Thread: Pepper grinder 'with a twist'

1. The basic plan.

2. Length of Myrtle calculated to correct length, rounded, then parted off in 2 places. Top piece will be top of grinder, bottom section will be external rotating part.

3. Next I took a completely separate piece of myrtle, from the same log.
First I used forstner bit to bore hole same size as will run right up the grinder, then opened up bottom section to allow enough clearance to insert grinding mech.
On the outside I turned 2 steps. One to go into the recess I would cut in base of main body (raw timber section), the other step is for a rotating ring to go around. This was sanded, oiled and waxed to make a smooth section for the upcoming ring to spin around and not bind.

4. Next the main body was put in the shark jaws, and bored right through, and then a recess turned, to receive the piece from step 3. It was dry-fitted to test.

5. Another piece of myrtle was turned to make the ring. The inside turned first, with 'just' enough clearance so it would spin, but not have any slop. The outside was turned down to be 1mm bigger than the finished part below it.

6. The base rotating bit parted off in step 2 was put in the shark jaws, and a recess bored into it with forstner bits, then opened up with a flat ended scraper, to jam fit over the spinning ring. They would be glued together later. The depth was crucial as the next step required a neat fit with the bottom of the non-rotating bit meeting the base of this to provide a tight seal so no ground pepper dust could escape.

7. having completely forgotten this outer ring was required, it was turned as a separate piece and glued on (and here was me thinking I'd planned it all spot on.. ) The split you can see in the finished outter ring, is courtesy of unstable myrtle. I glued it up, but wasn't too worried because I had to cut a section out of this later to allow ground peper out. The cut would take out most of the crack anyway.

8. The rotating base was reversed on the chuck, and using a trimmer fixed in place, the slot was routed. I used the indexed head to get fixed stop positions, and manually wound the chuck by hand.

9. I cut a segment out of the ring of the fixed base section, to line up with the slot cut in the rotating base. Cut, chiselled, sanded, and finished.

10. The mechanism was screwed into the base (with shaft in place), then the rotating ring (step 5) was glued in to attach it to the outer rotating base. The central part with the mechanism was now fixed, and the outside could rotate.

11. A scrap piece of bluegum was then turned down to make a sacrificial end cap to align the base using a live centre. So that the live centre wouldn't mark the base when held between centres.

12. The body and rotating base were glued together. THen I taped the rotating base, to stop it spinning and turned the bottom flat, and sanded and finished. This would fit in the cap (see step 11)

13. The tape was removed and with the piece reversed, turned between centres.

Job complete.

I like the idea, a nice piece of problem solving.

I'd be happier if the "cover" was removable, just in case (ever had someone stand a freshly filled mill in a puddle? [sigh]) but you've definitely provided food for thought! Thanks for the detailed WIP, it always makes it easier to pinch ideas when you understand 'em.


Greenie launched.

Schmick!

Thanks for sharing the techique.

note to self "steal his idea"

steal away guys!!! I'm sure someone's done it before (nothings ever new, right?) but I figured the WIP shots may be beneficial.

Interesting suggestion Skewy - never thought of that aspect. Maybe MKII ????

Who knows, maybe someone will read this post, modify it, and post a WIP of the 'improved' model (then I can steal that one )