Going crackers

[Walker570]

Huge harvest of Kentish Cob hazel nuts this year and believ it or believe it not we did not have a nut cracker. Yes, I did make one for cracking the walnuts but that one would be awkward for the small nuts, so this morning out in the scrap box and found enought to make a smaller version and surprise surprise it works perfectly, just crushing the shell sufficient to extract a whole nut not in bits and pieces.   Not pretty but it does the job.

[Dave-G]

Very resourceful, where there's a will there's a way. 

 

[Stimo22]

My Dad made these out of stainless steel, he was a toolmaker and they alway make me smile when I use them

[Walker570]

7 minutes ago, Stimo22 said:

My Dad made these out of stainless steel, he was a toolmaker and they alway make me smile when I use them

Now they are nice. Do I see a slight sexual conation Hmmmmmm

[Diver One]

I had to look at the pic twice.....very nice indeed

[ditchman]

36 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Huge harvest of Kentish Cob hazel nuts this year and believ it or believe it not we did not have a nut cracker. Yes, I did make one for cracking the walnuts but that one would be awkward for the small nuts, so this morning out in the scrap box and found enought to make a smaller version and surprise surprise it works perfectly, just crushing the shell sufficient to extract a whole nut not in bits and pieces.   Not pretty but it does the job.

christ nev...............bit of overkill there........

[dipper]

Nice one.Ive used mole grips in the past.

[figgy]

Just want a handle welding on for easier use. 

Finding good nut crackers is hard, I tend to crush the whole lot to mush if the shell is hard.

I may make myself one like Walkers

[Walker570]

No handle required, you just lay the cracker on it's side in your left palm, drop in nut and turn the handle the 'head' is slightly inward domed if thats the term so the nut sits there nice and secure. With largish handle you can put pressure on very gently and almost every time the nut will crack around the circumference and not crush at all.

I cut a fully threaded bolt just short enough to feed through the hole and thentightened the nut in place, a couple of dabs of weld to hold it there.  I then welded in a thicker bit of plate as a 'floor' so to speak, so there was ample room for the thread to work.   You can form the cavity in the bolt head by turning it in a drill whilst holding it against a small grinding wheel.  I then ran the head against my belt sander an took of most of the edges.  As said a bit rough but made in an hour before coffee this morning, it took longer for the gold paint to dry ....she indoors was impressed with the gold paint

4 hours ago, ditchman said:

christ nev...............bit of overkill there........

If your going to kill it then kill it, is my belief.....why use a 243Win when a 300H&H will do the job in spades.......pause for yelping and wailing..... it does the job and it was bits of material which fell to hand and in fact probably has less metal in it than a normal pair of nut crackers.

[mel b3]

that's brilliant nev , i love "in the shed" engineering .

[Mr gen]

Nice bit of handy work there your not going to over crush the nut! I have always used a pen knife, scratch the top off the nut, find the line where the shells meet insert the tip of the blade and twist. but I do like what you have made there.   

[Saltings]

walnuts as kids a suitable stone and enjoy the harvest brought home a lot  leftovers for mother   for all sorts if recipes 

however a nice nut cracker is a joy  saves blood blisters lol  ( nice work) guys

Edited September 25, 2019 by Saltings

[hodge911]

On 24/09/2019 at 12:40, Stimo22 said:

My Dad made these out of stainless steel, he was a toolmaker and they alway make me smile when I use them

I'm sure he must of used my 1st girlfriend as the model for those 😂😂😂😂