Peppermill blank question

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Sheumais

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Feb 17, 2010
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Location
South Mills, NC
Yeah, I know... I'm a very inactive member. Chalk most of my inactivity up to being deployed. I haven't stood at a lathe since mid-October. :frown:

Anyway, when I return from this deployment, I'll be staring down the barrel of 2 weeks of leave (and then another 30 days when I transfer to my Twilight Tour in April). I plan on turning out at least 1 pepper mill, and a few salt/pepper shaker sets.

I've read in some places that some woods don't lend themselves to use as peppermills. Oak was labeled as a HUGE no-no, where Maple falls in the "oh, yes, definitely" category.

The question is this... what woods lend themselves best to peppermills or salt/pepper shakers? Obviously, I want to use tight grained woods, like maple, but what are some species that have lots of aesthetic value as well as a tight grain?
 
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I've used cherry, ash, maple, some mystery wood that i think may have been jatoba (Brazilian cherry) and I am currently making a PM from walnut although I have some concerns about the taste of the walnut coming through into the peppercorns. I have an elm blank that I have bought the hardware for.

I don't understand why oak would be a no-no, except for some possible difficulties with getting a good finish on it. Oak is open grain, but certainly would contain the peppercorns with no problem.

One suggestion would be to google 'pepper mill woods' or 'peppermill blanks' and see what woods they are made from.
 
I pretty much use what ever wood I have at hand to do my pepper mills... I do glue ups of some exotics that I buy from a local importer, I use local woods that I harvest here, including oak, walnut, cherry, magnolia, pecan, maple, spalted maple, hackberry and etc etc... only wood I've not used in a pepper mill is cedar... I do think that might give me a problem with the oils and tastes of the pepper corns... maybe not.... you could always seal the inside bore of the mill with a few coats of sealer, lacquer or polyurethane... then probably not a problem with any wood.
 
I've used a lot of different woods and haven't noticed any issues. I'd be a little concerned about the oilier woods (although I'd like to try Olive if it weren't so expensive).

I've heard of some folks using a plastic liner/tube, but I'm not sure where you'd get that.

-Barry
 
hilltopper46 said:
I don't understand why oak would be a no-no, except for some possible difficulties with getting a good finish on it. Oak is open grain, but certainly would contain the peppercorns with no problem.
Click to expand...

Some friends I have in the culinary field tell me that the open grained woods, such as oak, allow too much air to get to the peppercorns. That steered me clear, but now that I think about it, any finish I put on the mill would act to seal the mill. The peppercorns would stay fresh.

hilltopper46 said:
One suggestion would be to google 'pepper mill woods' or 'peppermill blanks' and see what woods they are made from.
Click to expand...

Every time I search, I get osage orange, cherry, and maple. I'd prefer NOT to limit myself to so few choices.
Now that I've thought about what a finish would do for me, my options are limited only by how much I'm willing to spend on blanks. :-)
 
I think I'd just use shellac inside the pepermill, to seal the wood. And shellac is food safe -- candy, pills, all kinds of edible products are coated in shellac.
 
I also have laminated nearly any species you can think of.

I made a LOT of oak mills with no known problems.

Love Cherry, maple is GREAT, I made an olive 10" when I first started, cracked--opened up about a quarter inch (expensive lesson).

If you haven't seen it, I have a pretty good, free tutorial available here: (near the bottom, "peppermill instructional pictorial"
http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=85
 
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I think the only no-no would be for green/wet wood or perhaps the really aromatic things like cedar that might impart unwanted flavor. I've used oak with no issues at all. Any of the burly woods or curly/figured woods can yield a beautiful mill. I did one recently with red mallee burl that's quite striking, so the Aussie burls are a possibility as well. If it's dry, I'd give it a go.
 
There are some woods that are toxic! Seems to me that I remember that cocobolo and zebra wood being two woods that can leach toxins into foods even through sealers. I AM NOT STATING THIS AS COLD HARD FACT, but I do remember reading in some cooking utensil books that some woods should be avoided in making spoons, mills, etc that come into direct contact with food.

Personally, I would NOT use pecan or walnut because so many have such deadly allergy to many nuts these days.

Additionally, I wouldn't use Desert Iron Wood, either. If "that smell" that comes through when turning gets absorber into salt crystals or pepper corns, it might make food taste like DIW smells:)
 
I'd use walnut and pecan, but I'd never let someone with allergies purchase one. Not without something to release me from ANY responsibility!
 
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