# Peppermill making: Advices and lessons learned please!



## CharlesH (Mar 31, 2012)

Hey guys,

Just looking around to start making some peppemills. I have bought Ted Sokolowski DVD and it is fantastic. 

I am wondering where I can find the drill bits required. I am interested in the CrushGrind kit. The bits I will need are: 15/16", 1-1/16", 1-9/16" and 1-3/4.

I noticed Wood Turner's Catalog is out of stock on some of those bits and in my experience the bits they carry are not up to my standards in terms of quality, at least for the pen kits!

Any comments and advices welcomed! 

Charles


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## ed4copies (Mar 31, 2012)

Try your local woodcraft.  I don't know if they come through corporate, but the Milwaukee store has some nice bits (forstner) that are around $10.  I've used several.

I also have a tutorial on Exotics in the instructions, may want to download it, as well.

http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=85

2/3 of way down page "Other how-to's"---peppermill instructional tutorial.


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## CharlesH (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks Ed, you were kind enough to send me your guide a few months ago. ;-) 

C

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2.


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## paintspill (Apr 1, 2012)

you better not finish your mills like you finish your pens. i don't know if i can handle it.


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## Bowl Slinger (Apr 1, 2012)

I picked up a titanium coated 16 piece bit set (1/4" to 2 1/8") from Harbor Freight for 39.00. They work well for the price.


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## ed4copies (Apr 1, 2012)

Bowl Slinger said:


> I picked up a titanium coated 16 piece bit set (1/4" to 2 1/8") from Harbor Freight for 39.00. They work well for the price.



Trouble is, you need 1 & 1/16 which is rarely in those sets.  After 1", they go to eighth inch increments.

I found a set years ago that has only the sixteenths from 1 & 1/16 through 2.5"--with both sets, you got it made!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## CharlesH (Apr 1, 2012)

I plan on making mills in really hard woods like cocobolo and African Blackwood. Hopefully someone will point me where I buy quality bits.  

C

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2.


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## CharlesH (Apr 1, 2012)

paintspill said:
			
		

> you better not finish your mills like you finish your pens. i don't know if i can handle it.



I'll try my best.  

C

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2.


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## neubee (Apr 1, 2012)

I have had good luck with Woodcraft finding the bits you need for the crush-grind pepper mill.


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## KenV (Apr 1, 2012)

Best quality bits I have found are the Colt Bits --   I found all of them but the 1 9/16 size

Miebach Forstner Bits at The Best Things

Spendy -- but reliable


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## CharlesH (Apr 1, 2012)

KenV said:
			
		

> Best quality bits I have found are the Colt Bits --   I found all of them but the 1 9/16 size
> 
> Miebach Forstner Bits at The Best Things
> 
> Spendy -- but reliable



That's what I was looking for! ;-) 

Nothing like having good tools when you make a project! 

C

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2.


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## broitblat (Apr 1, 2012)

+1 on Woodcraft having a good range of bits.

I've come to really like the carbide bits, however, and they don't seem to carry those.  Rocker had some of the carbides, but they were pretty pricey.

I've bought a few from Woodline USA - Carbide Forstner Bits and have been happy so far...

  -Barry


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## TellicoTurning (Apr 2, 2012)

I make a lot of the crush/grind pepper mills... I get all of my drill  bits from the local Woodcraft... at about $10 each, I can use one until  it gets dull and then just replace it... also I don't follow all of the  instructions... I don't use but 3 of the bits.. I drill all the way  through my mills with the 1 9/16 bit and don't use the 1 1/16 at all.    To keep the top from flopping around too much, I put a short tenon on  the top portion that fits down inside the body at the top.


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## CharlesH (Apr 2, 2012)

For the crush grind mechanism Woodturners suggest a 1-9/16" drill bit and from the tech plans from Crush Grind they say 38mm which is 1-1/2".

Anyone has a though on that?

Charles


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## crabcreekind (Apr 2, 2012)

My dad has done probably 100+ peppermills. He has uses a colt bit for the really long hole, the 1-1/16 hole. It works really good, compared to other bits. But you need a THICK extention shaft when drilling these holes, or else they will walk...No matter what bit you have, even colt bits, will not work cut perfectly. There will be little cocobolo cakes everywhere. 
Another suggestion is to use enduro finish. My dad recently started to use this finish. I tried it for pens, and it took to long. But it is way more shinier, and you can build it up and sand it down just like ca.


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## Haynie (Apr 2, 2012)

Way more shinier?  The language arts teacher in me just choked.

Good thread.  I will be watching it close.


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## gimpy (Apr 2, 2012)

I use forstner bits for most of the drilling, only need one long bit to go thru the body


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## 1080Wayne (Apr 2, 2012)

Charles

Suggest you look at everything Lee Valley has to say and offer here   Drill Bits - Lee Valley Tools - Woodworking Tools, Gardening Tools, Hardware Supplies

Have made (rather am in the process of making ) both crush grind and conventional mills . The crush grind components have 6 ribs molded on the outside of the grinding unit . They appear to be designed to be a push interference fit in a 1 9/16 hole , hence that size on the one set of instructions . The set calling for 1 1/2 inch recommends grinding the ribs off , which is what I have done . My reason for doing so was that I didn`t have a 1 9/16 . 

The key to a smooth operating mill is to have the hole that the grinder sits in concentric with the hole in the cap . That is a bit easier said than done with Forstner or saw tooth bits as you drop down from 1 1/2 to 1 1/16 to 7/8 . 

Make sure you drill at least the two largest holes before turning . It is more difficult to keep concentricity if you drill afterwards . 

Please don`t think that I`m an expert on these things . They have contributed to an increase in my vocabulary though .


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## Don Wade (Apr 2, 2012)

I will say that I have made many mills and the best bit I have found is made in Germany and cost many dollars but is worth every one of them.  Probably from CSA but not sure.


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## CharlesH (Apr 3, 2012)

Don Wade said:
			
		

> I will say that I have made many mills and the best bit I have found is made in Germany and cost many dollars but is worth every one of them.  Probably from CSA but not sure.



I ordered the Colt MaxiCut bits, they are made in Germany. ;-) 

C

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2.


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