Salt and Pepper mill finishes

[James Tibbetts]

Mostly curious about the finish you guys suggest for a tiger maple salt mill. I'm thinking something to pop the grain first. Maybe blo or shellac ?
And then the same wipe on poly that I will use for the walnut pepper mill? I want the pepper mill to remain as dark as possible.
What say you experienced mill masters?
Also, pepper mill mechanisms are often stainless steel and the salt mills ceramic.
Assuming the intent of the ceramic is corrosion resistance to the salt is there any reason not to use ceramic for all mills?

Thanks good people!

[Dave Fritz]

Mills get handled all the time. For that reason I use a poly or lacquer finish. BLO will pop the grain but be sure it's cured before adding anything else. I use only ceramic after a client used salt in a stainless mill. Not a good thing. I'm sure others will add their thoughts and experience.

[James Tibbetts]

Thanks Dave

[David Hill]

It doesn't take much BLO to pop the grain. I like to mix my own WOP so I add BLO to make 15-20% of the container and use that as the first coat applied as friction polish. After that dries I use the semi or gloss poly either by itself as WOP or applied the old fashioned way. Doesn't do any good to keep applying the BLO, just makes it sticky---I just "know" that.

[James Tibbetts]

Thanks David.
If anyone has a suggestion for a poly resin to mix my own wop I'd love to hear about it too.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks David.
If anyone has a suggestion for a poly resin to mix my own wop I'd love to hear about it too.

I like a "danish" oil finish for most everything these days. It's not for the impatient! (Takes a week or two).

Don't use shellac in places where there may be alcohol. Poly is a good, tough utility finish.

JKJ

[Edward Weingarden]

Mills get handled all the time. For that reason I use a poly or lacquer finish. BLO will pop the grain but be sure it's cured before adding anything else. I use only ceramic after a client used salt in a stainless mill. Not a good thing. I'm sure others will add their thoughts and experience.

When you say you only use ceramic, does that mean for pepper grinders as well?

[Edward Weingarden]

I've used Watco Danish Oil in the past, but have moved to putting on a coat of Seal Cote Shellac Sanding Sealer, followed by WOP. I find that the WOP builds faster by first using the Seal Cote. Final finishing step is buffing with carnauba wax.

[John King]

Liberon Finishing Oil (couple of coats with fine steel wool buff between coats) followed by wax buffing (Liberon Black Bison Fine Paste Wax) can't be beat. Unlike wipe-on-poly, lacquer and similar finishes, Liberon Finishing Oil will not crack/chip/ding under use. And chips/dents in finishing oil finish are easily repaired. - John

[Dave Fritz]

When you say you only use ceramic, does that mean for pepper grinders as well?

Yes, it can be used for any spice that way. I usually make a pepper mill with matching salt cellar rather than salt grinder.

[Edward Weingarden]

Thanks Dave. Btw - what's a salt cellar?

[Dave Fritz]

If you google "salt cellar on a wood lathe" you'll get lots of ideas. The one I was looking for was done by Tim Yoder but it appears it's no longer available for free. I know too I downloaded some plans but I can't for the life of me find them. Basically it's a box with a rounded bottom and a lid that holds salt. Simple really. Sometimes you'll see chefs using small wooden bowls for salt and peppercorns which they crush with a cast iron pot. I'll bet there are others out there with plans and ideas. Anyone?

[Edward Weingarden]

Thanks Dave

[John K Jordan]

If you google "salt cellar on a wood lathe" you'll get lots of ideas. The one I was looking for was done by Tim Yoder but it appears it's no longer available for free. I know too I downloaded some plans but I can't for the life of me find them. Basically it's a box with a rounded bottom and a lid that holds salt. Simple really. Sometimes you'll see chefs using small wooden bowls for salt and peppercorns which they crush with a cast iron pot. I'll bet there are others out there with plans and ideas. Anyone?

A friend of mine spent a few years in Poland. When I showed him a little wooden box with a threaded lid he said some friends of his there had similar boxes with salt and other things for the table. He didn't say if they all had threaded lids. (Black&White Ebony, Gaboon Ebony lid.)

threaded_ebony_box_IMG_6718.jpg

I've also made salt "shakers" using the rubber plugs and stainless steel perforated tops from some woodturning supply place.

JKJ

[Pat Scott]

Mostly curious about the finish you guys suggest for a tiger maple salt mill. I'm thinking something to pop the grain first. Maybe blo or shellac ?
And then the same wipe on poly that I will use for the walnut pepper mill? I want the pepper mill to remain as dark as possible.
Also, pepper mill mechanisms are often stainless steel and the salt mills ceramic.
Assuming the intent of the ceramic is corrosion resistance to the salt is there any reason not to use ceramic for all mills?

If you want to pop the grain on your Tiger Maple mill, Shellac might do the trick but Danish Oil will also. Nothing like a nice oil finish to pop the grain on any wood. I used plain Tung Oil years ago on a bowl when I was first learning to turn and was disappointed in the results. The finish was dull and uninspiring. I don't know if BLO will react the same or not. From what I've read BLO will yellow wood a bit more than Tung Oil.

[/QUOTE] And then the same wipe on poly that I will use for the walnut pepper mill? I want the pepper mill to remain as dark as possible. [/QUOTE]
If you want the Walnut mill to remain dark, put some oil on it first before the WOP. I use Danish Oil that I make myself (mix equal parts of Tung Oil, Poly, and Mineral Spirits). WOP afterwards is fine to give it protection.

[/QUOTE] "...is there any reason not to use ceramic for all mills? [/QUOTE]
Crushgrind mechanisms are ceramic and are used for both pepper and salt. I use the Deluxe kits from Craft Supplies/Packard/Chef Specialties which are stainless steel mechanisms for pepper and ceramic for salt. I tell people only use pepper in the pepper mill and haven't had a problem yet.

Is there a reason not to use ceramic for all mills? Cost maybe. A 10" Crushgrind mechanism is $16.35 and 10" Deluxe is $12.40. Crushgrind has a 25 year guarantee vs lifetime guarantee on the Deluxe. If you want to use the Deluxe Salt mechanism for both pepper and salt mills (because it's ceramic), remember that the knob on top of the mill is stamped S or P so that won't work. If you use Crushgrind of course that doesn't matter.

To answer your original question on what finish to use, I like 4-5 coats of Danish oil or until I get the sheen that I want. Sometimes depending on the wood I'll put 2-3 coats of Danish Oil followed by a couple coats of WOP. I would not recommend BLO only.