A knife block is one of the most convenient-and safest-devices to store kitchen knives. Most knife blocks are large chunks of wood composed of a dozen or more pieces laminated together. This one is much simpler to make.
Before you start, take stock of your set of knives. You should measure the width and length of your knives to ensure they fit into the slots. If necessary, adjust the lengths of each block section.
Matching Grain
Although you can make this knife block from various bits of scrap, the best way to achieve a uniform appearance is to make it from a single board about 15 cm wide and 8 long. You will only need 5-20 cm of thickness for the pieces. Therefore, you can use a board already planed 3-10 cm thick or rough lumber to start.
Each part of the knife block looks like its made from one piece of wood, doesnt it? Well, its not. Each one is made up of two pieces that have been glued together, but they are also artfully arranged. This effect cannot be achieved by randomly picking pieces off a board and glueing them together. So, whats the trick?
The secret is to slip match each part (Fig. 02). Basically, you take one long piece and crosscut it in half, then slip one piece on top of the other. You can match the sides and end grains as closely as possible. If you start with a board that has very uniform grain, the glue joints will be almost impossible to see.
Fig. 01. Exploded View
Fig. 02. How to Match Grain
Fig. 03. Groove Layout
Fig. 04. Saw cuts on block sides
Fig. 05. Aluminum Angle Hole Patterns
Cutting List
Groove The Pieces
Cut your board into three pieces measuring 210 cm in length. Plan all pieces of wood that is 3 cm thick to 3/10 cm thick. Then, leave them alone for about a week. It is important to have a flat stock. Give the wood some time to warp. Crosscut these pieces in half, making six pieces 15 cm long. Mark the ends of each piece so that you can slip match them later. All pieces should be planed to a thickness of 5/20 cm. To avoid snipe, align the boards at the ends of the planer. Begin and end the train with scrap pieces.) Join the pieces and rip them 5-20 cm in length.
Reassemble the pieces into three pairs. The upper two sections will be made from the remaining pair. The remaining pair will be cut in half, later on, to make the two lower sections of the block.
Mark the outside faces and adjoining sides of all these pairs, so youll know exactly how to orient each piece on the router table in the next step.
To create a groove measuring 3/35cm deep, place a straight 3/10 cm bit on your router table. Place the fence 7/115cm away from the bit, and then cut grooves on the sides of each of the six pieces (Fig. 03).
Photo 1. Photo 1. Each section of the knifeblock is made of two pieces of wood. To make slots for knives, rot each piece of wood in shallow grooves.
The two pairs of pieces will be the upper sections of your knife block. Move the fence an additional 3/10 cm away from the bit and rout the grooves again, making them wider. The narrow set of grooves is now complete. To make the wider set, move another Photo1. Pay close attention to how you orient these pieces when you rout them, so the grooves match when you reassemble the pieces into pairs.
Finish routing the grooves in the remaining pieces. Each groove measures 7/20 cm in width and will need two passes.
Glue And Shape
Photo 2. Glue two similar pieces together to make each section. Note that the end grain curves in the same direction on both pieces. This helps create the illusion that this is a single block of wood.
Glue the pairs together (Photo 2). To distribute clamping pressure and prevent wood from being dented, place flat boards between the pieces. Clamp across the pieces first to make their edges flush, then use six clamps top and bottom.
The sides of the glued-up blocks must be straight, square and parallel before you round them. Your jointer should be able to make a cut of 1/35 cm in depth. Then, you will need to do two passes on each side. The pieces should be trimmed to 5-inch lengths
Photo 3. To form a curve, you need to see the sides of the blocks from two angles.
Tilt the saw blade 10 and make two small bevels cut along each side (Fig. 04). (If you have a right-tilt saw, place the fence on the left side of the blade, so the blade tilts away from the fence.) Make sure the 1/10th of the piece is not cut. Simply turn the piece over to cut both sides. There is no need to reset fence. Next, turn the saw blade 20 so that the opposite side is cut ( Photo 3). Make sure the cut portion is at least 1/10cm wide. Each side will now have five equal facets measuring 1/10 cm.
Photo 4. Sand each side with a curved sanding block. Keep sanding until all the pencil marks are gone-this indicates that all the flat areas are now curved.
Starting with 80 grit paper, sand the sides into a smooth curve (Photo 4). A curved-bottom cork block with a fairly large radius works best.
The pieces should be cut to the correct length. Sand the ends and face of the pieces, then finish.
Add The Base Parts
1-inch is used as the base for the knife block.
To drill holes in each piece, use a drill press and fence (Fig. 05). The three pieces shown are identical. However, the fourth piece, which goes in front of the other, has no holes facing out.
Photo 5. Make the knife blocks stand from short pieces of aluminum angle. Each angle must be precisely flush with the end of each block. To ensure that the angle does not shift during screw installation, drill pilot holes using a self-centering bit.
Photo 6. Fasten each angle to the end of a block. The spacers between the blocks must be exactly the right thickness in order for all the angles to align, so they sit flat when the knife block is upright.
Then align each angle perfectly with the block’s end. Next, drill pilot holes and attach the angles to each block ( Photo 5). To attach the blocks together, stack them one at a time using spacers ( Photo 6). The thickness of the spacers is critical: plane them so the thickness of a block plus a spacer equals 1-
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