Wood Selection For Projects

[Mike Goetzke]

(Sorry to bother with lots of questions as a new turner but I always get good info here.)

I'm trying to make my first salt & pepper mills. My wife picked out two 3" x 3" x 12" wood blanks Marblewood and Zapote at Woodcraft that the salesman said were specifically made for mills. Last night I turned them round between centers and noticed the blanks seemed a little damp (although these blanks are both beautiful wood). Sure enough one was at 17% and the other 20% MC. A creeker that has been helping me prepare for making the mills told me to put them in a paper bag with the turned chips - and I did this. This morning I called Woodcraft and they acted like it's normal to make a mill like you turn a bowl - rough cut green then let set till dry and finish cut. He said to cut a hole through the middle so it would dry from inside and out. I said first off the top doesn't get a through hole and that if I cut a small hole through the middle it will be difficult to center the larger diameter holes required for the Crushgrind mechanism. He claims many do it this way. After much coaxing he did say I could return them for dryer blanks but warned that nobody kiln dries 3" thick wood and all may be wet.

I did search the forum and most will not turn wet wood for a mill but some have no problems. Is it common to turn mills from wet wood or should I take them back?


Thanks,

Mike

[Scott Hackler]

Your mills should be turned from DRY wood. You will not like the movement and the fact that the top and bottom will not match up and possibly lock together when the wood dries "out of round". But that being said, you can make mills out of wet wood, if you rough the blanks and dry them first. Without a kiln and/or a hole drilled through the middle, it will take a while for a blank to dry out. Think 6-12 months for a 3" thick blank. Also know that ALL of the wax covered blanks sold at Woodcraft should be considered wet, because they are just that!

[Mike Goetzke]

Your mills should be turned from DRY wood. You will not like the movement and the fact that the top and bottom will not match up and possibly lock together when the wood dries "out of round". But that being said, you can make mills out of wet wood, if you rough the blanks and dry them first. Without a kiln and/or a hole drilled through the middle, it will take a while for a blank to dry out. Think 6-12 months for a 3" thick blank. Also know that ALL of the wax covered blanks sold at Woodcraft should be considered wet, because they are just that!

Thanks - I most likely will return these. Yes they were covered in wax.

Mike

[Tim Rinehart]

Mike, I agree with Scott as well on this. When you go back, either take your moisture meter or make sure the piece was kiln dry, which should be typically evidenced by it not being wax coated. The comment from person at WC that no one kiln dries 3" thick wood is untrue. I often kiln dry up to 3" square stock in my dishwasher based kiln. It does require a bit more care and easing up to temperature, but it's definitely doable. I wouldn't risk it on an exotic without some expectation of possible cracking unless I've had good results with drying it.
Good luck with your mills!

[Scott Hackler]

Mike, understand that most of the "exotic" woods will be wet. Drying is not too bad IF you plan ahead. I was fortunate to find kiln dried quilted maple in the correct size so I bought a bunch of it and make 100% of my mills with it. One option would be to buy kiln dried oak banister posts from the big box stores.

If you search "Dna drying methods" you can learn about how to speed up the drying process, so that might help. Good luck.

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike, understand that most of the "exotic" woods will be wet. Drying is not too bad IF you plan ahead. I was fortunate to find kiln dried quilted maple in the correct size so I bought a bunch of it and make 100% of my mills with it. One option would be to buy kiln dried oak banister posts from the big box stores.

If you search "Dna drying methods" you can learn about how to speed up the drying process, so that might help. Good luck.

Funny you mention the oak. I was going to make some trial mills with a 26" post that a friend gave my 10 years ago. It is 4" square for most of the length down to about 2-3/4". It does have a hole drilled in one end but could probably hide that with a inset colored piece of wood for the top.

Mike

[Scott Hackler]

Yep. I only mention Oak because it is readily available at most big box stores in the form of a kiln dried stair post. The store bought ones wont have the hole, but I wouldn't worry about the hole in the stock you have. I always put a blackwood "dot" in the top of my pepper mills for a decoration and to know that it is a pepper mill and not a salt mill (which I also made to use with sea salt).

[Pat Scott]

I would keep your two blanks for future use, and let them start drying. If you go by the old saying of "1 year per inch plus a year", this means the blanks won't be ready to turn for a while. You've already knocked off the corners which removes a lot of excess wood, which is a good first step. I usually don't do that (ie: lazy), but I don't touch a 3x3 blank for a minimum of 3 years just to be safe. I plan ahead and have now accumulated hundreds of peppermill blanks from which to choose.

Moisture meters will only read down to 3/4", so even if you take your meter with you to Woodcraft, you won't be measuring the center of the blank. The outside might show 10%, but the inside moisture is a guess. I do not drill out a center hole, as when the blank dries and moves, the hole won't be centered or round. If you do want to drill a hole, maybe drill a 1/2" or 3/4" hole. Then when you re-turn the blank to final dimensions, you should have enough wood to drill your 1" hole. When drying, the inside hole won't get air movement like the outside, but I guess any bit helps.