Making a crush grind mill

I’ve been turning the first batch of my new crush grind mills this week and made sure I took some photo’s along the way. There are quite a few processes involved, so I’ll try and not make it confusing!

I start off by preparing the blanks for the lid and base separately. Done this way, I can sand and finish the inside of each piece, allowing the lid to fit and rotate perfectly. The photo below shows the blanks cut to size…

This is the mechanism, which will eventually be fitted inside. It features a stainless steel shaft and top quality ceramic grinder…

 Luckily, this makes sense to me!…

 After rounding each blank, I bore in a series of holes on the lathe. The two larger ones accept the mechanism, with the smallest one passing right through. This last hole is about 10 inches long and needs to be drilled from both sides…

Here you can see a few stages in one photograph. On the far right are the base blanks, which have been drilled right through. Left of those are some of the same blanks, now shaped and doweled to accept the lids. In the front are the lids, partly made…

Sorry to keep you in suspense, but the final stages will be posted asap – as soon as I’ve been able to finish them!...