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I'm turning a pepper mill out of some wet Walnut from a tree my neighbor had cut down. I have always made my pepper/salt mills out of glued-up dry lumber, so I've got a couple of questions:
1) Do I turn it to finished shape/size and then let it sit to dry?
2) If not, how should I go about this? I got 2 blanks out of 1 half of the log section I cut up (hoping to turn a bowl out of the other half).
I've turned down 1 blank to almost the diameter to start shaping the mill. Thought I'd stop and ask before I commit myself any further.
Thanks.
Steve
"73 is the best number because it's the 21st prime number, and it's mirror 37 is the 12th prime number, whose mirror 21 is the product of 7 times 3. Also in binary 73 is 1001001, which is a palindrome." - Nobel Laureate, Dr. Sheldon Cooper
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Steve
Me personally I would rough turn it with quite abit left and drill out the inside smaller. I think one part is 1 1/16 and would only go 5/8" so it has some room to move which should not be a lot but it does relieve some stress from cracking the center and the small end of the top just 1/4" bit or so and the very top not drill at all nor put any tennon on either since they will warp also.
So maybe turn the whole thing and leave in one piece and just drill inside to the very minimum to the cap area.
As of this time I am not teaching vets to turn. Also please do not send any items to me without prior notification. Thank You Everyone.
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Drill it with holes smaller than finished size and turn it close to finished size but allow for shrinking. After it dries finish the drilling and turning.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I may play with the first blank and leave the second to dry for a few years or put it in a friends kiln before I use it.
"73 is the best number because it's the 21st prime number, and it's mirror 37 is the 12th prime number, whose mirror 21 is the product of 7 times 3. Also in binary 73 is 1001001, which is a palindrome." - Nobel Laureate, Dr. Sheldon Cooper
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(06-30-2019, 02:52 PM)sniper Wrote: Thanks for the suggestions. I may play with the first blank and leave the second to dry for a few years or put it in a friends kiln before I use it.
From experience, the wood will shrink as it dries. If you turn it wet and assemble the peppermill wet, at best it will shrink and probably warp out of round. At worst it will spit because it's trying to shrink around the pepper mill, but it can't.
