Pepper Mill Boring Question

[Joe Mindell]

But I hope this isn't a boring question....
I just got some peppermill kits from Lee Valley and I'm excited to make them, but I have a question--how do people bore the hole down the center (which according to the specs needs to be 1 1/16" in diameter)? Do you hollow the endgrain as you would a hollow form and just creep up on the size (is it hard to do this straight enough down the long narrow hole?)? Or do you use some kind of long, big drill bit (can't quite imagine how you'd get a Forstner bit down a 5-7" hole?
Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Joe M

[Bob Hallowell]

Most people use a forstner bit with a couple extensions which I believe lee valley and others sell. I acquired a 10" long twist bit thats just a shy narrow but I just sand the hole slightly and it works perfect for me.

Bob

[Peter Dougenik]

I use the HSS "sawtooth" forsner bits from Lee Valley to bore the blanks. for the through hole I use a 5" milwaukee hole saw extension from the BORG which fits the giant hex shank on the larger LV bits. if you're using the ceramic grinders I'll say that the through hole is less important to get right than the other three holes because it's just space for the peppercorns or salt to sit while it waits to get ground up...the other three (two on the bottom one in the cap) need to be more precise because the grinder parts need to mate to them.

[Mike Vickery]

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=321-5000
I use the bit extender from CSU.

[Thor Sorensen]

On some kaleidoscopes that I made I used a Bormax bit with extension. They are supposed to generate less heat. I think it is true. My holes needed to be 1-5/8" and about 10" deep. I trued the blank between centers and cut a tenon to fit the jaws of my chuck. Mounted in the jaws I could drill more than half way from one end and then reverse it. Most of them were off by less than a 32nd where the drillings met, one was about a 16th off.

They look like pepper mills with colorful grinders.

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=48374

[Joe Mindell]

Thanks for the input. I'll look for a bit extension this weekend.
Thor--those kalidescopes are AWESOME. I love 'em.
J