Fractal cutlery that fringes off into hairy infinity

On the FractalForums message boards, a user called LhoghoNurbs has posted this wonderful contest-entry for a notional set of fractal cutlery. In a subsequent post, LhoghoNurbs explains that all the image manipulation was done in the GIMP, without any 3D modelling software. LhoghoNurbs wants a set of these, and so do I.

The set includes four pieces:

Cantor fork :: now you can pin a single kiwi seed. Twice in a row.

Recursive spoon :: it will never let you spill a drop of soup. Ever.

Koch knife :: to delicately cut hair-thin slices out of an egg. A raw egg.

The Infinity Set :: the set includes itself. As a subset.

Every piece of the set is inscribed with our Julia logo and our motto "The Infinities are Possible". Limited quantities. Unlimited price. The kiwi, the drop of soup and the egg are not included in the box, but could be ordered separately.

We are proudly presenting our latest kitchenware set featuring a design distilled for centuries by moulders all over the world; and based on the latest scientific breakthroughs. (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

• [Doran]

  I like the fork. The knife would be okay if it were much less rough. The spoon is just silly.

  • [Boundegar]

    I wish the fork was truly fractal, all the way down to the molecular level.  The tips would be a grey blur, but so wickedly sharp it would shred your lips and tongue.  For Science!

    • [silkox]

       And you could stick it to the ceiling like gecko feet!

• [Jessica]

  I think these would go nicely with a set of my reaction diffusion simulation dish ware video:  https://vimeo.com/13927597
  http://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/blog/?tag=reaction-diffusion

• [Anastasio Miras]

  That butter knife would be terrible for spreading butter conventionally (as opposed to fractally).

• [Antinous / Moderator]

  The knife looks like trefoil tracery.

• [SedanChair]

  You just know this is someone’s nightmare come to life.

• [Nadreck]

  I want a Seirpinski juicer.

  • [John]

    When do these become available on Shapeways?

• [SarcasticRover]

  Why the heck is this called “The Infinity Set” and NOT “The Mandelbrot Set”?

• [Kirby_G]

  It’s like William Gibson’s ceramic fractal knife http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=143

  • [scav]

    Also, I think there’s a blade like that described in Snow Crash (1992). But I may be mis-remembering. Some Neal Stephenson novel anyway. It’s obviously an idea whose time has come.  I want one.

    • [Michael Rosefield]

      You’re thinking of The Diamond Age, I think; there’s a nano-mechanical chainsaw, with a molecular, self-propelled edge. That was a pretty damned good moment in the book :D

      • [Graham Fawcett]

        It’s also in Snow Crash — it’s the glass knife that the Aleut guy made. He used it to cut somone in half, lengthwise, among other things. [OK, strictly not a fractal knife, but a knife with a molecularly-sharp edge.]

        • [joshuakarthik]

          Molecularly sharp edge? Don’t forget “Death” from the Discworld series. Terry Pratchett has him wielding a blade that’s sharp at a molecular level.

  • [OtherMichael]

    What about the super-sharp ceramic knives in Islands in the Net? They weren’t fractal — but with that sort of sharpness, cheapness, and durability — who cares?!!

• [Robert Holmén]

  I think you’ll need dental floss to clean in between the layers of that spoon.

  • [Lemoutan]

    Yeah. It’s like the infinity hotel for bacteria.

    • [Glen Able]

      Well, on the microscopic scale, the utensils should have the same pattern seen in the photo, so it’s hard to imagine microbes finding a comfortable place to sit.

      Although probably the small print on the box says “The Infinity Set (for small values of infinity, approximately 4)”.

      • [Lemoutan]

        I’m relieved that Raymond Babbitt will still be able to instantly count any dropped accompanying toothpicks. Dodged a bullet there.

    • [OtherMichael]

       ”antibacterial coating”

• [tubacat]

  Brilliant!  Want! (and to Sarcastic Rover, the “Mandelbrot Set” would be a clever name, but really not appropriate for the shapes. On the other hand, you could maybe start with a Mickey Mouse-shaped pancake and elaborate something that resembles the Mandelbrot Set. Hmmmm…..)

  • [scav]

    It would be entirely appropriate, because it was Benoît Mandelbrot who coined the term “fractal”.

  • [Jim Saul]

    The “Julia Set” in the logo evokes Julia Child.

• [The Turtle ]

  I ain’t stickin’ them thangs in mah mouth…

• [bzishi]

  I like it because I won’t have the memorize the how to set the table. I can instead order the cutlery by its fractal dimension.

• [IndexMe]

  Yikes! An infinitely sharp thing like a fractal fork is the last thing I want in my mouth!

• [Graham Fawcett]

  They should have included a few close-up shots of those edges! 

  (lame fractal joke)

  • [.]

    Zoom…..

• [angusm]

  The perfect thing for eating romanesco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli

• [Amorette Allison]

  The perfect gift for an imaginary wedding!

• [Dave Killion]

  Yo Dawg, I herd you liked spoons…

  /had to

• [Christian Kleinhuis]

  here is a youtube review of the image, it won:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bTYCn6uqkm0#t=646s