Stylish Chopsticks With Toothpick Storage

These chopsticks are easy to make, look great, and have a hidden compartment to store toothpicks or anything else you would want to store (but mainly just toothpicks).

Made of hardwood and aluminum tubing, they are low cost and durable, allowing them to be reused many times.

Also, using your own utensils over and over again helps reduce the cutting of trees to make new chopsticks (albeit by a very tiny amount).

Step 1 Materials

All you need for this is a 6mm dowel and a piece of 6mm aluminum (or really any kind of metal) tubing.

In the spirit of re-purposing, I used an old Airsoft barrel I had lying around for the tubing. All I needed to do was to wash it thoroughly to remove grease.

Both tubing and dowel can be found at any good hardware store or home center.

You could also cut up an old pair of chopsticks to use in place of the dowel, but I didn't have any.

At my local Ace Hardware (Northern California) you can get materials for four pairs of chopsticks for $7.50.

Comments

[acoleman3]

also a bloody good way of making collapsible hashi for ease of transport. like.....putting them in a pack, if you carry one around, so you always have them with you. although i *would* use brass 'cus aluminium is slightly toxic and the oxide rub off turns your fingers dirty. ....but cudos to you for re-using the airsoft barrel. quite brill of an idea there.

[ilpug]

thank you. I didn't consider the oxidation. I was considering coupling these with a little carrier that would also include a chopstick rest. maybe for a bored afternoon of the future.

[ilpug]

I have been using these and other virtually identical pairs pretty much daily since i made this instructable, and never once have i had any rub-off. you may be right, but i just haven't observed it :/