Drilling Peppermills

[Roger Chandler]

I thought I would do something to assist me in drilling pepper mills, since my first two tries went a little off center........put these items on order with CSUSA this morning.......

Colt maxi bit and extenders in 3.5" and 6" lengths



Supposedly, these are the best at cutting from what I have heard...........lets hope it works for me! Anyone else have recommendations for others?

[Scott Hackler]

Roger, I just recently was showed the peppermill process (crush grind version) by Jim Adkins when I visited him and when I got home I ordered exactly what he had, the full 4 bit and extender set from Craftsupplies. I have since made/drilled one more mill and they worked very well. I did go fairly slowly and I backed the bits out regularly to clear the shavings.

[Brian Finney]

Roger,

Have you looked at Brendan Stemp's youtube video Drilling Deep Holes on the Lathe? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrETz4RTyM
He makes recorders and peppermills and seems to have the hang of it.

Brian

[Tim Rinehart]

Roger, I've had the Colts for some time now, and they are the best IMHO. I have the 6" and a 10" extender, but I still get a bit of drift, even with the 6", drilling out a peppermill. I've only done a couple PMs, but I'll drill all from both ends from now on if I'm depending on the drilled hole to be dead-center.
I was starting with blank that wasn't much bigger than about 2.5", and after drilling all the way thru, it was off-center enough that I lost about 1/8" of material to retrue it up afterwards.
I guess it depends on how you make your mill, and I may have been in a too much of a hurry or needed to better dress the bit edges to keep from drifting.

[Roger Chandler]

Bernie said he drills from both ends in his post last evening.....maybe that is the way to go? I will give it a try on my next peppermill.......after my new bit and extender arrives.

[philip labre]

I've only made the Crushgrind mechanisms and use a 1" brad point bit with a 1/2" shaft extension for the through hole. I've also recently got a good deal on a Woodcut Milldrill which cuts both diameters for the mechanism at the same time. Real slick after its set right. Before that I had a set of carbide boring bits like a forstener.

[Greg Just]

I start by roughing out my cylinder. then drill from both ends. Using the holes at the ends, I re-center the cylinder around these holes and then finish turning the mill. This method works for me and keeps everything in line.

[Fred Belknap]

Supposedly, these are the best at cutting from what I have heard...........lets hope it works for me! Anyone else have recommendations for others?

Roger I have that set and they are great tools but when I got mine I jumped right in and made a 10" peppermill. When I tried to put the final keeper on the bottom it was to big and wouldn't fit in the 1 5/8" recess in the bottom. I did some grinding and some chipping the place where it went in and got it finished. I measured the next one which was a salt mill and it had plenty of room to fit but when I got to that part it wouldn't fit either. I checked the Colt 1 5/8" bit I was using and it milled out at 1.496", this is just a shade less than 1.5". The plastic carton that the bit came in was marked 1 5/8" , the fun part is that the bit had 1 5/8" marked on the shaft also. The provider was very nice about it and sent me a new bit of the right size. Colt was responsible not the provider. So just a heads up and check before you use the bits to make sure they are the right size. BTW the bits cut great and I love how they lock together.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger I have that set and they are great tools but when I got mine I jumped right in and made a 10" peppermill. When I tried to put the final keeper on the bottom it was to big and wouldn't fit in the 1 5/8" recess in the bottom. I did some grinding and some chipping the place where it went in and got it finished. I measured the next one which was a salt mill and it had plenty of room to fit but when I got to that part it wouldn't fit either. I checked the Colt 1 5/8" bit I was using and it milled out at 1.496", this is just a shade less than 1.5". The plastic carton that the bit came in was marked 1 5/8" , the fun part is that the bit had 1 5/8" marked on the shaft also. The provider was very nice about it and sent me a new bit of the right size. Colt was responsible not the provider. So just a heads up and check before you use the bits to make sure they are the right size. BTW the bits cut great and I love how they lock together.

Thanks for the heads up on the diameter issue you had Fred.......I will keep an eye out for that!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roger the bit I use is from Packard Woodworks and has a 5" long shaft. I always have 3 tenons on my mills. One on each end of the mill body and one on the mill head. I do drill from both ends. Most times I come out about a 1/16" off but it is in the center and really does no harm. The key is to make sure you add the length of the tenon to your measurements or you will be cutting the shaft. Don't ask me how I know this. Forgot to add the tenon length to the mill length.

[Thom Sturgill]

I haven't made any for a while, but I keep a special jamb chuck to reverse the body onto and finish drilling the hole from the top. You can also use a chuck with pin jaws in expansion mode. I keep an old PSI chuck just for the small Alligator jaws I bought for it, they just fit into a 1 5/8" hole in expansion mode.

Once drilled, I center between the jamb chuck, which has a slight taper so that the body does not bottom out, and the 60 degree live tail center. Turn the outside and its centered on the two openings even if the holes are not centered on each other.

[Bill Bulloch]

I drill mine from both ends also. That is the way to go. you drill halfway through each end, then it does not matter if the alignment is right on, although mine usually are.

[Roger Chandler]

Very helpful information on your way of doing things.......thank you gentlemen!

[Pat Scott]

I have the Colt bits, Colt 3" and 6" extension, and Colt Morse Taper adapter. When using the Morse Taper adapter the bit will wander a little when drilling. But when I use a Jacobs chuck I don't get wiggle. So....I don't use the Morse Taper anymore.

Also you'll need a couple of small wrenches to separate the bit from the extension after drilling. The bits have Colts cam-lock locking action which works well, but some might say it works too well. There's no way to separate them without wrenches. The flats on the bits and extension are different size to boot. Nick Cook uses a couple of small crescent wrenches to separate his.

[John King]

I have a couple of Colt MaxiCut items for sale.

$16.50 – Colt MaxiCut Forstner Drill Bit 1-1/16” (http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/...ll-Bit/maxicut)

$22.50 – MaxiCut Forstner Bit Morse Taper Adapter #3MT (http://www.woodcraft.com/product/208...apter-3mt.aspx)

$5.00 – Shipping each item or both items to same address

Used them a couple of times for peppermills. Changed my work process; therefore, do not need them.

Payment by PayPal preferred. But will accept personal check. No credit cards.

John King
jjkingjr@consolidated.net