Salt and Pepper Mills

[Rob Price]

Okay, first attempt at mills. Used the crush grind mechanism from CSU. I had some white oak burl a friend gave me a year ago that I originally intended for a band saw box- then I got the lathe and there was just enough for a couple of mills. Originally, to differentiate between salt and pepper, and to reinforce the bottom, I planned on using a piece of walnut/maple on the bottom of each. The burl isn't too punky, but it's soft enough I was afraid it wouldn't hold up over time, so I felt like it needed a more solid base, plus it helps me set them apart. But then, I got a little aggressive boring out the center 1" hole and got the forester bit stuck in the wood- pulled right out of the extension. The only way I could get it out was to drill out from the top, except in my hurry I forgot to cut off the top of the mill. Once I figured out I had a hole in the top of my mill I decided to put a cap on top to match the bottom as well. Otherwise, the original plan was not to have walnut/maple on the top. I also had a good bit of drift boring the salt mill, when I tried to true it up the maple bottom was way crooked, so I had to part it off, glue on a new piece, and bore it out again. I lost a little height in the process. When I centered it up from the top and bottom holes the mill ended up 1/4" thinner than the pepper mill. Also probably should have made the piece with spalting the pepper piece. Oh well. Lessons learned like any new project. I think next time I'll differentiate the pieces with different sizes/shapes if I use the same wood.

Finished with ~4 coats of shellac sealer, and 7 coats of General Finishes WTF (5 coats, wet sanded with 1500, 2 more coats, polished with Behlens Buffer's polish) I'm beginning to get the hang of the WTF and I really like it. Enough talk, here are the pics. Critiques appreciated.

EDIT: Pepper is ~8" tall, 2 3/4" wide

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Jk3k3M7BKj4/T625PEhkE5I/AAAAAAAABto/Z2H0FjCgpRM/s800/IMG_2110.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J79XfcHs3uA/T625QZbvPaI/AAAAAAAABtw/5zAZ8nnuAQk/s800/IMG_2116.JPG

[Bernie Weishapl]

Those are beauties Rob. I like the wood and how you used the different wood to distingish salt and pepper. The finish is spot on.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Rob, a very nice set. I'm thinking from the pics that they would be very comfortable to hold. I have yet to make a set but it's on my list.

[Kathy Marshall]

Very nice set Rob! The different woods on top and bottom make them easy to distinguish, and they go well with the burl.
To help avoid to much drift, I drill from both ends and meet near the center. A little drift wont be a problem.

[John Keeton]

Rob, that wood is neat, but it does look like it was just about too far gone. You did a great job on getting these to the finish line, and they look great! About the only critique I could offer would be to work on the smoothness of your concave cuts to get the "sweep" of the curves consistent and smooth. But, that comes with time, and on these you were dealing with the functional issues, too, and those were distracting.

[Rob Price]

Thanks for the comments. I am happy with how the walnut and maple match the color of the wood- I just picked two contrasting woods I had on hand but it works out.

Kathy- I thought about it, I was wondering if any misalignment would affect the shaft position coming out the top hole- probably not enough to make a difference. I saw a video online where the guy drilled all the way through and then using a cone drive and cone tailstock trued the blank up between the holes, so that's what I tried to do. If I do more with the accent pieces, though, I'll go with your approch to keep the laminated parts flat.

John- I'm learning the 'simple' curve isn't as simple as it sounds. I'm not sure I like the tops, I tried to mimic the curves from the base. I didn't want the typical round/spherical knob on top (plus I'm not sure I could pull off a symetrical sphere at this point). It does fit the palm well and my fingers can wrap around the knob, so it's functional. I need to find a form for the top I like better visually. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Jim Burr]

Those are cool Rob! Not a form I've seen before...looks very comfy. Great use of wood to distinguish between the two!

[Sid Matheny]

They both look great to me! As for the FB hanging, I have done the same before I got the Colt FB's. Glad you were able to save the burl.

Sid

[Curt Stivison]

Great looking mills Rob. I have made some mills that were filled from the bottom. You can add salt and pepper by removing the grinding disc.

Curt