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I'm turning my first pepper mills using Chef Specialties kits. No instructions came with the kits, but they are available online. The instructions call for a finished blank 1/8" longer than the shaft, which for a 6" kit would be 6" because the shaft is 5 7/8" Other instructions call for half of the threaded adjustment shaft that the knob attaches to be exposed. When I test-fit my components on a finished 6" blank, only 1/8" of the threaded shaft was visible. I was able to make an adjustment by increasing the depth of the tenon in the base 1/4", but I'm wondering if I missed something or if a requirement for this type of adjustment is typical.
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Captain Pete
Go to craft supply site and look up their pepper mills. Then download their instructions, they are the ones I have been using for years. There is nothing wrong with the way you were able to increase the shaft length. I have not made the 6", just the 8" but don't see much difference.
Mel
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Thanks Mel, but one of the instructions I'm using is the Craft Supply version. Those instructions do not provide a finished blank length, or for that matter, recommend a test fit. So, if I had presumed a final length of 6" for a 6" kit, the finished mill body would have been too long.
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I usually turn the main body, insert the mechanism, then measure to see what size to turn the cap. Drill the hole in the cap and see how far the threaded part fits through the hole. Hope this makes sense.
Mel
ABC(Anything But Crapsman)club member