r/Wenwan • u/Rare-Mulberry-2691 • 16h ago

Almost two weeks

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Ive spent almost two weeks on these black walnuts and they are definitely starting to smooth out and also put on a different color.

I glued some green quartz in to give it some extra specialness.

The more I brush I notice some white lines and I’ve got some cracks and chips from dropping a lot this so really good practice before getting an official pair of wenwan walnuts. I also split one of the walnuts when I first started by dropping it on the ground luckily I had backups for this event. 😂

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2

u/beaniesandbuds 9h ago edited 9h ago

Those look great for 2 weeks!

It definitely seems that black walnuts, even though they still have a thick shell, are a lot more brittle and fragile compared to the Chinese varieties.

If you really love the feel of Black Walnuts, I recently learned that the Chinese variety "Monkey Head Walnut" is actually just a Black Walnut that has been selectively bred for thicker shells! Apparently they were imported into China from North America sometime in the early 1900's, and have become a popular Wenwan Walnut in China ever since!

Most are harvested while they are still small, and drilled and turned into Mala/bracelets instead of rolled like most wenwan walnuts, but there are listings like this one

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4453169041/monkey-head-pair-of-matched-wenwan?ref=share_ios_native_control

Where they sell larger sizes that are made to be played with similar to other walnut varieties!

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u/Rare-Mulberry-2691 9h ago

I really appreciate this, I’m thinking about saving for at least 2 or 3 varieties I like so far 😂

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u/beaniesandbuds 9h ago

I've also inlaid stones into my walnuts as well, similar to what you did here!

So if you have any questions about trying to inlay gems into a pair you buy (although it's pretty straight forward) feel free to shoot me a message!

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u/Rare-Mulberry-2691 6h ago

This looks so cool!

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u/AcanthaceaeCareless5 5h ago

Very cool. I also added stones.

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u/beaniesandbuds 3h ago

Hey! Would you mind if I messaged you about these? I'm curious about where you find super small cabochons like this. Or do you make them yourself? Do you grind them down from larger cabochons??

Your inlays seem to be more made-to-fit, instead of how mine are, where I alter the walnut to fit the gemstone. Your way is much more "natural" so i'd love to hear your technique.

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u/AcanthaceaeCareless5 3h ago

I just smashed a couple that I had and picked out pieces that were a nice fit. Did s little bit of shaping with a small file. The opals came out pretty good but they are kinda hard to get good photos of.

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u/beaniesandbuds 2h ago

Last couple questions, did you just hold the stone by hand while you shaped it? And what did you use to glue them into the slot?

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u/AcanthaceaeCareless5 2h ago

I did. It was fickle work. I was mostly just smoothing hard edges. Used gel super glue to secure.

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u/beaniesandbuds 2h ago

Same with inlaying cut stones, just reversed, check-and-go carving of the walnut, stopping every 2 seconds to dry-fit the gemstone. Eet fickle process to say the least...

Definitely going to try inlaying natural stone on my Dimen pair in the future, but the navels are maybe 3mm wide... so we'll see how that goes!

I also need to get hand files, as rotory tools were the only way to realistically make quick progress on the walnut shells, plus the shells are much more forgiving.

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u/realtlk 9h ago

This looks so awesome!! Love how pronounced the ridges are