# You can bank on this mill...(banksia peppermill)



## TimR (Jul 14, 2017)

Taking a cue from @Brink with my title  (his are admittedly more clever)

I posted one of these I did a couple years ago, but decided to add some pics to show some of process, especially for those not familiar with turning banksia pods. I got mine from AustralianBurls, but a couple others including BadDogsBurl also carry the larger 'whopper' pods needed for this project.
When evaluating a pod for adequate diameter, it's a bit of crap shoot, but you need one with few 'divits' along the mid section where prime material will be. This isn't the one I used, but it's a nice one and is similar to one I used. Gotta have a sketch for something like this, full size is best, though I'm deviating from this older sketch by going about 3/8" longer. I only need about 6.5" clean pod close to 2.5" diam, and that's about as much as this will yield since the ends taper off.







I start by lopping just enough off the ends on a bandsaw to allow my centers and spur drive to bite. You can't always assume you'll line up with obvious center 'pith' of the blanks, but rather go by where the center of the mass is. These things are a MESS to turn, a combination of the armor like hide, then the purple velvet sublayer, before getting to solid pod that turns much like a hard blank. I use my spindle roughing gouge primarily for all pod turning. You'll sharpen it often.


 

 


I'm targeting a 'rough' diameter shape, not final shape, so I'll continue turning till I get to that point. I'll save the end pieces for things like ornaments, etc...very cool ornaments from banksia pods!
So here is final roughed piece, with tenons on the end according to my sketch.






Notice on the pic above, the openings "eyes" on some have a gap to the surrounding material. If I were to drill out this blank now, some of these eyes would pop out and inevitably get lost. So, I don't have a pic, but my next step is to join this up with pieces for the trim ring on top of the body, and the base. Rough them just down to the rough banksia sizes, and then apply thin CA glue to every one of the eyes and any voids that need stabilized. Not filling the eyes, but if a little gets in, no problem. We'll clean up at end.

In this next pic, I've used the head with a "temporary" tight friction fit on the tenon to drive the rest of the mill and take to final shape. Once done, and before parting head, I'll very slightly take a little off the tenon for final fit to the trim ring. The trim ring is used only as a transition between the body and the sliding action of the head. In the past, I've used blackwood, but decided to go all walnut on this one.



From here, I finish sanded down to 400, then turned around the head and jam chucked to a small 7/8" down to finish off the top of the head. The last step before applying finish, is to clean up the eye holes. I sit down in an easy chair, get plenty of light, and use a micromotor to carefully clean them up. I use the tape as a reference on doing it in stages.


 



I"ll post final pics once finished. 
oh...if not clear from sketch, I use a piece of 1-1/4" acrylic tube sleeve to prevent peppercorns from spilling out...and this is for a shaft type Crushgrind mechanism.

Reactions: Like 2 | Great Post 2 | Way Cool 11 | Informative 1


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## DKMD (Jul 14, 2017)

I'll have to read this a time or two to get my head around it, but I love the idea. I've got a couple of medium sized pods that might be cool for adding a segment of banksia interest!

Also, I'm gonna move this to the classroom for future reference.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## TimR (Jul 14, 2017)

Finished cleaning out the eyes. The eyes are tapered in size from the outside in getting smaller. I like having as much light be able to pass thru, so I take a little extra time to open up the eye hole near the center of the mill.
When that's done, I'll fit the acrylic tube (I bought mine from US Plastics, very reasnable) for length and I always have to sand the interior. Partially because a size to size fit makes it difficult to insert but drilling from each end results in some drift in the middle. I just make a jig like shown below to make sanding easier. Takes a few minutes and almost ready to finish...almost

Reactions: Like 2 | Great Post 1 | Way Cool 8 | Informative 1


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## TimR (Jul 14, 2017)

Just a thought...how cool would it be to use this tube on a gnarly voided piece of wood?? Didn't Kevin do one after seeing this a few years back?? Maybe just talked about it.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 14, 2017)




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## Wildthings (Jul 15, 2017)




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## cabomhn (Jul 15, 2017)

Wow that is super nice looking. Never worked with one of those pods but they definitely have that "alien" vibe to them. The tube idea is really neat.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tony (Jul 15, 2017)




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## gman2431 (Jul 16, 2017)

TimR said:


> Just a thought...how cool would it be to use this tube on a gnarly voided piece of wood?? Didn't Kevin do one after seeing this a few years back?? Maybe just talked about it.



I think he did for the peppermill swap. Cliff sent him some gnarly wood to use it on.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Wilson's Woodworking (Jul 17, 2017)

This is a cool idea! I might have to pick up a couple pods to try it. I have some coveted flaming boxelder I got in a trade with Kevin that would be a great contrast to the pod.
Time for a trip to Omaha soon to the wood working store. Yep I will just tell my wife we need to stop there before she goes to Costco and she will be ready to go.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1 | Way Cool 1


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## TimR (Jul 18, 2017)

Completed. Thanks all for comments, and if you want to try doing something with these pods, let me know. I've probably done a couple dozen items with them.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 3 | Way Cool 5


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## cabomhn (Jul 18, 2017)

TimR said:


> Completed. Thanks all for comments, and if you want to try doing something with these pods, let me know. I've probably done a couple dozen items with them.
> View attachment 131258



That thing looks amazing, this makes me really miss doing some turning, especially some mills!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Wilson's Woodworking (Jul 18, 2017)

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! 
After seeing that mill completed it reminded me that I have some Walnut drops that I got from Cliff about a year ago that would make a really cool salt mill and pepper mill set. 
Really great job on this one.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## steve bellinger (Jul 18, 2017)

I have a great banksia pod Christmas ornament  Great job on both

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## TimR (Jul 18, 2017)

steve bellinger said:


> I have a great banksia pod Christmas ornament  Great job on both


Ah, I remember now...glad you like it. That was one of my ornaments that didn't end up as kindling. Dang time flies, that was almost 3 yrs ago!.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tony (Jul 19, 2017)

steve bellinger said:


> I have a great banksia pod Christmas ornament  Great job on both



I've got a couple really nice Christmas ornaments too. Not banksia pods, but dang sweet looking nonetheless! Tony

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Jul 19, 2017)

TimR said:


> Just a thought...how cool would it be to use this tube on a gnarly voided piece of wood?? Didn't Kevin do one after seeing this a few years back?? Maybe just talked about it.



Found it...

Pepper Mill Swap . . . With 'A Twist'


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## Tony (Jul 20, 2017)

ripjack13 said:


> Found it...
> 
> Pepper Mill Swap . . . With 'A Twist'



It's neat to go back through old threads like that but it hurts my heart.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Sincere 2


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 20, 2017)

@Tony True, but I remember him for his talents and what he brought to this world as a person, I'm happy to have known him.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3


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## TimR (Jul 20, 2017)

ripjack13 said:


> Found it...
> 
> Pepper Mill Swap . . . With 'A Twist'


Yep, that's what I must have remembered...it's all coming back. ...I think

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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