First attempt at Mortar & Pestle

It almost seems like a rite of passage to turn a mortar and pestle. For this project, the wood I choose was ribbon sapele. I got myself a 5 inch round by 4 inch tall piece for the mortar and a 3×3x6 for the pestle. Both were kiln dried from Got Wood? and ready for the lathe.

The mortar was the first on the bed and turned round quickly while on the worm screw. I designed the outside to be holdable with a firm stout base. Spun it around on to the chuck and hollowed out the compression chamber about 3.5 inches deep, with gradual sloping sides to the nicely rounded bottom.

Moving on to the pestle, between centers, turned round and created a tenon. I put the chuck back on the lathe and firmly grabbed the sapele pestle blank. It took form quickly, making the bulbus end and slender handle. Sanded and finished before swinging it around to work the smaller end.

All the pieces were completed with Mahoney’s walnut finish, which is 100% food safe. I typically use O.B. Shine Juice, but depending on who you talk to (read about) there is debate on the food safety. I do not feel comfortable with it for this application and went with something I am very confident with.

Here is this week’s video: Mortar & Pestle from Ribbon Sapele, my first attempt at this project.