Spice Mill Blank Segmenting - Separating Material

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civilwartalk

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I've been doing pepper mills for a while, and sold a fair number, and I just got a table saw, I'm getting ready to make a sled for it to cut segments to make blanks...

I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen any separating material used in this style of blank? I don't recall seeing anything like that in the peppermill turnings I've seem before...

Can Vulcanized paper be used? Can aluminum sheeting be used successfully? Any other material I should consider? I don't want to body of the mill to break apart upon use....

I'm assuming epoxy is still the way to go with these segment separators if used....

Just curious what's been done on this scale. I don't want to use a material that will compromise the integrity of the mill.
 
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farmer

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Make the pepper mill around some kind of tubing .
Make all your segmented parts into washers and spacers and stack the segmented parts around the tube.
 

civilwartalk

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Make the pepper mill around some kind of tubing .
Make all your segmented parts into washers and spacers and stack the segmented parts around the tube.
Yes, ok, like a 1 inch pipe? That sounds like a great idea, I didn't think about that, but that's similar to how I've stacked segmented pen blanks so that makes sense!
 

jttheclockman

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Now before you go doing that you have to think that through. What is a basic peppermill and how is it constructed. Is the pipe or mill itself going to be a part of the construction in that the rings or segments will be always adhered to this?? Because if not then I would stay away from materials that do not adhere well to themselves such as metals and acrylics. Wood to wood is always the favorite when it comes to things like that for building. Use proper wood glues.
 

civilwartalk

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Now before you go doing that you have to think that through. What is a basic peppermill and how is it constructed. Is the pipe or mill itself going to be a part of the construction in that the rings or segments will be always adhered to this?? Because if not then I would stay away from materials that do not adhere well to themselves such as metals and acrylics. Wood to wood is always the favorite when it comes to things like that for building. Use proper wood glues.
Yeah, I was going over that last night, I usually make a 1-1/8" hole all the way through the body blank on my mills, so that's my bored out size. I'm thinking I'll use a 7/8" or 3/4" pipe so I'll have enough meat inside the blank to bore a smooth hole inside. The pipe is basically an armature to hold everything straight, and in line.

My plan was to either use paste wax, wax paper, or both on my pipe so it slides out after the glue cures. Already set out a test piece to see what glues stick to my iron pipe treated with paste wax, will need to wait till it cures to see if it slides off easy or hard.

My alternative plans, and I'm a plan maker, is either to stack the rings in my lathe chuck and just glue one ring at a time using the tailstock to center and hold the ring in place, or I glue my stack on a wood dowel, then just drill the dowel all the way out.

Was going to use Titebond II or III if it was wood to wood, or epoxy if it's wood to metal.

I'm still not clear if wood glue works on vulcanized paper, I guess some testing on that is in order...
 

civilwartalk

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Wood to wood is always the favorite when it comes to things like that for building.
The more I consider what you are saying, I think I'm going to keep my first few segmented mills as all wood construction.

I'll see how it goes from there.... Then maybe I'll mess with separators, and I guess I can always use a veneer if I want to.
 

jttheclockman

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Mike, the reason I asked is first I do not make them but do understand segmenting things a little. If there is a container that get slid into the large hole you drill then the pieces have something to adhere to. Like a pen tube when they are segmented and different materials are used as separators. But I would never build a pen that was kitless that has separators such as metals in it or varied materials such as paper or acrylics with wood as main body. Yes epoxy is a good adhesive but it will not keep parts separating if dropped and that is what I believe may happen with your project. Wood to wood has a better chance because the fibers will intertwine when glued using wood glues such as Titebond II. But remember endgrain and gluing is not the strongest of joints. I could be wrong and maybe others have done what you are asking and found this not to be a problem. Just giving you my opinion. Good luck.
 

jttheclockman

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I have done some easy segmenting on peppermills. I also used aluminum successfully. I just did it like a giant pen blank. I found it easier to do the bigger blanks over pen blanks.
Is there an insert that the blank is glued to like a pen blank? As I mentioned if this be the case than that helps support the joints. But if there is no extra help than a simple drop can destroy that joint in a quick motion. Same goes with a pen. Things that are handled and used more than just display are subject to these dangers when segmenting. Just something that needs to be thought about. Making fancy segmented bowls and plates fall into this category too. Just displaying is another story.
 

Joebobber

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No but i do sand and then clamp every cut and let it fully cure. I know what you are talking about, which has happened to me before as well, but I haven't had a problem yet when sanding the cut so the fit is perfect and clamping it.
 
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I've made and sold about 200++/- pepper mills... I prefer the crush grind mechanism as it's easier to work with.

To do my segmented mills, I generally line up a series of different woods into about a 12 x 14 inch block, then cut the block on a slat so I get several species of wood in my mills.... I use a 3 x 12, 13 or 14 inch board. This will give you a kind of swirl pattern down the length of the mill.
As for glue, I use Titebond glues, whichever one I have handy.... they will all work pretty much equally.
I've used the stack method a couple of times, but not my preference for segmenting.
You can see my current inventory on my ETSY site at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TellicoTurnings
 

jttheclockman

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I've made and sold about 200++/- pepper mills... I prefer the crush grind mechanism as it's easier to work with.

To do my segmented mills, I generally line up a series of different woods into about a 12 x 14 inch block, then cut the block on a slat so I get several species of wood in my mills.... I use a 3 x 12, 13 or 14 inch board. This will give you a kind of swirl pattern down the length of the mill.
As for glue, I use Titebond glues, whichever one I have handy.... they will all work pretty much equally.
I've used the stack method a couple of times, but not my preference for segmenting.
You can see my current inventory on my ETSY site at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TellicoTurnings
Chuck I took a look at your site and very nice work. Have a question for you. I see you offer free shipping on everything. How has that been working out for you?? The price of shipping keeps going up these days.
 
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Chuck I took a look at your site and very nice work. Have a question for you. I see you offer free shipping on everything. How has that been working out for you?? The price of shipping keeps going up these days.
It worked out pretty good for a while, but not so good this year... haven't had a sale since January.... thinking about letting the current listings expire and just concentrate on my local booth at the local museum and market place. ... last time I was in the shop about 10 days back I tweaked my shoulder and had some difficulty with it....
 
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