A few new peppermills

Chuck Ellis

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Tellico Plains, Tennessee
I'm getting ready for a show in Oct.. put together a few new peppermills..
most of these are glue ups.. they seem to be very popular... the Walnut one is from a piece of Chocolate that Larry sent my way... I also have a bowl from the same wood, but had to rework it after knocking a tool off the wall over my workbench that landed in the bottom of the bowl and made a large ding... got that fixed and now refinishing the bowl... I'll post it for Larry soon as it's finished...

Here are the mills... they range from about 6 1/2 inch to 10 inches... a couple I think turned out kinda funky.. not sure I really like them myself, so not sure how customers will take to them.
 

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Some thoughts on peppermill profiles

I'm getting ready for a show in Oct.. put together a few new peppermills..
most of these are glue ups.. they seem to be very popular... the Walnut one is from a piece of Chocolate that Larry sent my way... I also have a bowl from the same wood, but had to rework it after knocking a tool off the wall over my workbench that landed in the bottom of the bowl and made a large ding... got that fixed and now refinishing the bowl... I'll post it for Larry soon as it's finished...

Here are the mills... they range from about 6 1/2 inch to 10 inches... a couple I think turned out kinda funky.. not sure I really like them myself, so not sure how customers will take to them.

Chuck,
Well done! I like the laminated design. Not many people can pull that off.

FWIW I would suggest that for your next series of peppermills you look at making the profiles a bit more "curvey"

When I first started making peppermills I made then somewhat "blocky". They sold, but not at a pace I would brag about. Since that time I've refined the design and I've sold a fair number of peppermills. In fact, when I was out of work several years ago, I was able to augment my meager unemployement $ with peppermill sales.

I found that the profiles that sell best are those that feel good to hold and also look well proportioned. For inspiration on the design I turned to my old drafting and architecture books. I then used the design proportions for Greek/Roman columns in designing the peppermill profiles. These turned out to be the best selling of the lot.

Cherry
cherrypeppermill.jpg

The one above was my first in the series and the base turned out smaller that I wanted. That didn't stop my wife from snagging it. It now adorns our dinner table every night.:D

Coccobolo
phototest1.jpg


This peppermill was one of my favorites. It not only incorporates the improved profiles, but features an improved grain matched close fitting coaster (it looks like the base has one extra bead. But that's the coaster).

This coaster was prototyped in the cherry peppermill above. It's a nice feature because it catches the pepper dust that leaks out of these peppermills. At this point I'm compelled by copyright law (and threats of spousal abuse) to mention that the coaster was my wife's idea. :D
 
I to like the laminated ones. Good looking mills Chuck. I agree with Dominic that the design is what sells. I to start making them kinda blocky and sold a few here and there. I got a DVD by Ted Sokolowski and saw Nick Cook make one. I talked to them about design and like Dominic found that like his it is more appealing to the customer. I sell a lot more of them now with a different design.
 
Nice work, Chuck. I like the Celtic knot idea in the purpleheart/maple(?) one. I'll also echo the other guys...more curves will likely help sales.
 
Nice work, Chuck. I like the Celtic knot idea in the purpleheart/maple(?) one. I'll also echo the other guys...more curves will likely help sales.

Vaughn,
Actually, it's purpleheart and yellowheart... I liked the color combination.

To all you guys,
Thanks for comments and suggestions... Dom.. I copied your pictures to study for future mills... I have a few more to make if I can get them ready before my first show in October...first weekend. Going to lose this weekend for turning.. my son is up from Texas for a visit and I want to spend as much time with him as I can... he's taken his motorcycle up on the Cherohala this afternoon, but will be back in a couple of hours... guess should utilize the time instead of sitting here on the computer.
 
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