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If you made the Wood Candle Holder (see Project Archives), this nutcracker will be "a piece of cake" for you to make. It is constructed using the same principles.
This nutcracker is designed to open black walnuts. You can use it to open other nuts, but it may be a bit of over-kill for them. Black walnuts are notoriously difficult to open. This nutcracker uses brute force to unlock the lovely nutmeat inside those incredibly hard shells. I used a piece of scrap wood, since the look of the nutcracker is not important to me. You may want to use something a bit more attractive for your nutcracker, such as a nice piece of oak or maple. A hard wood will serve you much better than a piece of pine for this project. Leave the wood untreated; that is, no paint, stains, varnish, etc. so that the nutmeat will not pick up any of the wood treatments. If you are using nuts from your own tree, make sure they are thoroughly dry before attempting to open them. A dry nut will open much easier than a "green" nut.
CAUTION: Do use the cloth and eye protection when cracking nuts with this system. I cannot stress this enough. You don't want an injury from a piece of flying nutshell. You can always get a new towel but you can't get a new eye.
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Layout where you want to drill a hole to hold the nut. Mark the center point of the hole on the wood.
Drill a hole about ½" deep. You can drill multiple holes if you want to crack more than one nut at a time. Consider creating a variety of size holes to accommodate different size nuts.
Place a nut in the hole.
Cover the nut with a terry cloth towel or other heavy cloth.
Using a heavy hammer, pound on the nut.
Viola! Open Sesame! Now, pick out the nutmeat and enjoy!