Most pepper mills, IMHO, are a day late and a dollar short.
They jam up, don't hold regristation, and in general, a total PITA.
Several years ago, found a Japanese unit, with ceramic cutters, on the
close out table of a liquidator.
Beautiful piece of equipment.
Have never been able to find another one.
Am considering building a couple of pepper mills, IF I can find good
ceramic cutters.
Both WoodCraft and Rockler have this unit:
http://tinyurl.com/yz5ofv9
Anybody have any experience with this or other ceramic cutters?
Lew
Many other suppliers such as Packard and Craft Supplies also have these
ceramic crush grind mills. I just turned one and have been using it for
about 2 months, so far no complaints. It works very smoothly and produces a
very nice grind of pepper. Mounting these mills is a bit tricky but once you
figure it out, no big deal.
Russ
"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Most pepper mills, IMHO, are a day late and a dollar short.
>
> They jam up, don't hold regristation, and in general, a total PITA.
>
> Several years ago, found a Japanese unit, with ceramic cutters, on the
> close out table of a liquidator.
>
> Beautiful piece of equipment.
>
> Have never been able to find another one.
>
> Am considering building a couple of pepper mills, IF I can find good
> ceramic cutters.
>
> Both WoodCraft and Rockler have this unit:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yz5ofv9
>
> Anybody have any experience with this or other ceramic cutters?
>
> Lew
>
>
>
[...snip...]
>Considering the ceramic sets, I have seen the plans to turn them and stepped
>back from the kit. The instructors at Woodcraft were not even sure how to
>turn these type grinders although they sold the kits. I have seen articles
>on the subject of turning mills for the ceramic kits and it involves some
>pretty advanced wood turning techniques and or tools.
>
>The standard mills are complicated enough IMHO.
>
>
>
FYI, the Woodcraft web site has instructions for how to prepare and
install.
"Russ Stanton" wrote:
> Many other suppliers such as Packard and Craft Supplies also have
> these ceramic crush grind mills. I just turned one and have been
> using it for about 2 months, so far no complaints. It works very
> smoothly and produces a very nice grind of pepper. Mounting these
> mills is a bit tricky but once you figure it out, no big deal.
-----------------------------------
Thank you for the links.
Looks like everybody is selling the same unit.
Glad to see you're having good results.
Lew
On 31 Mar, 00:14, "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Most pepper mills, IMHO, are a day late and a dollar short.
Best mechanisms are by Kyocera (Kyoto ceramic), and anything ceramic
is probably going to be OK.
Peugeot are pretty good (yes, they did makes cars & bikes, but that
was 100 years ago)
As to using one in the kitchen, I have a couple of pestles & mortars.
I use those far more than a rotary grinder. They'll also do fenugreek
and lemongrass.
"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Most pepper mills, IMHO, are a day late and a dollar short.
>
> They jam up, don't hold regristation, and in general, a total PITA.
>
> Several years ago, found a Japanese unit, with ceramic cutters, on the
> close out table of a liquidator.
>
> Beautiful piece of equipment.
>
> Have never been able to find another one.
>
> Am considering building a couple of pepper mills, IF I can find good
> ceramic cutters.
>
> Both WoodCraft and Rockler have this unit:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yz5ofv9
>
> Anybody have any experience with this or other ceramic cutters?
>
> Lew
I have to agree with your assessment to some extent. I tool a class at
Woodcraft and apparently there a several grades of internal parts. If the
ones you do not like are those that you have seen at the store and look
similar to the parts in the kits sold at Woodcraft, reconsider. The one I
made gets used daily and so far seems to work as well today as it did when I
made it. The kit I used is not "pot metal" or stamped steel, my kit has
stainless steel grinder parts.
Considering the ceramic sets, I have seen the plans to turn them and stepped
back from the kit. The instructors at Woodcraft were not even sure how to
turn these type grinders although they sold the kits. I have seen articles
on the subject of turning mills for the ceramic kits and it involves some
pretty advanced wood turning techniques and or tools.
The standard mills are complicated enough IMHO.
"Jim Weisgram" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [...snip...]
>
>>Considering the ceramic sets, I have seen the plans to turn them and
>>stepped
>>back from the kit. The instructors at Woodcraft were not even sure how to
>>turn these type grinders although they sold the kits. I have seen
>>articles
>>on the subject of turning mills for the ceramic kits and it involves some
>>pretty advanced wood turning techniques and or tools.
>>
>>The standard mills are complicated enough IMHO.
>>
>>
>>
>
> FYI, the Woodcraft web site has instructions for how to prepare and
> install.
FIY I mentioned that I have seen the plans in the first sentence. It is
still a more advanced procedure and requires a more specialized tool for the
inner hidden cuts.
Actually the truning is no more difficult than any other mill with exception
of needing to cut a relief inside the barrel of the mill . I found that
using a Sorby relief cutter that is part of their thread chasing system
works perfectly
http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=packard&Product_Code=106534&Category_Code=tools-srby-spec-threadcut
The remaining part of the inside is just drilling with several sizes of
Forstners bits, turn the outside to shape.
Russ
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Most pepper mills, IMHO, are a day late and a dollar short.
>>
>> They jam up, don't hold regristation, and in general, a total PITA.
>>
>> Several years ago, found a Japanese unit, with ceramic cutters, on the
>> close out table of a liquidator.
>>
>> Beautiful piece of equipment.
>>
>> Have never been able to find another one.
>>
>> Am considering building a couple of pepper mills, IF I can find good
>> ceramic cutters.
>>
>> Both WoodCraft and Rockler have this unit:
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/yz5ofv9
>>
>> Anybody have any experience with this or other ceramic cutters?
>>
>> Lew
>
> I have to agree with your assessment to some extent. I tool a class at
> Woodcraft and apparently there a several grades of internal parts. If the
> ones you do not like are those that you have seen at the store and look
> similar to the parts in the kits sold at Woodcraft, reconsider. The one I
> made gets used daily and so far seems to work as well today as it did when
> I made it. The kit I used is not "pot metal" or stamped steel, my kit has
> stainless steel grinder parts.
>
> Considering the ceramic sets, I have seen the plans to turn them and
> stepped back from the kit. The instructors at Woodcraft were not even
> sure how to turn these type grinders although they sold the kits. I have
> seen articles on the subject of turning mills for the ceramic kits and it
> involves some pretty advanced wood turning techniques and or tools.
>
> The standard mills are complicated enough IMHO.
>
>
>
>