A friend of mine asked me if I could make a pair of Chopsticks for a gift he wanted to give this weekend. I told him I would try but no promises because I am leaving for the Big Island tomorrow and I have a busy work schedule today. So I had to do it last night.
I carved out a blank on my mini-table saw and I hoped I would be lucky that the wood was OK. The problem about making nice chopsticks is that you never know how they will turn out until the end. The biggest problem is that if the grain is odd or there is an imperfection deep in the wood you won't find it until you hit it.
Because I knew I only had one shot at carving these due to time I took the planing very slow and light. I was lucky that I did not get any tear out when I finished the planing of the blanks.
The other time saving thing is that my friend wanted them Chinese style. Chinese style is not as thin as Japanese style at the tip of the chopstick. This makes it a lot easier to carve.
Once the planing was done I wet sanded the chopsticks with 400, 600, 1000, and 2000 grit with Food Safe Oil. I also made a heart shaped resin chopstick holder that is not in the picture. My friend came to pick it up late last night and he was pretty happy with it.