Turning pepper mills

[kevin nee]

I have some 4x4 Birdseye maple stock. Cut in May and stored inside an unheated barn since.
What do you Pepper Mill turners think my success rate would be
Thanks in advance, Kevin

[alex grams]

4x4 and cured for only 8 months? I would think you are still going to have another year or two to get to an overall acceptable moisture content. But I have no experience with green maple and how it cures, so I couldn't tell you its tendency to crack or how it will behave.

[Roger Chandler]

I would try one to see how it does........if there is a lot of tension in the grain, it may crack, if not you might be okay............if the blanks were smaller like 2.5" or 3" the drying time might have been enough. If the first one does crack, you know to let the others dry for a few more months.

Do you have a moisture meter you can check the moisture levels with? A good investment! 18% or less and you should be okay unless a lot of tension in the wood.

[steven carter]

I've noticed a lot of difference in the type of maple in question, silver maple vs hard maple for example. I for one would not want to waste any good birsdeye maple and would err on the longer side. I picked up a moisture meter at Lowes on sale for about 10 bucks and it works very well.

[Jim Burr]

Turn it round, bore it and the toss it in DNA for a few days. Should take a few months off the drying time. It will warp...but the bore should need little tuning.

[Chris Fournier]

That is a heavy cut, it won't be ready. I'd break it down close to the blank dimensions ASAP and it will save you time and degrade.

[Pat Scott]

If you go by the guideline that "for every inch of thickness you need to wait a year" (or some say a year per inch plus a year), then a 4x4 blank won't be ready to turn for 4 or 5 years. At last count I had over 100 peppermill blanks drying downstairs. I have them in size from 3x3 on up to 4x4. I date them, and I don't even consider making a mill out of them for at least 3 years just to play it safe. With as many blanks as I have, I have plenty to choose from.

A couple tips I learned from taking a Peppermill class with Paul Chilton: cut the corners off your blanks as opposed to keeping them square. The corners will be taken off anyway, cutting them now reduces the thickness at the corners for better drying. Also be sure to sticker the blanks so air can circulate all around them.

If you made a peppermill now from the blank, I wouldn't be as worried about splitting as I would be warping. When you drill out the middle and shape the tenon where the top and bottom join, any warping in this area will cause the top to bind and stick as it's turned. You definitely don't want that.

I asked Paul about drilling out the middle and rough shaping. He hasn't had very good luck with that since when the blank dries it will warp. Trying to true up the hole and get it centered was a pain and too much bother, so he just knocks the corners off and lets the blank dry for several years.

Most moisture meters will only read down to 3/4" depth. So even if the meter says the blank is dry, the center might not be; and this is where it really counts.

[Richard Coers]

I'd say slim to none. Even if you get it turned without cracking, which I doubt, it's going to go oval after you are done. If you have a wood tenon on there for the top, it won't work. 4x4 is really big for a pepper mill! I'd get the blanks smaller so it will dry quicker.

[Peter Fabricius]

For a nice sized pepper mill I use a diameter of 2 1/4" to 2 3/8" . This makes a nice size and is easy to handle for most people. It also stands on the table nicely.
I have switched to the Crush Grind mechanism as my preferred. I do not have all the custom sized bits that are called for so I just drill to the closest size I have and then upsize the holes with a 1/4" x 1/4" parting tool, works great. I also cut the recess for the plastic grips to fit into and then apply Epoxy to secure the mechanism in place permanently.
I have not tried the shaftless unit but I do like the shaft model....
Peter F.

[Frank Trinkle]

Don't know if this may be an option for pen and peppermill blanks, but it IS an interesting idea for drying!