# Peppermill tips & tricks



## TimR (Nov 8, 2014)

In light of the peppermill with a twist swap going on, I decided to turn a crush grind mill in advance to hone up my understanding and see if any surprises along the way.
This thread can be used for anything to do with any kind of mechanism so feel free to add anything that might help someone else.
I'll kick it off with a couple.

1. Don't trust dimensions for fits! The dimensions in plans for a crush grind I have give a sloppy fit likely to let the mechanism slip in with epoxy to hold.
I measured the diam of the mechanism at the base of the splines used to secure it. Drill or drill/turn to target a diam less than the spline diam but larger than the base diameter. The bottom hole for mine works out perfect with a 1-1/2" hole vs the 1-9/16" hole on plans. I'm using a mech with top piece needing similar treatment and found 7/8" better than the 15/16" hole called out.

2. I'm using some wood that needed a lot of work due to crumbly areas, and the drilled hole inside seems prone to drop wood a little with the pepper corns. Not a big deal and I thought about a quick wipe with epoxy but remembered I had some plastic tubing used for my banksia mills. This tubing is 1" diam outside, so works well for most designs. I bought this at USPlastics,
and they are very reasonable.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Kevin (Nov 8, 2014)

Tim the instructions I sent you call for 1.5" and .875 (7/8)".


----------



## TimR (Nov 8, 2014)

Kevin said:


> Tim the instructions I sent you call for 1.5" and .875 (7/8)".


I suspect the instructions I had weren't current though they were when I bought the kit. Glad to hear it sounds fixed.! 
Edit: Woodcraft instructions still show larger (loose) dimensions . http://www2.woodcraft.com/PDF/77D01.pdf
I checked PSI and they had the better (tight) diameters. Sounds like I may need to call WC to let them know.


----------



## DKMD (Nov 9, 2014)

Here's a little mod I came up with in response to troubles I've had with some of the shaftless Crushgrind mills spinning out without driving the mechanism. The spin seems to happen between the tabs and inside of the tenon. Three strips of highly valuable popsicle stick with a little Titebond glued inside the tenon 120 degrees apart.... Gives something for the tabs to engage but still allows for disassembly if needed.

Reactions: Like 2 | Informative 1


----------



## Sprung (Nov 9, 2014)

DKMD said:


> Here's a little mod I came up with in response to troubles I've had with some of the shaftless Crushgrind mills spinning out without driving the mechanism. The spin seems to happen between the tabs and inside of the tenon. Three strips of highly valuable popsicle stick with a little Titebond glued inside the tenon 120 degrees apart.... Gives something for the tabs to engage but still allows for disassembly if needed.
> 
> View attachment 63741



Keller - that's perfect. Perfect timing on posting that as I was planning to have a go at ours from you today. (Been a little busy and haven't had a chance yet.) I think that idea will be the easiest solution and work great!


----------



## DKMD (Nov 9, 2014)

Sprung said:


> Keller - that's perfect. Perfect timing on posting that as I was planning to have a go at ours from you today. (Been a little busy and haven't had a chance yet.) I think that idea will be the easiest solution and work great!



If you haven't already done it, you'll need to set the little slats into the inside of the tenon about 1cm away from the lip... Otherwise, the mechanism won't seat inside the tenon. Works like a charm!

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Sprung (Nov 9, 2014)

DKMD said:


> If you haven't already done it, you'll need to set the little slats into the inside of the tenon about 1cm away from the lip... Otherwise, the mechanism won't seat inside the tenon. Works like a charm!



Thanks for the heads up on that! Haven't had a chance yet - got busy hauling wood and tools into the basement from my shop so I can set up some of my shop down there for the winter.


----------



## TimR (Nov 10, 2014)

Well, I'm pretty much done with my first crush grind, and the tight diameter for the base was the final 'challenge', though not that big of one. This may be obvious, but will add to the thread as a nice controlled way to get the mechanism to seat well without any need to sand down ribs or leave extra wiggle room anywhere. 
Turned and drilled a waste block to act as the pusher to carefully line up on the outside diameter (the structural part that includes the tabs) of the lower mechanism. Since this PPM is one with the rod going thru for engaging the top, I simply removed my tailstock center and let the rod go thru the tailstock to push the PPM body towards the headstock. Worked like a charm.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Kevin (Nov 10, 2014)

TimR said:


> Turned and drilled a waste block to act as the pusher to carefully line up on the outside diameter (the structural part that includes the tabs) of the lower mechanism. Since this PPM is one with the rod going thru for engaging the top, I simply removed my tailstock center and let the rod go thru the tailstock to push the PPM body towards the headstock. Worked like a charm.



That's exactly how I did it the first time. Now I just use a Bessey clamp and two "press blocks".


----------

