top knob... I prefer the Crush/Grind style. I did buy 6 of the multiple sized mills from PSI and so far have made 3 of them... I'll make the other 3 soon, but think I'm going to modify the drilling instructions... the 1 1/16 through hold seems a little small to me. I'll probably go to the 1 9/16 drill bit for the through hole and only drill the 1 1/16 at the bottom for the grinder.

Chuck, yes I did make the blanks, the 2 outside ones are Cherry and Maple with a center strip of Walnut. The middle is maple/ Walnut and the other 2 are Maple (left) and Oak (right). I have to say Oak is not usually one of my favorite woods as the grain can be a real pain to work with. I really like how this one turned out although the group shot does not do it justice. here is another view of the better side.

I have a few CrushGrind mechanisms waiting to become mills, do you have any specific tips on those? There seems to be various opinions about glueing them in and whether to cut the tabs off or not.
 

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Really like the oak... nice grain and good design.

On the CG mills, I don't cut the tabs off. After I finish with the drilling, I have a relief tool used in chasing threads that I cut a groove inside the body and inside the top to take the tabs... prevents them from pulling out even if your glue fails. I also use epoxy to glue the grinder and cap piece in place, just as a double precaution.... I've only had one mill fail in 10 years and it was glued with thick CA, not epoxy... it was one of my earlier ones and before I started cutting the tab groove. .

The thing I like about the CG mills, you're not restricted as to your blank size... you can do any thing from a 6" to about 13" with the 10" shafts and if you buy the 18" shafted mills, you can go even larger.

I also only use 3 drill bits instead of the 4 called for... I use the 1 3/4 for the very bottom, then switch to the 1 9/16 and drill through with it. For the top, cut a 3/8 to 1/2" tenon just under 1 9/16 to fit down inside the top of the body and gives the top some stability... the top is drilled with the 15/16 bit for the white piece in the top.

To cut off the shaft, I put the top on the shaft making sure it's down all the way, then measure from the top of the body to the bottom of the top where it will sit on the body, then transfer that measurement from the end of the shaft towards the body, then cut it with a large pair of pliers that has a wire cutter in them, then grind the end of the shaft smooth on my bench top belt sander.

BTW, don't know where you buy your inserts for the crush grinds, but I've found the best prices from Cam Levers out of Canada... even with the Canadian post shipping charges, the per unit price seems to be lowest... plus if you buy 10 or more units, he will throw in 1 more unit.... for me in TN, it makes the unit cost under $15 each when I buy 10 and receive 11.

Here is his link... http://www.crushgrind.us/buy.htm
 
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kentonjm

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Jul 12, 2016
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Location
Phoenix, AZ
Thanks for the input Chuck. I have a to make up some more blanks and then I can give a go to making some more mills with the CrushGrind kits.
 
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