Create safe and convenient storage for your go-to cutlery.
Overall dimensions: 9 1⁄2"w × 12 1⁄4"d × 3 1⁄8"h
A knife block is one of the most convenient (and safest) ways of storing kitchen cutlery, but not every home can afford to allocate counter space to a big chunk of wood. In tight kitchens, many cooks relegate knives to a drawer in order to accommodate toasters, coffee makers, mixers, and other counter appliances. That might suffice for common cutlery, but my supersharp set of custom-handled Zhen knives deserved something special.
To showcase my handiwork, I designed this space-saving knife block to mount to the bottom of a kitchen wall cabinet. Now, my best knives are always within easy reach. Rare-earth magnets hold the blades within the block, which can also rotate inward beneath the cabinet to protect the handles from accidental contact.
To customize a block to your needs, first decide on the most serviceable arrangement for the knives you want to store, which may require changing the overall dimensions to suit. Then make the needed templates and rout the slots. After that, it’s simply a matter of assembling, finishing, and installing.
If you’d like to spice up your play in the kitchen, check out page 28 for step-by-step instructions on making your own custom-handled cutlery, complete with riveted scales.
Make the block
1. Select stock for the outer (A) and center (B) sections. While you’re at it, select a piece for the mounting plate (C), but set it aside for now. For this project, I paired ambrosia maple and cherry, but feel free to select woods that complement your kitchen. Mill the sections 1⁄4" wider and longer than the final dimensions in the Cut List. (You’ll trim the pieces after assembly.) Next, arrange the boards for the best exposure of their most attractive surfaces, and mark the interior faces to register the arrangement throughout the build.
2. Referring to Photo A and Figure 2, make the knife slot templates from 1⁄2"-thick MDF. Align the handled ends of the blades with the edge of the MDF, and lay out the slots 1⁄8" wider and longer than each blade (Photo A). (To create templates for the same five-piece set that I worked with here, use the dimensions provided in Figure 2.) Next, saw out the slots.
3. Using double-faced tape, affix the knife slot templates to the inside faces of the outer layers (A). Outfit your handheld router with a template bit, adjust the cutting depth so that the slot will be 1⁄16" deeper than the thickest part of the knife (in this case, 1⁄8"), and rout the slots (Photo B). Clean up any router marks with a sharp chisel.
4. Chuck a 3⁄4"-diameter Forstner bit in a drill press, and bore 1⁄8"-deep holes, where shown in Figure 1, for the rare-earth magnets used to hold the knives in the block. Affix the magnets with epoxy. (When installed, the magnets should sit just below the wood’s surface.)
5. Making sure that excess glue does not ooze into the slots, apply glue to the inside face of an outer section (A), and clamp it to the inner section as shown in Photo C.
Once cured, attach the bottom layer (A) to the middle section.
6. Trim the assembled block (A/B) to final dimension. To keep the slots centered on the assembled block, trim an equal amount from the ends and each side.
7. Using 1⁄2"-thick MDF, create a lazy Susan bearing template, making it the exact size of your assembled block. Referring to Figure 3 and Photo D, lay out a 4" × 4" square in the center of the template, and then cut out the opening using a scrollsaw or jigsaw.
8. Affix the lazy Susan template to the top face of the assembled knife block (A, B). Using a router and template bit, rout a 3⁄16"-deep cavity in the block. To ensure that you don’t leave ridges that could interfere with installation, rout slowly and make a series of overlapping passes.
9. Using a drill press, bore 1⁄8"-deep holes along one edge of the knife block, where shown in Figure 1, for the 1⁄2"-diameter magnets used to keep the block in the open or closed position. (If you want the block to rotate in the opposite direction, drill the holes on the opposite side.) Glue the magnets into the block with epoxy.
10. Rout the edges of the block with a 1⁄4"round-over bit. Finish-sand the block through 220 grit, and apply a finish. (I wiped on four coats of Waterlox Original.)
11. Mill a stopblock (D) to size. Using a drill press, bore two 1⁄2" holes, 1⁄2"-deep on adjacent faces, where shown in Figure 1. Install 1⁄2" steel cups with screws.
12. Using the board set aside in Step 1, cut the mounting plate (C) to size. Finish the piece to match your cabinets.
Assembly and installation
1. For face-frame cabinets, draw a line 21⁄2" in from either long-grain edge on the bottom face of the mounting plate (C). (This distance enables the front of the block to project 13⁄4" from the bottom of a face-frame cabinet when rotated outward. For frameless cabinets, subtract 3⁄4".) Set the bearing on the inside of the line, center it between the ends, and trace its location on the plate. Now, rotate the top plate, as shown in Photo E, and lay out an access hole where shown in Figure 1. (You’ll use this hole to attach the bearing to the knife block.) Drill the access hole, and then attach the bearing’s top plate to the mounting plate with 1⁄2"-long panhead screws.
2. Fit the lazy Susan bearing into the cavity routed in the knife block (A/B). Using the access hole, drill pilot holes, and then attach the bearing’s bottom plate to the block with 1⁄2"-long panhead screws (Photo F).
3. Flip the assembly so that the mounting plate (C) rests against your workbench, and give the knife block (A/B) a test spin. Now make and position a stopblock (D) against the knife block so that the magnets touch. Rotate the knife block 90° to check that the second pair of magnets align and touch. Then, trace the stopblock’s location on the mounting board. Attach the stopblock to the mounting plate with 11⁄2" screws.
4. Hold or clamp the assembled knife block against the underside of the wall cabinet. You can attach the unit to the cabinet by driving screws though the mounting plate and into the cabinet, but it’s easier to drive screws down from above, as shown in Photo G.
About Our Designer/Builder
Ben Bice calls Vienna, West Virginia, home. He has been working with wood for more than 20 years and is currently a product development manager for Woodcraft Corporate. This father of two beautiful children attributes his woodworking knowledge and skills to a local union carpenter who taught both him and his father this wonderful hobby and lifestyle.
