Spalted Maple peppermill

[Roger Chandler]

I looked at the peppermills that Bernie posted yesterday evening. I have had some pepper mill kits in the shop for over 3 years. Some 10" kits and some 8" kits...........I had been thinking for a while about trying to do one again......his got me fired up a little, so I gave it a go.....I have only made one previous to this one........and had the same issue trying to drill the hole centered.........seems my drill bit wants to wander during the drilling process...:mad:....I even got a more heavy duty jacobs chuck, but it did not seem to help much! :(

Anyway, for my second one, I am a bit disappointed with it. First off, I did not get the form like I wanted.......I think it is too elongated and lacks the curve I wanted to get, but I had punky wood I had to turn away, so it left my blank a little more narrow than I wanted, so that affected the curve.....I wanted more of a bulb towards the bottom....I think an 8 inch one would have been better proportionally. Some of the issues were because of the wood being punky, etc. so that left me with options that were less than perfect.....oh well, tis' the nature of turning!

A member of our club and fellow creeker Dale Winburn does a very similar style to this, but his looks much better! I guess I need to get a few under my belt in order to get my form the way I envisioned it. Now you have heard my critique on my second peppermill........what is yours?

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[Roger Chandler]

Here is one Dale made.......http://winburn.net/StoreImages/PM12023_1.jpg

Then the one I made...258831

...you can see Dale's has a more pleasing curve to it.....both are 10 inch peppermills. Just thought I would put them both up so you could see what I was referring to on the form.

[Roger Chandler]

Anyone have any tips on drilling the blank straight for the peppermills? I seem to get a rotational wobble with my extension for the forstner bit in use. Seems the hole gets off center, even if I try to hold the bit firmly with my hand while advancing it with the tailstock.

[Jerry Marcantel]

Roger, looking at the picture of your mill that you say doesn't have the curve you wanted looks ok to me, until I look at the shadow. It almost looks like a straight right side, but the left side looks great to me..
As far as drilling straight the length of the chamber, don't worry about it. Make yourself a stepped jamb chuck with 1 1/16"od x 3/8"long. Turn a shoulder at least 1 3/16 od. Drill out the chamber of the mill to the required depth. Cut the top from the bottom, and set aside. Set up the jamb chuck on the lathe, put the bottom of the mill into the jamb chuck, and the upper portion of the mill will be at the tailstock. Prep the upper portion to the desired size you're looking for. Remove the bottom of the mill from the lathe, install the top into your chuck, drill out the 1/4" hole, and turn the tenon to fit the mill chamber. Remove the top from the lathe, reinstall the jamb chuck, put the bottom onto the jc, put the top onto the mill body, bring up the tailstock, and turn to your desired shape. Everything should be centered and not out of round. ... Clear as mud, huh Roger??? ............. Jerry

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, looking at the picture of your mill that you say doesn't have the curve you wanted looks ok to me, until I look at the shadow. It almost looks like a straight right side, but the left side looks great to me..
As far as drilling straight the length of the chamber, don't worry about it. Make yourself a stepped jamb chuck with 1 1/16"od x 3/8"long. Turn a shoulder at least 1 3/16 od. Drill out the chamber of the mill to the required depth. Cut the top from the bottom, and set aside. Set up the jamb chuck on the lathe, put the bottom of the mill into the jamb chuck, and the upper portion of the mill will be at the tailstock. Prep the upper portion to the desired size you're looking for. Remove the bottom of the mill from the lathe, install the top into your chuck, drill out the 1/4" hole, and turn the tenon to fit the mill chamber. Remove the top from the lathe, reinstall the jamb chuck, put the bottom onto the jc, put the top onto the mill body, bring up the tailstock, and turn to your desired shape. Everything should be centered and not out of round. ... Clear as mud, huh Roger??? ............. Jerry


I am going to have to read this several times to get a mental picture of what you are saying, Jerry! :D Would you repeat that? :rolleyes:

That shadow is lying! It is the same on both sides! :D It is not that I don't know how to make one of these, Jerry........my issue is the bit wants to wander off center when I use the extension with it.......maybe I need a longer shanked bit? I have seen others drill with no issues and some drill and have the bit wander off center like mine did.........any explanations on why and how to avoid the problem entirely?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking mill Roger. Love the wood and form. On my bodies Roger I turn a tenon on each end which means the body is slightly longer than needed. Roger I drill a 1 5/8" hole a 1/2" deep on one end. On that same end I drill half way or just a little more thru the body at 1 1/16". I then put the other end in the chuck and drill from the other end till I am thru. If they are slightly off who cares because it is inside. I then turn off the tenon on the end with the 1 5/8" hole and mount the chuck in expansion mode in that hole with a piece of inner tube on the chuck jaws so they won't leave any marks. Once that is done I fit the top to the hole I drilled. Then I bring up the tailstock and shape.

[Roger Chandler]

Great looking mill Roger. Love the wood and form. On my bodies Roger I turn a tenon on each end which means the body is slightly longer than needed. Roger I drill a 1 5/8" hole a 1/2" deep on one end. On that same end I drill half way or just a little more thru the body at 1 1/16". I then put the other end in the chuck and drill from the other end till I am thru. If they are slightly off who cares because it is inside. I then turn off the tenon on the end with the 1 5/8" hole and mount the chuck in expansion mode in that hole with a piece of inner tube on the chuck jaws so they won't leave any marks. Once that is done I fit the top to the hole I drilled. Then I bring up the tailstock and shape.

Thanks Bernie........your description is helpful! I followed a similar path as you, only I did not put a tenon on both ends........maybe that would have helped me..........I will give it a try, and by drilling from both ends it should eliminate the wobble. Also.......what size chuck jaws do you use on yours to be able to use expansion mode?

[BILL DONAHUE]

Looks very good to me and it appears that it would feel good in the hand. Nice piece of wood and a good job of craftsmanship.

[Roger Chandler]

Looks very good to me and it appears that it would feel good in the hand. Nice piece of wood and a good job of craftsmanship.

Thanks Bill.......you are kind! The fact that I had to remove so much punky wood from this made the form without pleasing curves in my opinion....maybe I will have better luck on the next one......I still have some of this piece of wood left......I may go for an 8 inch one next go round.

[Jerry Marcantel]

[QUOTE=Roger Chandler;2091508]I am going to have to read this several times to get a mental picture of what you are saying, Jerry! :D Would you repeat that? :rolleyes:


I'll do better, Roger, I'll post pictures in sequence on the above discription later today with the jamb chuck I made for making my mills centered. Right now I'm heading out to a machine shop to turn some 5 locking knobs for the 5 live center steadies that I just made.......... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Roger Chandler]

[QUOTE=Roger Chandler;2091508]I am going to have to read this several times to get a mental picture of what you are saying, Jerry! :D Would you repeat that? :rolleyes:


I'll do better, Roger, I'll post pictures in sequence on the above discription later today with the jamb chuck I made for making my mills centered. Right now I'm heading out to a machine shop to turn some 5 locking knobs for the 5 live center steadies that I just made.......... Jerry (in Tucson)

Super Jerry! I thought about asking for something last night with pics.......it would be neat to see your process! Thanks!

[Pat Scott]

Roger I agree with you that the mill could use more curve. The neck area where you hold it looks thick to me. If you reduced this diameter by 1/4" or so it would make a big difference in the shape. Doesn't matter if you drilled a 1" or 1-1/16" hole through the middle, you could reduce the neck to 1-5/8" and still end up with 1/4"+ thick walls (which is plenty strong).

If you had to reduce the overall diameter of the mill due to punky wood, then definitely make an 8" mill instead of 10". The shape and proportions are not as stretched out (like in a 10" mill), so any changes in the curve appear more dramatic. If you only have a 10" mechanism just cut 2" off the rod and peen the end to make it fit an 8" mill.

Another suggestion is to cut a slight chamfer on the very bottom of the mill where it sits on the table. As you have it now, the sides are straight and it gives the impression of being heavy and clunky and just sitting there. A small chamfer of even 1/8" gives the impression of lift and lightness (or more elegance).

Also be careful on the very top where the adjustment nut meets the wood to not go too small of diameter with the wood. I make this area 1/2" which gives about 1/16" all around the nut. I look for a smooth flow and transition (green line) from the nut to the wood. In your picture the nut looks bigger than the wood and there is a step in this area which doesn't look right. Look how Dales mill has the knob flowing smoothly into the top.
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As for drilling the hole, don't try and go all the way through from one end to the other in one shot - even if your bit and extension is capable. Like Bernie said, drill 1/2 way and turn it around and drill the other half. If your tenon is good, if the blank is running true, if your bit is sharp and you go slow and clear chips, they will meet in the center of the body with at worse just a slight mismatch. I don't always make a tenon - if the blank is running true and the end is perfectly square or slightly undercut, the blank will sit flat against the jaws. Any jaw marks are turned away during shaping (after the center is drilled).

Before you start drilling with the forstner bit, make a small V at the center of the blank. This V is for the tip of the forstner bit to start in. Without it, the tip can be deflected off center which is then compounded the deeper you go. You saw the futility in trying to hold the bit and keep it from wobbling! Go slow, back out the bit often and blow out chips, use a good quality forstner bit (maybe invest in a carbide bit), and your results will improve. Drilling into end grain is tough work.

If you use an extension, use the shortest extension that you can get by with. The longer the extension the more flex there can be which contributes to wandering. Craft Supplies sells an Apprentice Drill Bit Extender in 6" length for $12 (6" is long enough when you drill from both ends). This extender is stout with a 3/4" diameter shaft. Think no flex. The downside is the shaft is 3/4", but the part that fits in a Jacobs chuck is 3/8"! If you have a big enough chuck you can cut off the 3/8" part and grab it by the 3/4" shaft. But as it is, it's a heavy duty extender.

Nice wood, and for only your 2nd or 3rd mill good job. A few tweaks here and there will elevate it to the next higher price bracket!

Just read Thom's post and remembered that I forgot to say I use Extended Dovetail Jaws instead of a jam chuck.

[Thom Sturgill]

Maybe I can state Jerry's suggestion a little clearer. Or at least part of it.

Turn a piece of waste wood with a tenon to fit your chuck and a cylinder 1 1/16" diameter about 2" long. This is your jamb chuck. Drill the blank as normal. but stop half way (at least 2" deep). remove it from the chuck and install the jamb chuck in the chuck. Force the blank onto the jamb chuck and finish drilling from the other end. If the two holes don't line up perfectly - so what? Sand any sharp ridge off. Finish the piece as normal.

[Roger Chandler]

Thanks for the pointers everyone........much appreciated!

[Roger Chandler]

Well, I took this peppermill to our club meeting this morning for the show & tell.......Dale Winburn was there and told me how he does his and says he gets the drilling difficulty once in a while on some of his as well.

Even though I was not happy with my effort on this because the drilling went off center a bit, and I was not able to nail the form like I wanted because of having to take off too much wood that was punky..........

I had several compliments on it, and two turners requested if they could have it. The one who I gave it to was one of our lady turners......she grabbed it while the guy who mentioned it first was asking.....:eek:....I just though it was funny! She said, "this is not coming out of my hands!" ....so I guess that settled that! :D

I guess all's well that ends well! ;)