English walnut chipping

[French Colonial]

Ok experts (of which I am not one)

I have a very nice piece of English walnut that wants to chip while doing inletting.

I think (dangerous) that I have read on here that some of you have applied some sort of sealer or other products to reduce chipping. Can you enlighten me?
I REALLY don't want to screw this piece of wood up

Thanks!

 

[Feltwad]

Keep your tools extra sharp and cut with the grain
Feltwad

 

[andy52]

Walnut is bad about chipping and splintering as feltwad said your tools have to be very sharp.

 

[billraby]

Very sharp tools and pay attention to the grain. The more figure in the wood, the tougher it is going to be to work with. A really nice piece of English walnut is worth the extra work. Now you know why guns made with it are so expensive.

 

[LME]

Ok experts (of which I am not one)

I have a very nice piece of English walnut that wants to chip while doing inletting.

I think (dangerous) that I have read on here that some of you have applied some sort of sealer or other products to reduce chipping. Can you enlighten me?
I REALLY don't want to screw this piece of wood up

Thanks!

As others here have said keep your tools scary sharp and don't force the tool go lightly!

 

[oldwood]

If you think English Walnut and American Black walnut are difficult , try some Turkish (Circasian) walnut. Have done a couple Jaegers in that , it's very chippy. I will be happy to work in anything besides Turkish. Keep tools very sharp , watch the grain direction. Two asprin and call back in the morning.

 

[GREENSWLDE]

I have worked Circasian on several occasions. BEWARE the Black Vanes.. Usually like cutting Anthresite coal, Some times harder-Not very good for sharp chisels. Beautiful when oil finished. OLD DOG..

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
English walnut, Circassian walnut, Turkish walnut, French walnut are all the same species, Juglans regia, but they can vary a lot. We all suggest sharp tools but I often wonder if those we advise really know what we mean. They should be sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm. In addition, pay attention to the geometry of your chisel tips. After a lot of hand sharpening, the bevels on flat chisels often become rounded because it is very hard not to rock the blade a little as you stroke it on a stone or plate. That curve will increase problems with chipping because you will tend to lever or rock the chisel when you cut. Every so often, I re-establish or flatten the bevels on my chisels using a jig.

dave

 

[Ragged Edge]

If you think English Walnut and American Black walnut are difficult , try some Turkish (Circasian) walnut. Have done a couple Jaegers in that , it's very chippy. I will be happy to work in anything besides Turkish. Keep tools very sharp , watch the grain direction. Two asprin and call back in the morning.

Not a big fan of Claro either.

 

[oldwood]

Just couldn't resist commenting on what Dave said. Truely...........Sharp means , " shaving razor sharp". About 50+ years ago , I accidentally discovered what that meant. I was trying to learn how to carve gun wood , and just use wood chisels effectively. Had got a shipment of German made chisels from the famous tool house , Frank Mittermeier gunsmithing / woodworking supply in N. Y. city. I knew little of how to sharpen the tools , so read all the books I had and started to sharpen. About the same time I expanded my power tools and bought a 1" X 42" belt sander , and a selection of belts from 600 grit to 45 grit. Already had a hand made 8 " grinder - buffer. ,and some relatively new super hard Arkansas stones. First , from a book , I ground the angle on a chisel , then on the 600 Grit 1"X 42" belt sander , I touched up the face of the tip angle to eliminate the coarse grinder stone marks. Next , to the fine , hard Arkansas stone for the sharp edge on the tip , and finally , to the hard buffing wheel for just a touch or two to polish the edge. Good to go with a little more Arkansas stone touch up when the tool gets slightly dull. Of course I felt the kiss of what sharp means in the world of carving chisels . BLOOD coming from a careless miss step, dang that hurts. Have to step back from dumb AS_ mode and git my head right. Sharpness to ya.........oldwood.... .......PS...When yur deer guttin knife is sharp as a razor , oh it's so slick to knock the gut pile out a deer. .......

 

[Brokenbear]

I suspect what the guys have said about sharp tools is your first defense ..next in line is the depth of cut you are attempting (Think in terms of cut depth more like sanding than cutting) coupled with the angle of the grain as you approach a cut ..but another is ........
If you have a wood working friend who has a moisture meter (for wood of course) I suggest you test the moisture content of the piece you are working on ..7 to 8 % is about ideal in that below those percentages exasperates the chipping exponentially the drier it becomes ..by reverse of this a moisture content at 8 or 9 % improves the woods resistance to chipping
It is possible that you lumber is bone dry ..not the best situation for chipping nor for the wood once it is introduced to the field unless you have done real yeoman duty in completely sealing the wood ..where the 7 to 8 % works to your advantage is most wood NOT subjected to sunlight will naturally air dry to about 10 to 11 % (yes where you live makes an impact on this statement) over time ..so if you build on wood at the 7/8 you will still need to finish it of course but even if the wood "air dries" up a couple percentage points there will not be enough wood dimensional changes to affect fitment
On the other hand a bone dry piece of wood that acquires 6,8, 10% is catastrophic

Just food for thought ..

BEAR