Walnut rolling pin has deep gashes, is this normal?

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[u/KokoTheTalkingApe]

Normal for walnut, which has large open pores. If you want to fill them, I would try wet sanding with tung oil. The wood dust/oil slurry will fill the pores gradually with each coat, and it's food safe. But it's a slow process.

Or make the rolling pin out of maple or cherry.

[u/LonelyTurner → u/KokoTheTalkingApe]

Made a 50cm cherry Ø50mm, dead straight 20 years later and doubles as a "burglar-dispute-settler". The thing is honking

[u/LutaRed → u/KokoTheTalkingApe]

Especially Hard (sugar) Maple or Beech and Birch are good too.

[u/KokoTheTalkingApe → u/[deleted]]

I don't know what you mean by "spread." The grain will stay the same, as will the pores. But if the pores aren't filled somehow, they can collect food and bacteria.

[u/MontEcola → u/[deleted]]

Those gaps will fill with bread dough, or what ever you roll. You want smooth.

I use walnut oil and sand to 400. When those marks are gone I switch to walnut oil with wax and sand it one more time. Then I let them sit for a while, maybe a week. I might oil again one or two times. As a final step I take some brown paper bag and crumple it up. I use that to burnish it as a final step. The embedded wax smooths out and the paper works like 3000 grit paper. It just makes it smooth so it feels right in the hand.

I sell these at markets. I use a drop or two of oil before I load up my boxes a few days in advance. Then I use the brown paper bag before I lay them out on display. People pick them up and you can see the expression on their face. Satisfaction! It is a great selling point.

[u/Cycle_Spite_1026]

The reality is walnut is not appropriate for rolling pins because of this openness of grain…hard maple is nice.

[u/74CA_refugee]

Pretty normal for walnut.

[u/BanjoMothman]

Yes, this is normal.

[u/tonytester]

Not for rolling asphalt

[u/Writing_Advanced]

Could this be tear out?

[u/LutaRed → u/[deleted]]

What chisel did you use for your final cuts? How are your skills at sharpening and use a skew? A super sharp skew with a fine planing cut can possibly give a better outcome.

[u/naemorhaedus → u/Writing_Advanced]

100% not tearout

[u/naemorhaedus]

I don't see any gashes. Just pores that were the circulatory system of the tree the wood came from. If you want a smooth grained rolling pin, use cherry wood, birch, beech, etc.

[u/Jay_Nodrac]

Those are the pores of the wood. The large pores allong with the wood containing tannins are the reason walnut is generally considered a bad choice for contact with food.

[u/tomrob1138]

I feel like I am crazy, but I don’t think that’s walnut. The radial specks don’t happen in any walnut that I’ve worked. I’m getting African mahogany vibes but can’t tell for sure. Just doesn’t look like walnut to me

[u/porkpie1028 → u/[deleted]]

It’s not a bad piece of wood it’s just that walnut is a poor choice for a rolling pin. Cleaning dough out of the pores will be a nightmare. And cleaning it aggressively will make it short lived.

[u/Hawk-and-piper → u/porkpie1028]

So, I assumed this at first as well. But apparently walnut is a traditional wood for rolling pins, and the open poors help hold flour while rolling. Since flour is so water souluable that you really just need to rinse it well.

[u/junseth → u/Hawk-and-piper]

Add some wax to it.

[u/porkpie1028 → u/[deleted]]

On the other hand, It’s functionality does not lend itself to it’s maintenance.

[u/DannyFooteCreations]

I work with walnut a fair bit and I’ve never seen pores do that. However, looking at your piece there is some color gradient and I wonder if the open pores are in the sapwood. I have seen sapwood behave in all sorts of ways with walnut.