Crushgrind Peppermill #3

[BILL DONAHUE]

This is my third attempt at a crushgrind peppermill. It's 9" X 2 3/4" and made from some of Russell Eaton's secret recipe ambrosia maple. To get the curve I wanted it was necessary to ignore the instructions that are out there and use tenons on both sides of the top and base pieces. Of course, that then leaves a bit of a problem matching up the two pieces. Even though I drew the design out first on graph paper I got a little over-aggressive with the curve and the area just below the 3rd bead on the top is only about 1/8" thick. In the future I'll either have to go with a more gentle curve or decrease the hole in the inside to 7/8". Will try to include a photo of the mill with the top extended to show how thin it is. We turners often praise our tools but in this case the praise goes out to Russell Eaton of Woodkiller Designs and the incredibly beautiful wood his land produces. I've never gotten an average piece of wood from him - it's all spectacular.

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[Mark Detrick]

Very nice work. I love the design and the wood is outstanding! What did you use for a finish?

[Stan Smith]

Those are really nice looking. You did a great job!

[Thom Sturgill]

Very nice Bill. I agree that that is a nice piece of wood, and you have a nice design.

I always worry about getting too thin and have thought about drilling a stepped hole to provide more wall thickness in the narrow region. Since I drill from both ends, that should be doable.