Why Walnut Is My Favourite Wood

Few woods turn as predictably and yet as surprisingly as walnut. From the very first shaving a faintly nutty, warm scent rises that, for me, is inseparable from the workshop itself.

Walnut’s grain tells a story of its own. Pale sapwood meets deep, chocolate-brown heartwood, and where the two meet the lathe reveals patterns that never repeat from one piece to the next.

Under the tool, too, walnut behaves beautifully. It cuts cleanly, barely tears out, and takes a polish that makes the depth of the grain almost glow.

That is exactly why, whenever I have the choice, I reach for walnut again and again. It pairs a calm cut with a result that feels complete before any colour is added at all.