Pakistani miniature artist makes world’s smallest vacuum cleaner

• The globally recognised miniature artist is known for his tiny pieces of art made with pencils and pencil lead.
• Ahsan Qayyum carved a pencil’s wood from the inside and set the machine within it.
• The first world record claimed by Qayyum was a chain of 75 links made with pencil lead.

A record holding Pakistani miniature artist, Ahsan Qayyum has claimed another record in Guinness World Records, by making the world’s smallest vacuum cleaner.

The globally recognised miniature artist is known for his tiny pieces of art made with pencils and pencil lead and he used the same medium to make the tiny machine’s body.

The news was broken by the artist himself on his Instagram account on Friday, with pictures and videos of the minute piece of art and his attempt to break previously held records.

As per Qayyum, he carved the pencil’s wood from the inside and set the machine within it.

“It is totally operational. It is an electrically powered device, which pulls debris/dust inside it through suction resulting from negative internal pressure,” said Qayyum in the Instagram post.

The post said that it was last year in March when he came across the world’s smallest vacuum cleaner on Guinness World Record's website, made by an Indian miniature artist.

The artist decided to break the record and made the official attempt, after four months of planning, in October.

“I executed my attempt on making a vacuum cleaner as small as 1.9 centimetres, considering the Indian record of a 2.9cm vacuum cleaner,” wrote Qayum.

However, after Qayyum got an email of acceptance from the Guinness World Records after three months of wait following the completion of this attempt and submission of its details, another Indian artist broke the previous record by making a 1.76cm vacuum cleaner.

For Qayyum, it was seriously "disillusioning" as he missed his shot by only 1.4mm. However, the artist didn’t give up and requested his record manager to allow him to amend his attempt and try making an even smaller vacuum cleaner.

Qayyum called himself "lucky" to get the chance. He cut the size down to 1.46cm and submitted the evidence again.

To Qayyum’s disappointment, yet another Indian miniature artist emerged, with a 1.4cm long vacuum cleaner, beating not only the latest record of 1.76 cm vacuum cleaner but also Qayyum’s attempted record of 1.46cm.

Even this did not deter Qayyum and he requested one last chance to amend his own attempt.

Qayuum’s never-say-die attitude finally led him to getting recognised by Guinness World Records as the record bearer of the world’s smallest vacuum cleaner, measuring only 1.3cm.

The artist wrote that he received an email from the world record body for the approval of his attempt on Wednesday, 26 August 2021.

The first world record claimed by Qayyum was a chain of 75 links made with pencil lead, hanging down a "Rs6" pencil. This record had beaten another Indian artist’s record of a chain with 58 links made on the same medium.