pepper mill ?

[Larry Crim]

have not had much chance to get on the lathe since I got it so was thinking of getting in some time and making some christmas gifts, was looking at pepper/salt mills and was hoping someone could suggest a good quality kit. Having not made one yet is there any special tooling I need to complete it? other than the usual turning tools.
Thanks in advance
Larry

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Larry I've turned a total of 4 peppermills so far. I've used kits from Woodcraft and deluxe kits from Craft Supplies USA. The kits were virtually identical and used stainless steel cutters. Good kits.

Depending on the kit you need several sizes of forstner bits and a jacobs/drill chuck for use on the lathe though I suppose you could drill the blanks on a drill press.

You'll need some scrap wood for jam/friction chucks.

They aren't that hard to turn but technically you have to plan out the method in advance. If not, you'll spend more time figuring out how to recover.

[Bob Hallowell]

I just posted a few they were my first I am a fairly new turner about 3 months. My first kit was from lee valley and the others were the deluxe from craftusa. They were the same.
They were not that hard just time comsuming with all the drilling.

Bob

[Larry Crim]

Thanks ken and bob I think I have all I need I do have a chuck and a variety of forstner bits, I'll get some mills on order tonight, since they are basically the same I guess I'll go with whoever is cheaper.
thanks again
edit: just looked at yours bob very nice I really like the third one hope mine come out that nice.
Larry

[Kevin McPeek]

From what I understand, although costly, Crushgrind mechanisms are among the best. They have a ceramic cutter which won't be harmed by salt. They also don't require a top knob so there is a little more freedom of design.
I just ordered a few from Craft supplies for xmas gifts also. They will be my first mills, so I hope to have some results soon enough.

[Greg Savage]

Chef Specialties makes the hardware that you see in all of the catalogues. You can buy directly off of their website, but if you call them, you can order over the phone or they can give you a code for the 50% discount on a wholesale order off purchases on the website.

https://chefspecialties.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/18?osCsid=957966b018af11fad0a4f352a726af38

CrushGrind is a great mechanism, but expensive.

Here is my "still under construction" website.

http://www.peppermillguy.com/

Greg Savage

[Neil Wilcox]

I just called Chef Specialties about buying the grinders and asked for the code for the discount, and they said they didn't offer the discount to new customers. :(

[Joe Fisher]

I, too, like the Craft Supplies Crush Grind kits. They go together quickly, and I really like the freedom of not having to worry about the top knob. Just make sure you follow the directions :)

My first attempt (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=46643)

My second, much better, attempt (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=47244)

They're tons of fun!

-Joe

[Neil Wilcox]

I still like the Chef Specialties grinders over Crushgrind. The Crushgrind are all plastic with ceramic gears which tend to wear out. The Chef ones are stainless steel and will not wear out, and they are built to last!;)

[Larry Crim]

Neil
I went with the crushgrind and like them so far, I did some research first and the ceramic's were rated higher than the others. Also the ceramic is guarenteed for life. Although I did have a shipping issue with penn they did not ship them for a week and then some were missing the tops but they reshipped the tops yesterday, good thing I ordered more than I needed or I would have been short.
Larry