Wooden Herb Stripper

If you love cooking but the tedious task of stripping the leaves off your home-grown herbs is a frustration, this DIY is just for you! This wooden herb stripper will make quick work of separating herb leaves from their stems and on top of that, it could make a fun and unique gift for loved ones.

What you will need:

Any piece of hardwood (meranti or teak) minimum size 120mm x 50mm x 10mm
Drill Wood drill bits sizes: 3,4,5,6mm
Pencil
Tape measure
Sacrificial piece of wood
Sander with 120grit and 180grit sandpaper
Clean rag
Refined linseed oil
Paintbrush

Steps:

1. Start by marking 4 points on your wood, 20mm apart, with pencil. Drill holes on marked spots using the largest drill bit to smallest, drilling all the way through the piece of wood.

2. Using the 6mm drill bit, drill a hole 15mm from the opposite side.

3. Sand the block and around drilled edges to a smooth finish, moving from 120grit to a final polish with 180grit sandpaper. At this point you have the option of sanding one of the long edges at a 45° angle to form a cutting blade.

4. Wipe clean and apply refined linseed oil to seal wood. Wipe away excess oil.

5. Thread a piece of leather through the last hole made, for easy drying and storing.

How to use:

Insert the top of picked herbs, into desired sized hole. Pull through to remove leaves from stem. Freshly picked herbs are best to use, before wilting occurs.