Peppermill question

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Justin,

You can make peppermills from 4" to three feet long. The drill bit and Jacobs chuck is about 8" long, sticking out of the tailstock.

So, figgur out what length will work. And yes, if you use a bit extension (6") you will have to slide the tailstock off to clear chips.

So, yes, it CAN be done, albeit not necessarily conveniently.
 
This is the first pepper mill I made. It is 9"-10" and was made on my Jet mini.

It can be done. You just might have to get creative with the drilling.
 

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Ok. Clarify. Are you using forstners? Spade drills? I'm just not seeing it in my mind given how little room I have when turning a pen with a standard length drill bit.
 
A 10 inch mill requires about a 12 inch blank to allow for waste. add the 8 inches at least for a bit and chuck and you are already at your 20 bed length. nothing left for your tail stock. I am not seeing it either.

I have made the 36 inch mill and this is how I got it drilled. I started a hole at the center of each end with a forstner bit. (note I drilled the larger diameter recess at the bottom end then continued to drill that end with the smaller diameter bit). I drilled as deep as the forstner bits would go then switched to an auger bit and extension. the 3 inches of hole that the forstner bit made acted as a rough guide for the auger bit to stay aimed straight through the blank. I drillhalf way through from each end. the holes did not match exactly in the middle but they do not have to. the auger bit I used would easily drill all the way thorugh what remained of a 12 inch blank once the starter holes had been made at each end. I like to use the forstner bit to start the hole at each end because it makes a cleaner hole. I drill on my drill press with the forstner bits but clamp the blank to a bench and use a 1/2 inch hand drill for the auger bit. prepair for a real work out.
 
The answer is a big yes! unless you are going to make a monster like Daniel!
My second mill ,that I made ,was 13 inches finished done on( grizz 1220 vari)
Started at 14.5 inches. turned to round ,then parted the top off ,after cutting all the tendons that I needed. Mounted in chuck ,centered ,then drilled First using bit in Jchuck then adding ext.
Most mill kits are'nt as long as I made mine so you want have any problems drilling,caused by the length of your lathe bed.(you might have to hang your tailstock off the back edge a couple of inches. mine would still lock down in this position.)
Hint; I used a live( chuck) in my tailstock to center piece in the chuck holding my piece on the headstock ,before drilling.
 
Ok. Another question. They recommend 15/16", 1 1/16", 1 9/16", and 1 3/4" forstners, are these the sizes that you guys use on your pepper mills? Or are they too big or too small? According to the Woodcraft instructions, the parts for the crush grind are actually metric, so there may be some slop when using fractional forstners right?
 
Justin, All my mill sets are from P.S.I. I am not at all sure they are the same as the woodcraft kits. As far as the woodcraft set is concerned there are only two places that the size of the hole really matters. at the bottom you want at least a good fit for the grinding mechanism. This is not even a tight fit because there is a bracket that holds the mechanism in place at the top. you want the tenon on the top knob to fit the hole in the top of the mill so there is not a lot of slop. this means snug but will still twist. the top knob is done more in turning the tenon than drilling the hole but you do want that top hole to be a nice clean round hole. otherwise the entire mechanism is simply a rod running through the mill. for the most part the hole serves as a space for the pepper corn to go.
 
The mechanism I have used for years (and we sell on exotics) uses a 1 and 1/16" hole. Penn state sells a forstner bit that size for a few bucks (yes, we will get to adding this to exotics, but its not there yet).

I have a half dozen of their bits, sharpen them right before I start a peppermill and the process has gotten MUCH faster. Remember, when you say you are doing a 14" (pretty big!!) peppermill, the top is 3", so you are only drilling 11" with the bigger hole. Yes, it IS a pain, but they sell well.

Hope this helps.
 
ed4copies said:
The mechanism I have used for years (and we sell on exotics) uses a 1 and 1/16" hole. Penn state sells a forstner bit that size for a few bucks (yes, we will get to adding this to exotics, but its not there yet).

I have a half dozen of their bits, sharpen them right before I start a peppermill and the process has gotten MUCH faster. Remember, when you say you are doing a 14" (pretty big!!) peppermill, the top is 3", so you are only drilling 11" with the bigger hole. Yes, it IS a pain, but they sell well.

Hope this helps.
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I'm going to make one in the shape of a wine bottle for a good friend of mine who...well....likes to imbibe the grapes too much, so it should be good fun. :biggrin:
 
Just a plug for Ed and his mill works. these are considered the finest grinding mechanisms among Chef's. I actually sold three mills on the spot when a couple of people heard me say I used these innards.
 
There was a competition in France in the late 1990's. AT THAT TIME, Chef Specialties was selected as the best mechanism in the world for restaurant use. I was, I believe, their first "guts" customer. I have been a reseller ever since. (Their reseller program was discontinued about 2002, but I am "grandfathered" in).
 
jleiwig said:
Ok. Another question. They recommend 15/16", 1 1/16", 1 9/16", and 1 3/4" forstners, are these the sizes that you guys use on your pepper mills? Or are they too big or too small? According to the Woodcraft instructions, the parts for the crush grind are actually metric, so there may be some slop when using fractional forstners right?
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Those sound correct. I use the crush grind ceramic mechanism that CSUSA sells, which I believe is manufactured by chef specialities.

Just remember to use low rpms, drill slow, and clean out the hole often. I actually drilled a 5/8" hole down the middle early on so the chips had somewhere to go as I was drilling. The risk you run doing this though is that a forstner bit can stray easier.
 
I 2nd what Chris just said when using the Crush-Grind mechanisms from CSAUSA. I have made them 12" long on both the JET 1014 and my 1220. I use a 6" extender for my forstner bit to drill most of the body. Like he said go slow and back out frequently to clear chips. But I didn't drill a 5/8" hole, as I think it might interfere with the path of the forstner bit.....
 
And to further stabilize longer ones, I use a homemade steady rest (utilizing such high tech additions as rollerblade wheels mounted to glued and screwed two piece plywood circle and adjustable arms for the wheels and mounted to the lathe bed with toggle bolts through a scrap - it works).
 
jasonbowman said:
And to further stabilize longer ones, I use a homemade steady rest (utilizing such high tech additions as rollerblade wheels mounted to glued and screwed two piece plywood circle and adjustable arms for the wheels and mounted to the lathe bed with toggle bolts through a scrap - it works).
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It's on my list. Hopefully it will rise from the roundtuits section.
 
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