Pepper Mill

[Johnathan]

I'm all ready to make a couple pepper mills, one for a friend (a professional chef), and one for me. I have a piece of 4x4x15 Lace She-Oak, for mine--I can't wait to see this done. Anyway, I've never made one and hate the instructions that came with the Crush Grinder Mechanisms. Is there anyone that can give me a few tips and/or a book they recommend on turning mills. I'll probably turn a cheaper wood first, before I go to the She-Oak. Thanks for the help!

 

[Russb]

http://www.turnwood.net/projects/CrushgrindPeppermills.pdf

http://www.woodturningonline.com/Turning/Turning_projects.html#peppermill

 

[Rudy Vey]

I have made a couple of these, they are actually pretty easy to make, just take care of all the measurements. You can find instructions on either Craft Supplies or Penn States Website.
If you are going to make more than one it makes sense to make some decent jam chucks/drive tenons, they last a number of mills.

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/pdf/crush_grinder.pdf

http://www.pennstateind.com/library/PKCRUSHS.pdf

Print them both out and compare step by step.

 

[Daniel]

Be careful what wood you use, they are a food item. I can't say one way or the other about She Oak but you may want to hunt around and verify it is O.K.
you need to keep this in mind when it comes to finish as well. most waxes and such say if they are food safe.
I have a whole collection of them to get made, if I can ever get back to actually making anything.

 

[Johnathan]

Thanks everyone. I am really hoping to find a book that has more step by step with photos. I can use all the information that you have given so thank you!

 

[Randy_]

I bought one of those crush mills from CSUSA when they first came out and there were a couple of mistakes in the instructions. I don't know if the problems have been corrected or not. Read the instructions very carefully and make sure you understand them and be sure they do not contradict with other parts of the instruction sheet.(As I recall, there was an error in one of the dimensions on one of the drawings??)

I did a little research when I bought mine and there is some question as to whether the recommended drill sizes are correct or not. Your idea of making up a scrap blank first is a good one so you can verify that the instructions are correct!!!

 

[ed4copies]

Originally posted by Johnathan
<br />Thanks everyone. I am really hoping to find a book that has more step by step with photos. I can use all the information that you have given so thank you!

These mechanisms are pretty new, Johnathan. I have several articles on peppermill making (and I've made a couple dozen over the years), but they are all from the more conventional "pepper grinder".

In fact, I need to turn a few this weekend, I could make some pics for you, but I don't know if they will help with YOUR mechanism.

Let me know, you know my e-mail.

 

[KenV]

Jerry Beall offers a small booklet in his most recent catalogue. About $8 as I remember. He is also selling the ceramic crush grinders. Google on Beall Tools to find it.

 

[Johnathan]

Thanks again everyone.

-Ed any help you can provide will be great!

 

[jeff]

Here's another link you might find helpful.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/turning/trnppml.html

 

[Skye]

David makes some super mills. You may want to contact him for some suggestions:

http://www.willowcreekpeppermills.com/

 

[Johnathan]

Thanks everyone!

Jeff - great link!

Has anyone here made a mill with the Cruch mech?

 

[Randy_]

Post by Ed from another thread:

Since Johnathan said I should help any way I could, I printed CSUSA's instructions on the crush grinder.

The printed dimensions seem to be impossible. But, then, I have never seen the mechanism.

The "Through hole" is listed at 11/16"-this seems too small
The hole in the top is listed at 15/16", but is shown SMALLER than the above through hole. I believe it SHOULD be smaller, but 15/16 is GREATER than 11/16 (yes, I was a math major, since you asked!!)

The bottom recesses are shown as 1 3/4 at the bottom and 1 9/16 for the mechanism-both of which seem feasible.

Although, I would leave 1/2 - 3/4 inch of depth at the bottom, not the 1" shown, but again, I have NEVER SEEN this mechanism.

Has anyone made one, if so, what is WRONG with this picture!!!???

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed
Racine, WI
Failure is just one small step while exploring the path to success.

 

[Randy_]

Jonathan's response:

Tell me about it! I keep looking at the mechanism and plans and can't put the two together in my head. I also only work with pens so the whole pepper mill is a completely new thing to me. I know the "Crush" mech. is one of the best so that's what I went with. Woodcraft's plans for the same mechanism is different than CSUSA, I would love to see a photo guide to building this pepper mill.

 

[Randy_]

Randy's response:

Originally posted by ed4copies

.....The "Through hole" is listed at 11/16"-this seems too small. The hole in the top is listed at 15/16", but is shown SMALLER than the above through hole. I believe it SHOULD be smaller, but 15/16 is GREATER than 11/16.....

Ed: IIRC, that 11/16" dim. is actually supposed to be 1-1/16". I think it is just a peculiarity of the way they printed the numbers and if you look closely, you can see that they were trying for something else......but I agree it is "VERY" confusing. I don't remember what the deal is with the other dimension.....I will have to check my instruction sheet and let you know what is correct. I had already posted in Johnathan's thread about mistakes in the instructions.....looks like CSUSA has not corrected them yet. I sent them an email when I discovered the problem......guess they didn't get it???(not the first time that has happened!!)

 

[Randy_]

Ed's response:

Randy,

THANK_YOU!!!!

I think you are absolutely correct-in fact, I have some mechs that have used a 1-1/16 hole (I remember trying to locate a forstner bit-THAT'S FUN).

IF that is correct, the rest of the measurements actually make sense!

 

[Randy_]

OK, I have to back away from my earlier statement a little. I just looked at the instruction sheet currently posted on the CSUSA web site and they have, in fact, corrected the other mistakes that I detected in the original version. The format of the dimensions is still confusing as evidenced by the existance of this thread; but, at least, they got most of the trouble fixed.

As long as we are discussing this, I went back and looked for my figures on the drill sizes. I started this work because someone made a post that the drill bits recommended by CSUSA were too big. Listed below are the drill sizes called for in the PSI sheet, the CSUSA sheet and the CrushGrind manufacturers sheet and the metric equivalents. As you can see there is some variation. I never assembled my kit so I can't offer any first hand experience; but the guy who posted that the bits were too big had made dozens of them, if not more, and was very emphatic that CSUSA's bit recommendations were too large. The figures I came up with seem to support his thinking.

<b><u>PEPPER MILL BIT SIZES</u></b>

DESC......PSI........METRIC.....CSUSA.....METRIC.....CRUSHGRIND

Top........7/8........22.2..........15/16.......23.8........21.7

Body.......1-1/16....27............1-1/16.....27..........none

Grinder.....1-1/2.....38.1.........1-9/16.....39.7........38.1

Base........1-3/4.....44.5.........1-3/4.......44.5........none

 

[scturner]

Hi guys,

Thought I heard my name mentioned somewhere around here. I'd be happy to try and help with peppermill questions If I can. If you happen to have an issue of Woodturning Design magazine (Spring 2006), I wrote a 6 page step by step article on how I made my first peppermills. Now days I make them all segmented but the basic machanics are pretty much the same.

I've personally never tried one of the new Crush-grind mechanisms but hear they are very good. I'd be interested to hear how these work out and if they grind better that conventional mechanisms. If anyone is interested (letting the cat out the bag), I get my mechanisms from Chef Specialties.com. They are high quality stainless steel and way cheaper than what others ask for mechanisms. Just thought you guys might be interested.

Hey Skye, how's those snakeskin pens coming along? Hope their not biting back at ya[]

Later,