Anal-Retentive Miniscule Pencil Tip Carvings

Dalton Ghetti has been carving teeny, tiny pencil tip sculptures for 25 years.

Mr. Ghetti, who owns about as many possessions as a monk, is aware how unusual his craft is. He started carving tree bark when he was a child and experimented with everything from soap to chalk before settling on graphite. It's second nature now, and for 90 percent of his work, all he needs is a sewing needle, a razor blade and a carpenter's or No. 2 pencil.

'The pencil tip is great; it's like a pure, very homogenous material,' he said. 'It cuts in the same direction, not like wood, which has a grain. But when I tell people how long it takes, that's when they don't believe it. That's what amazes people more, the patience. Because everything nowadays has to be fast, fast, fast.'

Insane. Serious patience. Impeccable eye-sight. Incredible motor skills. Apparently Ghetti takes "years and years" to finish each project. Check it out.

UPDATE: Many more images of Ghetti's work can be seen here.

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• Previously, Beautifully Carved Pencils and Baseball Bats.