The previous pair of salad claws were a bit too short, resulting in messy fingers. These are five inches long and almost three inches wide.

I cut these out on the band saw and did most of the shaping with a sanding drum on an old rotary tool. Then a lot of hand sanding (successive grits up to 600), and finished with Howard Butcher Block Conditioner.

That black cherry is some beautiful stuff. I think I need to make a spoon or two from what I have left.

Pattern info

Several people asked for the pattern I used for these. I didn’t have a pattern, but rather just drew the outline on the wood. So I traced the outline and made some annotations. That rough pattern should give you the basic idea. Here’s a text description.

The basic shape is 2 7/8 inches wide and 5 1/4 inches long. I would suggest going 3 inches wide, and between five and six inches long. The fingers should be about 2.5 inches. The wood is right at 1/4 inch thick after you finish cutting it out.

I started with a 3″ x 3″ piece of black cherry that I cut to 5 1/2″ long. I then drew the side view and cut the two pieces on the band saw. I then drew the fingers and, with the curve down (so both ends rested on the table), cut the spaces between the fingers. The fingers should be on 0.6 inch centers, and should be between 3/8 and 1/2 inch wide. If the fingers are 1/2 inch wide, the space between the fingers is 1/8 inch, which isn’t quite enough in my opinion.

After cutting out on the band saw, do simple shaping with a sharp knife and sandpaper, or with a rotary tool. Then sand to the smoothness you like (I use successive grits up to 600), and apply your favorite finish.