# Magnetic Knife Rack--Holiday Project



## ACHiPo

I had a nice 3" thick slab of spalted maple that was begging for some good project. I also had knives coming in and my block is full. So I designed and fabricated this self-supporting magnetic knife rack. It has 27 magnets 0.120" from the front surface in three rows to hold the knives. The face is tipped back 7º and the cut-out for the handles is 0.6" deep. Finish is mineral oil and wax. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.


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## ThaFurnace

Love this! Nice work


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## ACHiPo

Thank you. It’s not often an idea comes to mind and I actually execute it. Plus my wife told me tonight, “gee, it looks like that could hold 10 knives”.


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## Tahoma

Nicely done, very creative and a beautiful product!


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## Tim Rowland

Looks great!


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## mc2442

Looks great! I love free standing magnetic blocks if you have room for them.

Especially with 3 rows of magnets, do you feel the 7 degree lean is enough? Not sure of the weight of it, but just wondered if there were any tipping concerns when taking a larger knife off.

Edit: Actually I just measured mine and it s only 5 degrees although there is more base in front. I have never had an issue.


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## toddnmd

Very nice work, glad you shared it. 
Maybe someday ...


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## ACHiPo

mc2442 said:


> Looks great! I love free standing magnetic blocks if you have room for them.
> 
> Especially with 3 rows of magnets, do you feel the 7 degree lean is enough? Not sure of the weight of it, but just wondered if there were any tipping concerns when taking a larger knife off.
> 
> Edit: Actually I just measured mine and it s only 5 degrees although there is more base in front. I have never had an issue.


Thanks! The tilt back angle is fine—it doesn’t really need anything but I like the tilt and bottom ledge. It’s very stable and leans against the backsplash.


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## Kgp

Very nice! Let me know when you get tired of it!

Ken


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## bahamaroot

That thing absolutely rocks! Going to have to try and make something like that myself now.


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## aboynamedsuita

Very nice, reminds me a bit of my walnut one. I like the live edges too.


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## gotmail1414

How did you settle on 0.120" depth - through multiple trials and errors or was it pretty straightforward?


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## ACHiPo

gotmail1414 said:


> How did you settle on 0.120" depth - through multiple trials and errors or was it pretty straightforward?


From my research the target bottom thicknesses were 1/16" to 1/8". Since I had relatively big strong magnets, and punky wood, I shot for the high side. Testing 0.120" on the first couple holes confirmed the knives stick but don't slam to the surface so I went with it. In one area with the softest wood I backed off to 0.2”, but that’s a bit too far even with the powerful magnets.


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## gotmail1414

ACHiPo said:


> From my research the target bottom thicknesses were 1/16" to 1/8". Since I had relatively big strong magnets, and punky wood, I shot for the high side. Testing 0.120" on the first couple holes confirmed the knives stick but don't slam to the surface so I went with it.



Gotcha - thanks! 

And did you make "columns" of magnets so that there were certain spots for knives, or because extra holding strength was needed? The reason I ask is because my current plan has a single row of magnets closely spaced apart. The idea being that I can place knives of various widths anywhere along my mag-block rather than discrete spots.


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## ACHiPo

Again I kinda followed what designs I found online. Most had equally spaced magnets. I used 1/2” diameter magnets on 1” centers vertically and 2” centers horizontally. The magnetic fields bridge, so there’s some holding power even between magnets, but the 2” spacing works pretty well for my knives—It will easily hold 7 knives.


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## doomtop

I would think trying to line the magnets up to where you think the knives will go wouldn't make so much sense and would reduce the flexibility in terms of placement for various quantities of knives. Equally spacing definitely seems like the right choice here...

What kind of magnets -- neodyneum? And how much does it all weigh?


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## ACHiPo

Yes, the magnets are neodymium 1/2" diameter x 1/2" tall cylinders. I got them here:
https://totalelement.com/products/1...4aEab_j1gEsIapBAWTExfOOouI6ZDHFsaAnrZEALw_wcB

I ordered 30, but wish I'd ordered 10 more given the size of the board--I could store 3 more knives, and I think it would have been good to have magnets 1" up and 1.5" on centers to form an "x" pattern between the bottom two rows of magnets to give more flexibility with knife placement.

The whole board weighs about 20 lbs.


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## Marek07

Looks fantastic - practical *and* beautiful. Well done!

Having wife say “_gee, it looks like that could hold 10 knives_” is a massive win.


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## OldJoeClarke

Very impressive work. Good job.


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## thebradleycrew

Very nicely done. What type of drill bit did you use, a Forstner bit? Would you do anything differently with the magnets (other than 40 instead of 30)?


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## ACHiPo

I used a milling machine and 1/2" end mill. I was afraid a Forstner bit would cause a problem with the punky spalted maple, plus the tip of my 1/2" Forster extends about 1/8" which is what I was shooting for the wood thickness at the hole bottom to be.

The only thing I would change is to add more magnets in between the existing magnets, and add another column on each end so I really can store 10 knives.


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## bahamaroot

ACHiPo said:


> ...The only thing I would change is to add more magnets in between the existing magnets, and add another column on each end so I really can store 10 knives.


So buy some more magnets and add them.


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## ACHiPo

bahamaroot said:


> So buy some more magnets and add them.


Yeah, no. Not gonna retool the mill again to add a few magnets. I'm happy enough with how it turned out--just answering the question on what I'd do differently next time.


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## Uncle Mike

Wow! You got the skills to pay the bills!


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