Shopsmith Forums

When I bore my 1" 5/8 and 1"1/16 in my pepper grinders the whole are not centered. I have tried many things. Even though the forstner bit starts out on center the hole end up offset.

I haven't made a pepper grinder, but are you mounting the work or the bit in the tail stock to drill it? There is flex in the tail stock (at least in mine).

Have you tried starting with a small diameter bit and working up to the desired diameter?

When I do any center boring, I put the bit on the tailstock and spin the wood from the headstock.

I am assuming that you are drilling the holes in the square blanks before you start turning. Once you have the blank securely clamped to the table and the fence and also centered it should not be an issue. There are two potential reasons I can think of that can cause the bit to wander. Are you using a carbide forstner bit that has no shoulder ? They can wander. A traditional forstner bit has a shoulder that is about 1/2” deep or larger which helps guide the bit. They are making some carbide bits these days that are marketed as forstner bits but do not have the shoulder. I have a set like that from Grizzly. Great bits but not the best for drilling long holes for things like pepper grinders. The other problem can occur with traditional bits that are dull. I don’t try to drill the through hole completely from one end. I drill from both ends and meet in the middle. That way the start of the hole is accurate at both ends. If they don’t meet exactly at the mid point it doesn’t matter. The salt or pepper will fall through whether the hole meet up perfectly or not.
Paul

masonsailor2 wrote:.... I don’t try to drill the through hole completely from one end. I drill from both ends and meet in the middle. That way the start of the hole is accurate at both ends. If they don’t meet exactly at the mid point it doesn’t matter. The salt or pepper will fall through whether the hole meet up perfectly or not.
Paul

absolutely the best answer. It worked for me on a long pepper mill. As I remember, 18" high
Edited to add photo