How to Split a Walnut Perfectly in Half

Watch the video tutorial here!

If you want to use walnut shells for crafting, it's a great trick to be able to split them perfectly in half without destroying one side. This can be especially difficult for the walnuts I get from the grocery store around Christmas! This method is fairly consistent in helping me crack a walnut without breaking the shells, but I do still get a few failures.

The step-by-step breakdown of how you can cleanly break a walnut shell in half ​is presented below. You can also check out the tutorial video on my YouTube channel.

Soak your walnuts in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes.

To do this safely, you need to consider how to safely support the nut. I stick the nut pointy end down into a lump of playdoh.

Stabilize the walnut with your fingers and thumb away from the blade of your knife. Push the tip of the knife into the hole in the base of the nut.

Eventually the nut will come apart. Be patient, you'll probably have a few failures.

Make sure you clean out the loose membrane stuff that's in there.

Dry the nuts off really well. You don't want any water making these things slippery!

I wear a cut resistant glove on my work holding hand. I use the biggest, most inflexible chef's knife I own.

Working VERY slowly, work the knife back and forth, carefully opening the gap. This should take a few minutes. DON'T TWIST the knife. Pry very gently.

I'm using a sculpting tool to clean the nut out of the shell.

When both sides are all cleaned out, you have a perfectly fit walnut shell for all your crafting desires!

If you're interested in learning how to turn your clean walnut shells into a box with a DIY  hinge, check out the tutorial video here! HOW TO split a walnut, make a wire hinge, and make a box DETAILED STEP-BY-STEP