When I heard that Kyle could use a new pepper mill, I saw an opportunity to make a custom set of salt and pepper grinders. The hardware kits were available from Penn State Industries and I had some legacy cherry blocks that would be fun to turn.
I created a few shape variations in SketchUp, from traditional to more sleek and modern designs. Once I decided on the design to use, I made 1:1 templates to facilitate turning two nearly identical forms. A bit of new kit was also needed for this project, so a mini step jaw chuck and a drill bit extension came along with the mill kits.
Finished with Mahoney’s food safe Walnut Oil, the cherry wood will darken to a rich reddish brown with time and exposure to light. The photos below will illustrate some of the main steps of this project!
Two sets of salt and pepper mill kits and some new hardware from Penn State Industries.
A few shape variations were modeled in SketchUp before a final shape was chosen.
SketchUp design and 1:1 templates ready to mount on plywood.
Legacy cherry blocks roughed out for two sets of mills.
Forstner bits were used to produce the needed bores and counterbores on the drill press.
Boring the main through hole in the bodies of the mills was challenging to get straight and true.
Turning a precise diameter tenon on the mill caps.
Turning the mill cap and body together, I used one of the templates to transfer locations and profile diameters to the round blanks.
Using outside calipers and a parting tool, I transferred diameters from the template to the blank.
Using a sharp roughing gouge, defining the outside contour was a matter of “connecting the dots” of various depths.
A second profile template was used to fine tune the profiles to their final shape.
Two nearly identical mills complete and ready for assembly and finishing.
The hardware was assembled prior to finishing, per the kit directions.
I used a jeweler’s loupe to help precisely locate the predrilled holes for tiny wood screws that fixed the hardware components in place.
Mahoney’s Walnut Oil and Beeswax finishes added a beautiful low luster sheen to the cherry wood.
The finished mills, ready for final assembly of the hardware components.
