# Magnetic Racks - Looking for Opinions & Advice



## Dave Martell (Sep 17, 2011)

Yesterday I was having a talk with the maker of the *magnetic knife racks* that we sell and a few questions/concerns came up that we thought might be best answered by you guys.

These racks are very nicely constructed and finished and hold knives better than any rack that I've seen, however, we realize that the quality differences can't be seen online. We're wondering if there's something that we can do to make them more attractive.


We're wondering what your opinions are of these racks?

How do they compare to what else is available?

What would you like to see changed?

If other wood (or other material) options were supplied what would you fancy?

Any comments at all are welcome!

Thanks,
Dave


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## StephanFowler (Sep 17, 2011)

I would look at doing some promo type pictures

firstly I would show the rack on a wall, with a knife or two in place. the pictures you use now don't give any sense of scale.

find a way to emphasize that since the knife blade/edge never touches the actual magnet or any steel components it's safer for finely polished knives/edges (you kind of hit that with the rounded edge comment, but the housewife who's looking for a gift for her super foodie friend won't know that rounded edges is that big of a deal)


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## thistle (Sep 17, 2011)

I'll be totally honest-I have 2 types of magnetic knife racks-Ikea, cheap ($5-7) for the beaters over the sink, & Benchcrafted mag-bloks for most of the other knives, for display-these are priced at 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of the ones you have. No one has ever noticed or commented on either of the magnetic racks, only the knives.

They're beautiful, but they'll be covered w/ knives, many people will want to put the available money in knives...please don't hate me...


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## Eamon Burke (Sep 17, 2011)

I've had a problem with my rack making my lighter weight knives(especially the ones with well-convexed faces) float around after I put them on there. Some kind of magnetization issue. If that could be stopped for good, I'd consider that a vast improvement. Do these do that?


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## Vertigo (Sep 17, 2011)

I'm not sure the "superfluously extravagant kitchenware" market has fully accepted _tres chic_ magnetic racks just yet. People are a lot more willing to spend $180 on a chunk of wood they bang their knives against than on a chunk of wood they hang their knives upon. 

My thinking is, the premium price doesn't reconcile with the marginal performance boost (stronger magnets and better shaping doth not a 300-400% markup make), so the only real way to justify the purchase is to view them as "functional art" with a strong emphasis on the "art;" that is to say, you might generate a little more interest if you emphasize the artistic aspect of the racks through more--and better--pictures of the workmanship, the figuring of the wood, et cetera.


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## Dave Martell (Sep 18, 2011)

Thanks for the input guys, we'll be considering everything said.


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## Audi's or knives (Sep 19, 2011)

If you had a cherry version I would probably buy one, I need something that matches my dark cherry cabinets. I have been toying with the idea of making a mag rack out of a spare filler strip of leftover cabinet material, not sure if I want to put the time or effort into it.

Like said above maybe having photo's of the racks with knives situated on, or a high quality video highlighting it's properties (magnet strength/holding power, aesthetics, mounting options etc)


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## mr drinky (Sep 19, 2011)

Though I am sure the magnetic racks offered at JKS are better, I've never been a big fan of them. I have one for my sharpening station, and it is a POS, but gets the job done. In my old house I had one, but my new place doesn't have a place to mount it that is convenient. And there there is the wood matching issue too. There are a lot of things to think about on top of price.

Frankly, I'd rather have a modular box storage system. 

k.


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## EdipisReks (Sep 19, 2011)

i have an Ikea magnetic rack that i mounted above my stove, which i keep some knives on, but my best knives are kept in their sayas on a presentation rack under my kitchen's island. i just don't like the idea of keeping carbon knives out in the elements. i like the idea of a modular box system.


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## ecchef (Sep 20, 2011)

I had some bamboo ones (SLT?) that worked just fine, but got all stained up from everyday use. Looked like sh*t after a while. 
Nuthin fer nuthin, but I'd like to see some commercial style ones made from polyproylene.

+1 on Drinky's box.


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## WildBoar (Sep 20, 2011)

I have two MagBloks, and they look very nice. But they have yet to be installed, because I bought them to go in the 'new' kitchen, and now it turns out we do all the prep on the islands and there are no good places within reasonable reach to install them. So we're keeping an old Wusthof block -- which holds a pretty good collection of knives -- and I will need to talk to BoardSmith about getting a custom block for the 'above 240' blades I have started to accumulate thanks to web sites like this one. :O

When the JKS mag racks were first posted I thought they were a bit too expensive relative to MagBloks, but when I saw them first hand at the ECG I was able to appreciate how much longer and taller they were. But from a practical perspective, there aren't a lot of open wall spaces in a lot of kitchens for the longer racks. They 'work' where there are no upper cabinets (assuming a wide enough wall), but if you have to put one below an upper cabinet it would be hard to keep from at least partially blocking with the typical crap most people have on the countertops.


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## The Edge (Sep 21, 2011)

+1 on showing a knife or two on the racks to show scale. It might also be nice to offer custom sizes, and a list of several woods that could be used. I'm a burl junky, so I'm not sure I could simply pick out any wood at random and say, "That's the one!", but having a list to go through would make it easier for me to make a choice.


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## SpikeC (Sep 21, 2011)

I noticed that it does say that other woods are available. For this group the option of the customer supplying their own wood might be nice.


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## Dave Martell (Sep 21, 2011)

Thanks for all the great input and ideas here. :thumbsup:


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## Amon-Rukh (Sep 22, 2011)

I've had a look at those racks a few times since you first listed them, and although I think they look very nice, they're definitely out of my price range (I need all the money I've got for knives, not knife racks!  ) That said, I definitely wouldn't mind getting one as a gift! 
As for advertising them, I think the idea of a video showing off their qualities is great--the vids that Jon's done for his different knife lines, for example, are pretty simple, but really help give a better idea of what the knives are actually like. Just seeing a person briefly handling/using a product like this makes a huge difference in how your mind is able to understand exactly what the object in question is like. 
More readily available options for wood types or customization might also be interesting, as others have noted already.


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## Hangman (Nov 18, 2013)

I couldn't find anything on JKS so I assume this never went further, but I do have a question. Is there a general preference in the knife world about storage, Blocks vs. magnets or other ( not sure what a modular box is) ?


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## ChuckTheButcher (Nov 18, 2013)

I just made a few knife racks with some extra turning stock I have around. Been giving them out as gifts to friends and family. People really seem to love them. I think people would jump all over them if marketed right. One thing I have found, is to use more powerful magnets then you would think.


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## Dave Martell (Nov 18, 2013)

We had an initial run sell out completely, however, they took quite awhile to go, the interest was low at best.


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## hobbitling (Nov 18, 2013)

Sell them as sets with knives? 
Offer discounts with purchase of a knife or stone? 
Free with the purchase of ____ knives?
I think of it more as an add-on or accessory, not really a stand-alone purchase.


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## ChuckTheButcher (Nov 18, 2013)

I think house wives and home owners with disposable income are the market to go for with knife racks. People are always looking for ways to make their kitchen look nicer. Even if they're putting cutco's on them. Not to say knife nuts won't love them too. There is just a lot more of them then us.


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