Wooden Pinch Pots - Design for Utility and Aesthetics
Note: This post is still in the making.
I like making things that I’ll use, and I cook a lot. Recently, I’ve noticed that getting a pinch of salt or sugar takes more effort than it should - at least in my kitchen. My sugar is stored in a sack, in a bag, on a back shelf behind some pots in a cupboard. It’s not so easy to get to, but due to lack of space, there are not many better places to store it. Salt is a similar situation but more of a measuring conundrum pouring from the big Morton jars.
These dilemmas made me want counter-top pinch pots for easy access. I liked some online designs, but they weren’t EXACTLY what I wanted, and hey, I like making things. I decided to make my own.
Some initial design considerations came to mind:
- Wooden
- One-handed usability
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Large enough to hold more than a few pinches
From an earlier project, there was some scrap wood left over, so I constrained my designs to that piece and came up with the following draft design page. Ignore my crappy handwriting, drawing, and math. :)
Here’s the raw piece of what I believe is padauk.
After cutting into the two lids and two bodies:
I used a plunge router to make the cavity for the salt or sugar. The hole is big enough for all four pinched fingers to fit in.
