Ligulae

[Philip Davies]

These are ligulae (a ligula is a Roman physician’s probe) Romans perfected much of their medicine they derived from ancient Greece, who called them spathomele. To make them in bronze would be rather time-consuming, so these are made mainly from bandsawn offcuts. You can use them for anything you might use a fingernail for, and that will preserve your expensive manicure. Eg.

I suppose that I am the only person in the whole wide world who is making them.
People visiting a craft show or art exhibition may like to go away with something inexpensive, hopefully. They might find the forged plate(from a shovel) a bit pricey. Or I give them away, with a card.


This one is rosewood, much more expensive.
Here’s a few more.

[DIYer]

Thanks Philip Davies! We've added your Ligulae to our Miscellaneous category,
as well as to your builder page: Philip Davies's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Ligulae by Philip Davies

tags: hand tools

[Philip Davies]

Thank you, DIYer, but can you correct the title? Since these are not actually Roman, but function in a similar way. Perhaps I should’ve tagged it “Tools as art”.

[Jon]

Sure, that's reasonable. I removed "Roman" from the title so that when it appears on the homepage it will just be titled as "Ligulae".

[mbshop]

Well, thats something i need. My fingernails are either to long or to short. And i find them to be great tools. I assume those are made from hard woods ?

[Philip Davies]

Thank you kindly. Yes, hardwood, mostly offcuts from reducing billets for turning.