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My first pepper mill

W

William Cowan

Joined
Nov 21, 2017
Messages
7
Likes
5
Location
Wilmington, NC
I am trying to learn on this slippery slope. I turned the blank and parted the head of the mill off. I then attached my chuck to drill the 1- 1/16" hole from both end through the body.When I drilled the holes in the mill body, using the dovetail tenon I had turned previously, they had an offset at the meeting point which surprised me. I then turned a 1-1/16" tenon on a waste block to hold the mill head to finish it, and see the tenon is offset from the blank center How can this be, as the turning takes the same from all sides? Is my chuck off center? Forgive me, I am so new I may be wording some things vaguely.
 
Drilling holes in wood sound pretty simple, the deeper you drill the further it tends to drift to one side or the other when mounted on the lathe. Depending on the type of wood and the direction of the grain on the wood blank it can make a difference on how far off center your hole will end up on the other end. You need to drill a small pilot hole to make sure your larger bit starts off going straight in, you also want to drill slow and clean the shavings out of hole to keep the bit running true. The type of drill bit used will also have an impact on how straight it drills into the blank. Sometimes it is easier to just drill the center hole first and then mount the drilled billet between centers to turn the outside piece, similar to turning a pen. This method will eliminate any issues with the hole drifting to one side or the other. Forstner drill bits work the best for drilling straight holes into wood blanks and make the entry and exit cleaner with less tear out..
 
William,

I also recommend is drilling with increasing sizes of bits. Start with smaller bits like ½”, then go to ¾” or ⅞”, then make a final cut at 1-1/16”.

This decreases the tendency of the final drill bit for wandering.

Kind regards,
Rich
 
RichColvin said:
William,

I also recommend is drilling with increasing sizes of bits. Start with smaller bits like ½”, then go to ¾” or ⅞”, then make a final cut at 1-1/16”.

This decreases the tendency of the final drill bit for wandering.

Kind regards,
Rich
Click to expand...

I am using forstner bits. The pilot cannot be larger that the point on any forstner bit, correct? I do not have twist bits that large.
 
William Cowan said:
I am trying to learn on this slippery slope. I turned the blank and parted the head of the mill off. I then attached my chuck to drill the 1- 1/16" hole from both end through the body.When I drilled the holes in the mill body, using the dovetail tenon I had turned previously, they had an offset at the meeting point which surprised me. I then turned a 1-1/16" tenon on a waste block to hold the mill head to finish it, and see the tenon is offset from the blank center How can this be, as the turning takes the same from all sides? Is my chuck off center? Forgive me, I am so new I may be wording some things vaguely.
Click to expand...

Actually, it would be surprising if the holes aligned perfectly. A Forstner bit isn't the best option for drilling a deep straight hole. Wood is a compressible material and drilling a deep hole with a small diameter tenon is a recipe for drift. Wood is compressible and a small diameter tenon is likely to wiggle a bit. If the tenon doesn't have a good crisp shoulder resting against the top of the jaws then the likelihood of the wood moving will be even greater.

Mike and Rich gave excellent advice. I favor drilling the hole before turning the outside.
 
William Cowan said:
I am using forstner bits. The pilot cannot be larger that the point on any forstner bit, correct? I do not have twist bits that large.
Click to expand...
I was talking about doing it with Forstner bits. I use a ½” Forstner bit, then a 3/4” or ⅞” Forstner bit, before using the final sized Forstner bit.

Kind regards,
Rich
 
RichColvin said:
I was talking about doing it with Forstner bits. I use a ½” Forstner bit, then a 3/4” or ⅞” Forstner bit, before using the final sized Forstner bit.

Kind regards,
Rich
Click to expand...

It seems to me that this would just increase drifting. As William said, a Forstner bit needs the center point for alignment. It would make more sense to start with the 1 1/16" Forstner bit. Not all Forstner bits are created equal. A Colt MaxiCut easily cuts through end grain. Most others have a tough time cutting end grain. High quality twist drills make the straightest hole. Fisch and Colt both make twist drills that are excellent for this task.
 
I start with the 1 1/16" forstner, but I only drill down about 1/2". Then I remove the forstner and use twist bits of increasing size to remove most of the bore. Finally, I put the first forstner bit back in the chuck. It will center because it has the 1/2" deep "shoulder" that I started out with to guide it
 
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