# knife block



## hobbitling (Sep 4, 2013)

I'm not sure where I got the design idea, but I decided to make a knife block for my in-laws. I got sick of seeing their drawer :scared4: of perfectly good knives. they weren't interested in a magnetic knife bar, so I figured a well designed block would be better than the drawer of doom. 
It's basically just a cocobolo box, with a floor of pine end grain to protect the blade tips. It's filled with bamboo skewers cut to length. The wood is part the "family wood collection" inherited from my grandfather in-law. I made this before I really knew just how expensive a wood it was. I Just picked a nice looking board (I thought it was a very deeply colored cherry) and set to work, wondering why it was so incredibly dense and hard to glue. Only later, after doing a bit of research and a peek at the end grain through a jewelers loupe did I realize what I was working with. Felt slightly guilty about using such an exceptional piece of wood, but the in-law's love it. 

The design seems to work well, keeps the blades upright and firmly supported. less edge abrasion than a block, but probably not perfect edge protection. Now if only I can convince them to get rid of their glass cutting board


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## Mrmnms (Sep 4, 2013)

Pretty ingenious and cool looking. No problems with the tips at the bottom, even in soft pine?


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## Korin_Mari (Sep 4, 2013)

Thats awesome and gorgeous! I love the design, but yea I'm curious if there are any problems with the tips at the bottom. 

Maybe you should just secretly replace the glass cutting board with something better... Thats kind of what I did for my best friend. I hid her glass cutting board under her mound of pots and pans. lol


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## CrisAnderson27 (Sep 4, 2013)

That's a really creative piece of work! 

You might consider cork for the bottom? Or cut up one of those fiber dart boards lol!! After taking the metal rings out first, of course =p.


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## sachem allison (Sep 4, 2013)

another thing that works well if you can find it is synthetic bristles that they use for brooms. They are softer and you can pack them really dense. They are very forgiving on the edge.


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## hobbitling (Sep 4, 2013)

A thin layer of cork is a great idea, Or even some kind of rubber or silicone mat. I could easily just glue some in. 
I'm also not completely done with the finish. I Had to leave it until our next visit, since I made in their workshop. 
There is still some tearout from the planer that I didn't have time to fully sand out (the light spots on the left side). So I will have to re-sand and finish again, or possibly fill those tearout pits with some sawdust and CA glue.


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## hobbitling (Sep 4, 2013)

broom bristles sound like a good idea, although it certainly wouldn't look quite as nice as the bamboo.


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## gic (Sep 5, 2013)

I wonder though with really sharp knives like people here generally have would the knives themselves cut into the skewers, thus dulling them. That is the trouble with the Bodum I discovered, every time I put a sharp knife into a bodum it caught and dulled the knife...


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## jklip13 (Oct 25, 2013)

thats awesome, i've seen the plastic versions but this is pretty creative


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## hobbitling (Oct 26, 2013)

Cutting the bambo skewers is a major pain though. you have to tape them in to small bundles very tightly, and cut with a band saw, right through the tape, or they'll just explode into splinters when the blade hits them, which is pretty scary the first time it happens.


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## Chuckles (Oct 27, 2013)

From what my lady tells me the Del Ealy paring knife is the best tool for cutting skewers to length.


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