# Simplest in drawer storage: loose cork sheets



## VicVox72

With a climbing enthusiastic 20month old and a new baby on the way, knife blocks and magnetic knife holders were out of the question for us -- our cramped kitchen has no space that couldn't be reached by our kid via some rearranging of chairs. 

I tried the cork in drawer knife holder by Sur La Table, but that contraption was designed by someone who doesn't own knives. Completely unfit for purpose -- about three or four knives fit in at most, none longer than 6", or taller than a sujihiki. Learning that chipped the heel of my Wat Nakiri... Don't make my mistake and get a $40 cork wood block with no purpose. 

The actual solution was $14 worth of cork sheets, cut into shape with a utility knife. See picture. 

I glued the sides and the back to have a solid protective layer there, everything else is loose. I am loving that there is 1) no tension on the blade (like in the sur la table design), 2) no chance to cut your fingers on the blade heels (like in the sur la table design), 3) and you can "flip" through the knives as if it was a LP collection.


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## ModRQC

That's very Ryky...


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## VicVox72

ModRQC said:


> That's very Ryky...



Never watched a single episode of Burrfection, so wouldn't know. But I guess would make sense for him to have SOME ok ideas. Can't shill Dalstrong without first getting a little bit of a following with reasonable content!


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## tostadas

I do something similar, but put them in a bamboo 6x15x2 storage tray from the Container Store. Lined the bottom with a sheet of cork and put blades face down. I use a few stacked strips of cork to hold the handles up.


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## ModRQC

VicVox72 said:


> Never watched a single episode of Burrfection, so wouldn't know. But I guess would make sense for him to have SOME ok ideas. Can't shill Dalstrong without first getting a little bit of a following with reasonable content!



The idea indeed works very well. I thought you would be better warned then sorry... 

To your immense credit, he spends like 10 minutes just marveling in his own genius. You explained it quite straightforwardly.


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## ModRQC

Flipping LP collection won me over, it should be added.


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## VicVox72

ModRQC said:


> To your immense credit, he spends like 10 minutes just marveling in his own genius. You explained it quite straightforwardly.



Definitely thanks for the heads up. Don't want to be seen as someone taking illicit credit for Ryky content..

The idea is indeed very very simple. If you were super low on funds, Amazon boxes cut to size would be literally 99% as good. 

The sur la table design is fancier bendier cork, which has no benefit, and is completely wrong about each individual design element (bulky wood frame that gets in the way, too much cork so knife blades are under tension, cork neither tall nor long enough ...). But the idea of having a soft separator and a soft underlayer is of course sound.


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## ModRQC

I'm waiting to tidy down and reorganize my collection a bit... I have that end-of-cabinet at home with 5 holes for wine bottles. I will never put wine there. However, I think that with a little work it will house a couple of knives far from children reach, all ready to be grabbed by the handle. Cork was already bought when I moved last month. I'm pretty sure we can both, and many others, feel great about the fact that Ryky is SURELY NOT the original thinker here... He's still an infant in the world of knife.


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## ModRQC

(I've been using cork inserts like forever to store hard drives and other sensible PC stuff - they're in antistatic bags but I didn't want them to bang around in the drawer. Also good cutting board stoppers/risers.)


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## VicVox72

Cork is an all around amazing material. I recently learned that it's also about the most environmentally friendly, safest for your own health, best at insulating, and on top of all of that super affordable flooring solution. Beats laminate, carpet, and hard wood on basically every single front. Except looks and longevity versus hardwood, but it's so cheap that you can just replace several times and still come out ahead. And it's nice and soft under your heels


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## McMan

That's an elegant idea.
I would wonder about moisture... This is a bit like storing a knife in a saya, which is frowned upon.
One way to find out


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## VicVox72

I am definitely worried about moisture. Cork itself of course seals, but that just means that once there's water in there it won't come out for a while... I am already very vigilant about towel drying and then air drying knives to ensure no residual moisture. But will need to keep that up at 100% vigilance, even for the stainless knives now, in order to not introduce moisture to their carbon neighbors


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