Black Walnut Cracking With a Shop-Vac - Chocolate Brownies with Black Walnuts! 

A follow up... Yep, works for me! Briefly here's my steps. (1) cleaned out my 5.5 HP Shop-Vac. Installed a new filter (needed one anyway.) Not sure if the unit is made of food grade plastic-might check on that. (2) I used a plastic tee and fittings. Spent around $25 for fittings and pipe Used full 10' of pipe as chute. (3) Used a 7/16 bolt/nut I had lying around. Bent a couple of washers to fit curve of pipe. (4) Finally realized that the I.D. of the 2" Tee would hold the O.D. of my vacuum hose without fittings. Just a little duct tape to secure fitting. (5) Decided not to use pipe cement so I could return to Lowes for credit if needed. Duct tape on joints worked well. (6) Found 1.5" pipe worked best. Our nuts here in Southwest Virginia are just too big for 1.25" pipe. (7) Conclusion: Large percent of nuts cracked very well- re-ran some. Well worth the hour or so of construction. Hint: Shelled nuts that float most often contain bad nut meat. Comments welcome.

My mom grew up on a farm. There was a black walnut tree right in front of the house, not more that 20 feet from the kitchen door. Grandma's baked goods usually had the home grown black walnuts in them. Mm, mm good.

Show me more of the sorting buckets

Paul, Thanks for the video. I'm going to build one. Suggestion if you haven't done it already is use an old windsheild wiper motor for an agitator for a self feed hopper. They spin nice and slow. Next the hull is useful. It contains Juglone which is one of the strongest natural antil fungal and anti parasitics. Also good for the digestive track including constipation. Many uses. Juglone is toxic to some trees and vegitation. That is why you can't grow apple or pear trees near a black walnut. It can also be used as an herbicide when you want a safe natural solution. Luckily here where I live people hate the mess they leave and that makes them free for the taking most of the time.

Great idea for the home once in a while nut cracker. Think I'll make one....

There may be a simpler option than even this one. There is a US patent application submitted by Grover Britt, Jr of Richfield, North Carolina titled "Vacuum-Assisted Nut Cracker" that is worth a look. His solution is to put a "hard target" (bolt) inside the shop-vac on the intake port. The port normally directs the air sideways in the canister. With the "hard target" installed the vac will crack nuts. The advantages to this method are one less 90-degree turn in the suction path so less resistance seen by the vacuum blower, and fewer parts. Google search turns up nothing about the invention other than the patent application. The status of the application is "Abandoned" meaning it has not been granted by the Patent Office. Even if it were, patents generally don't prevent persons from making their own copies, just from making financial gain from them. The link to the patent is: patents.google.com/patent/US20170231263A1/en

Thanks for a less physically demanding way! Wasn't wise enough to care when I was younger.... not as strong now.

This is brilliant and simple elegance well done.

thanks for clearing that for me just did think vac would be that strong those shell are tough

Thank god I've got a European walnut tree!

I use a Back To Basics sauce-maker/strainer with a large round hopper, enabling me to pour quarts of cooked apples or other fruits or vegetables into it, then turn the crank and let the auger do its job. Sir, you need a hopper into which you can pour the nuts instead of feeding them one at a time by hand. Presort them by size first, then pour the appropriate ones in the hopper. The bigger nuts can be poured into the hopper and cracked using your larger pipe, then put through the hopper and smaller pipe. Seems a lot faster and easier to me, but what do I know - I'm just a dumb blonde woman!

Where is the "Force" that actually cracks the Black Walnuts?

This is wonderful news. I've been dreading the arm pull nut cracker for a couple 5 gal buckets of black walnuts I got from my two little trees. One question. Have you determined an "optimum length" for the feed chute pipe?

Hello, After watching and reading. I had a couple ideas. Take them for what they are worth. :-) the guy with the 2 t's idea. every 90 degree or T will drop your suction pressure. What you really need is a air lock. On this system and the two T;s system. This will allow your suction to build up, so when the nuts go through they will hit harder. Also you may want to use unions on your connections. It would be easier and faster and cheaper in the long run then the tape. I was wondering. What is your brine solution mix with the salt and water? Are you using the brine over and over? No need to waste it. speaking of the waste. What do you do with your shells? they are used for sand blasting. Make or buy a mill to grind them up. All that work and a little more for a better pay off. You might even find some one to buy them as they are. That would be a lot better then dumping them. :-) Also you may want to make a thing to sort the lager from the smaller. Like take a wooden box and drill 1 1/4 in" holes in the bottom and shake them or sit them on a shaker. check out how they pan for gold for the shaker ideas. :-)

i am of the old school ------place walnuts with hulls in gravel driveway drive on them a few days to remove the hulls then take them to the garage shop anvil use a hammer crack what you need leave the rest for later use a sharp tool to remove chunks of fresh and dry black walnuts .

Hey Paul! Not sure if you're still around, but I am still wondering how you separate the shell from the meat with water!

:34 You scared the hoot's out of me

we will make this tomorrow, thanks for the idea.

That is laborious way to Crack walnuts however it works

How do you separate the meat from the shell fragments?

how much damage does that do to the fan inside the vac

haha!

cracking them with this system may seem slow I could crush them faster with my hands and have them separated in the same time, Just as fast as I put them in my hand

IDK... work 1 extra hour at job....go buy walnuts at store...i know not black walnuts...but come on man...