Another banksia peppermill - Done!!

[TimR]

Here’s the completed mill, waxed and buffed, tallest mill I’ve done, not just from banksia pod. Also, if you order thru places like Woodcraft, Rockler or Packard, biggest you’ll likely find is “large” on the left...but if it has indented sides, yield will bd impacted. If you want good pods, the only place I know is Australianburls.com. A few dollars extra per pod maybe but well worth it.
Oh, if you like ipas and haven’t had Voodoo Ranger, it’s quite tasty.



While I’ve done these before, some may not have seen. They are a royal pain in the backside in so many ways.
I rough turned a pod and it wasn’t good enough for this, with too much purple fuzz where it shouldn’t be, so did another and it looks good. Just the banksia section of this mill is about 8”, which doesn’t sound like much, jut it is. Overall length will be about 13-1/2”, my tallest banksia PPM yet.
The top and bottom are curly claro walnut and the black rings are African blackwood.
I’ve already treated “eyes” with CA glue to stabilize them before I drilled out the core, but now I’ll do a medium CA coat and sand, creating a slurry to seal the surface.
Then final sand and use a micro motor to clean every eye before finishing.
The top will be finish turned as I do others by turning around and putting in a jam chuck.
The finish will be a couple coats of polyurethane.
Lots to do...

 

[Tony]

 

[Wildthings]

 

[woodtickgreg]

 

[duncsuss]

Tim, do the eyes go through to the central bore of the mill? If so, how do you keep the peppercorns from falling out of the eyes?

 

[Nubsnstubs]

Tim, when you first got the pod, did it have as many eyes exposed as you have showing now, or did some become exposed while turning. Also, how many seeds did you find?

I have a pod I've had for 8 years now. It doesn't have a third of the eyes yours has.......... .............. Jerry (in Tucson)

 

[Lou Currier]

 

[DKMD]

That’s going to be a beauty! I’ve got a couple of those pods that sit on a shelf and mock me...

 

[TimR]

Tim, do the eyes go through to the central bore of the mill? If so, how do you keep the peppercorns from falling out of the eyes?

Yep, the eyes go thru which influences the shape I choose. I want to get down to about 1/4” wall thickness to allow light to pass thru but not too thin to be weak. I bore out to a size compatible with acrylic tubing I buy from US Plastics. The one for my banksia mills is 1-1/4” OD x 1” ID.

Tim, when you first got the pod, did it have as many eyes exposed as you have showing now, or did some become exposed while turning. Also, how many seeds did you find?
I have a pod I've had for 8 years now. It doesn't have a third of the eyes yours has.......... .............. Jerry (in Tucson)

The number of eyes is same as seen on raw pod. I think most of the seeds have already left the coop so to speak.

 

[TimR]

That’s going to be a beauty! I’ve got a couple of those pods that sit on a shelf and mock me...

Aw cmon...what’s the worst that can happen!

 

[TimR]

Working on shaping the Blackwood area near top of the mill I was getting more tearout and grabbiness than I like, so I decided to try shaping with one of my cupped carbide tools. Works like a charm!

 

[TimR]

So, at this point I’m ready to remove body from lathe, reverse and finish up the top being careful not to disturb the area where they’ll join.
I used some medium CA and applied a thin layer at slow speed using a gloved hand to disperse along the pod area. I don’t want so much it tends to fill eye holes but some will make it in. When the CA starts getting gummy/tacky, I use 120 grit to create a CA + banksia slurry. This fills in all the pores between the eyes. I continue using 120 sheets till it starts drying up and then work thru grits to 400.
All the eyes will now get cleaned up using a small rotary burr, (a couple hour job) then finish with 2-3 coats poly and assemble Crushgrind mechanism.

 

[duncsuss]

... acrylic tubing I buy from US Plastics ...

Ah, the magic ingredient that keeps the pepper from spilling out everywhere

 

[barry richardson]

Really unique! Thanks for sharing the trick with the CA slurry, will try that in the future...

 

[JR Parks]

Very cool Tim Anxious to see the finished product Jim

 

[TimR]

Here’s showing the eyes before (towards top) and after cleaning out (towards bottom) with rotary tool.
This also allows reaching in to open up the holes on the inside to let more light in.

 

[David Hill]

That's just waaay cool!
Thanks for the pointers.

 

[dfowler13]

This is pretty awesome. The posted video is really cool, and I absolutely love the pictures. I'm curious... What does one of these sell for?

 

[TimR]

Ugh, having issues with my wipe on poly...may have been too old. Still a bit tacky after just a day and half even on the banksia. I understand on the Blackwood it doing it. Will give it another day to cure in air conditioned room before wiping off and trying with fresh poly.
So..on that, for those who use wipe on poly...any thoughts comparing the product from Minwax vs Watco? $7 difference for 1qt , Minwax being higher

 

[woodtickgreg]

I have always had good luck with minwax. Oil based poly does like heat to cure. In my basement shop in the winter I have to heat it to get oil based poly to cure quicker. Otherwise it may take days to cure.