Pepper grinders are often called pepper mills. For our purposes, they are the same thing. They are usually a spindle turning of various lengths holding a pepper grinding mechanism. I've seen pepper mills from 3" to 24" tall.
The pepper mill mechanism on the market all seem to be pretty good these days. Most of them are stainless steel so they don't rust. The traditional style uses two-piece assemblies and the new crush grinder style can be a one-piece design.
You can shape the outside of the pepper mill in any appearance that you would like. The inside dimensions are all that are critical in this project. They are usually milled using a Jacobs chuck in the tail stock and large drills and forstner bits.
In this project, Tom shows us how to install all the parts that come with a pepper mill kit so that the installation goes smoothly and the pepper mill works properly when you're done.
In addition, Tom shows us how to shorten the length of the center rod which would allow you to create different sized pepper mills so that you truly have custom made pepper mills. I would also suggest that using Tom's techniques here would allow you to make your own center rod thereby enabling yourself to create replacement rods or making much longer rods for those really fancy pepper mills that you have in mind!!
In this project, Tom explains all the steps in making a pepper mill. And since there are a lot of steps this is an important thing to learn. In fact, Tom's tag line is "Sequence is as important as technique".
So, if you've considered turning a pepper mill, you may want to spend some time reading through this project to get those steps down.
Just as salt and freshly ground pepper accent food, our turned pepper mill and salt shaker will enhance your table setting.
This set of plans will show you how to make a pepper mill and a matching salt shaker. Every woodturner should have a set in their home!
The picture above shows the set in walnut but you can make this set in any wood that you have available. I'm partial to cherry but maple or ash are nice too!
Dust off your lathe, choose any wood—ordinary to exotic— and you’ll have this set finished in an afternoon.
These shakers are one piece designs so they are easy to make. They use bungs on the bottom to keep the salt or pepper in the container. They will soon become a household favorite!
In this project, Aurele used 3D images to show us how he inserts a contrasting piece of wood into his turning blank. This provides a "label" space on his finished turning.
Then he goes one to show how he turns the bottle shape and makes the grinder top. This is a very clever design for a pepper grinder.
As a bonus and intended to stimulate your creative thoughts, Aurele shows a goblet that he's inserted a threaded lid and converted to a salt shaker.
In this project, Nick shows all the steps in making a pepper grinder. This is probably the most detailed and best written article that we've seen on peppermills. The drawing at the end of the project gives exact dimensions for making this style of peppermill. This allows you to duplicate the peppermill as a learning experience and then you can start making your own designs with this core knowledge.
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