Foxtail Palm Pepper grinder

[gawdelpus]

Some time back Neil (dai sensei ) gifted me some pepper grinder blanks ,finally got around to this challenging piece :) Foxtail palm in approximately 12" tall crush grinder , will finish the assembly in the morning ,only takes a couple of minutes to do .Didn't seem to like sanding at all ,so to smooth the finish to what I like, I borrowed my pen turning CA finishing experience to get a decent gloss finish ,I am happy with the results as its almost a mirror finish, hard to photograph this one as so much happening with the blank :) The base and ball top are 60 mm ,another test for my new home made ball turner hehe .
Cheers ~ John

[dai sensei]

CA finish, wow that most have taken a bit of CA and effort. Looks good though :2tsup:

[cookie48]

WOW what a grinder that is. Must have taken a bottle of CA to do that one. Well done.

[dr4g0nfly]

This little I know about palm is it's like a bundle of straws, how on earth do you turn the stuff.

Nice Pepper grinder by the way.

[whitewood]

I can remember about 30 years ago when fox tail palms were first 'discovered' in the Cooktown area of Queensland. A freind of ours who collected and sold palms was very exicited to get a few seeds. He eventually sold us a small plant which we planted in our surban garden in Townsvulle. To the best of my knowledge it is still there today as a mature tree along with a few other species we planted.

It shows how well they have spread when Neil has to to remove them as part of his work.

Whitewood

[gawdelpus]

This little I know about palm is it's like a bundle of straws, how on earth do you turn the stuff.

Nice Pepper grinder by the way.
The material is very dry and stable ,so no real problems turning with sharp tools ,the pith ,or whitish part is slightly softer than the black stripy bit which is quite hard and can pop out if not careful , Some vendors sell the various palm in a stabalised form for pen blanks :) cheers ~ John

[bench1holio]

:clap3:great looking mill john!

[dai sensei]

It shows how well they have spread when Neil has to to remove them as part of his work.

Nah, I bought it from a tree lopper who travels north

[goodwoody]

Groovers, I just received my first crushgrind from Carrols and I cant understand how the top is secured to the shaft. Do I turn a recess for the small plastic clip to insert to? Confused. Damien.

[gawdelpus]

Groovers, I just received my first crushgrind from Carrols and I cant understand how the top is secured to the shaft. Do I turn a recess for the small plastic clip to insert to? Confused. Damien.

If you get a diagram (Dai sensei) Neil may well still have a copy he can email you if you contact him, that's where I got my start from hehe. With this design there is no top screw as in most mills ,and the adjustment is in the bottom ,it's on a ratchet so stays on whatever setting you choose ,until you want to change it . the top section which is press fitted or glued into the top turns the drive shaft to grind , you will most likely find its a 7/8" dia hole ,and you usually need to take off the spines on the outer dia to make it fit, even then its quite tight . I always do an internal groove to retain the cap section into your cap. it needs to be the right depth inside from the face of the plastic section, you can glue this in if not sure of the fit :) I made a grooving tool from an old allen key and fitted it into a wooden handle needs to be about 1/4" wide ,seems a lot to do one grinder so you can glue if thats easier :).
If you need specific help email me and I can attach pictures that may help, many ways of doing all this so you may well get different advise from others , good luck with it ,cheers ~ John

[tdrumnut]

Top effort, stunning finish.

[wolften]

Great looking grinder Gawdelpus, I might have to come down to eyeball your work.
Which markets do you frequent?

Glenn

[gawdelpus]

Great looking grinder Gawdelpus, I might have to come down to eyeball your work.
Which markets do you frequent?

Glenn

Glen you are very close to me ,I live at Eagleby and you are welcome to drop in and check out my setup and work at a time to suit, I am retired so mostly a stay at home hehe, I will be at Tamborine markets this weekend at the showgrounds ,its a once a month Market, and the other markets I do are Broadbeach 1st and 3rd sundays each month :) Cheers ~ John