John Economaki, who has been designing woodworking tools for over 30 years, wanted to design a tool that could be used without any prior knowledge of woodworking, so that everyone, including children, would be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of making something by hand. In creating such a tool, he would first need to create a project that everyone would enjoy making, be simple to understand and easy to use. While on a business trip to China, John noticed that chopsticks were both a daily and cultural phenomenon. As a token gesture of gratitude for business in China, he created a chopstick making jig to teach the Chinese how to make chopsticks at a local trade show. In three days, over the course of the trade show, over 400 pairs of chopsticks were made and hence the Chopstick Master tool was born.
