Square and trim a larger blank

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scrofts1219

scrofts1219

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I recently built PSI's one handed pepper mill. I have a chef in the family and I want to get her opinion. I absolutely love the finished product. She hasn't received it yet. But I had a big challenge. I have only made pens. The main part of this kit has a 9/16 hole down the middle--way larger than any pen mill that I'm aware of. I didn't have anything on my PSI jig that was big enough to really square it up on the sander, either. In the end, I sort of "guessed" on the sander and got very close. I could tell it was off just a bit, but I'm sure my daughter-in-law won't be able to tell.

How to you square up a blank/tube when they're that large?

Kit can be found here: https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKGRIND8.html
 
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Interesting challenge, Steven.

My mind goes to doing the squaring on the lathe before drilling, and immediately follow that by drilling without removing the blank from the chuck. . Follow that with sizing and shaping while turning between centers.

However, the length of the blank could pose a problem for drilling.
 
Put the blank between centers rough it to round and make a tenon. Then throw that into a chuck and square with your tool of choice. get a set of machinist squares to verify. don't know if that's the preferred way but it works for me, and I hope it helps you out.
 
It would seem to me that it would be possible to make a long jig which would set on top of the lathe bed and squared up using a piece of wood to hold it in the slot where the tool rest slides. Then by adding a strip of wood or maybe a piece of aluminum angle along one edge would give you a jig with that is square to a sanding disc with a flat surface to slide the blank on. Then just make a flat disc with some pressure sensitive adhesive sanding discs and a face plate and you should ready to go.
 
I'm not sure why you'd have to square it up beyond what you can achieve by using a skew or gouge to make a nice clean cut across the end, provided you are turning the spindle between centers it's guaranteed to be uniform around the diameter. I generally make a very slight undercut, so the parts mate at the outside edge with no gap.
 
By the way, here's a picture of the finished project. Cocobolo body and African blackwood plunger. The challenge is that the kit is built like a giant pen in a way. There is a stainless steel tube that inserted in the cocobolo blank after drilling a 9/16 hole all the way through the blank. So it needs to be trimmed/squared up like a pen. You can see I'm off a little at the bottom where it contacts the big chrome piece.

I bought two kits so I might try some jig ideas mentioned here. Would love an easier solution if it exists. I think a one-handed pepper grinder would be very well received.
IMG_0615.jpg
 
maybe like this...the transfer punch doesn't have to be the same size...just use the largest you have and hold pressure in one direction...

 
For that particular type of blank, I use a disc sander that I got for about $30 at Menards. It works quite well, actually. Just have to be sure you have a straight side to work with on the little slide thingy.
 
Yeah. I had to get something that fit between my lathe and assembly station, given I have limited room. Let me get my hands on a heated outbuilding and just watch how much motor driven junk I'll accumulate...
 
could you not just turn a mandrel ( a rod that fits fairly tightly in the bore ) and then use a spindle gouge or skew chisel point to square it? Drill it a bit over length so you have some " wiggle room" the. square up between centres on a mandrel in the lathe.

Nice looking gadget !
 
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