kitchen knife storage

H

Hesparus

Joined
Oct 31, 2004
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Hi Everyone,

I've got several kitchen knives in the works right now that are mostly experimental prototypes. I hope to use these myself to see how I like them and how I can improve them for future models. My problem is that I don't have a good place to put them when not in use. Does anyone have any ideas for easy-to-make devices for keeping kitchen knives for easy access?
Thanks,
Chris

p.s. I've considered magnetic strips but I don't consider those a 'plan A.'
 
Why not? A mag block is probably the best option for ease of access and not damaging the blades. Nicer ones have no metal to metal contact.

You want something that keeps the edges from contacting any other metal, and doesn't retain moisture. The only real options are a mag block, a dedicated divider of some sort, a knife block, individual sheaths, or a knife roll.

Very basic rectangular sheaths aren't a bad idea, they don't even have to be stitched together or closed at either end, but the mag block is imho the most convenient, unless you need portability, and then a knife roll is probably best.
 
global-ikasu-knife-block-set-piece-made-in-japan--2a7.45b.jpg


kitchen%20-%20knife_block.jpg


Either of those should be relatively easy to make, no?
 

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If you are cooking in a relaxed home environment then any of the above situations would work fine. If you are in a commercial kitchen then it is a different matter. I take mine to work in a roll and at home I use a magnetic bar that has rare earth magnets in pockets in the wood, the blades never touch metal (not that it really matters). Kitchen knives that get used will have to endure a bit of mayhem. If they are meant to be used then it makes little sense to treat them as precious art pieces in my likely very biased opinion.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. A magnetic strip isn't a great idea because I have almost no wall space in the kitchen and I don't think my girlfriend wants me putting any holes in her walls.

- Chris
 
The second picture that Pialia posted is a cheap easy option to make. Any container larg enough to hold the knives and fill it with bamboo skewers. Large packs of skewers can be had from dollar stores. I also have seen people use dry rice, but the thought of putting any kind of moisure in there and have some organism start growing in the rice sounds less than ideal.


-Xander
 
If you are short on counter-top space as well as wall space, what I've got in one drawer is a block of wood 1" wide x 3/4" tall across the width of the drawer. It's got slots cut across it about 1/2 way through that the knife blades sit into. It's glued down far enough from the front of the drawer that all the knives' handles have room between the drawer front and the wood block. But to be honest - I've got too many knives so the lesser used ones wind up piled in the back of the drawer (horrors).

~ Michael
 
spareparts said:
From Ikea. They are small and cheep so you can put several where you need them or attach them together for a larger block. I also glued rare earth magnets to hold smaller pieces like paring and steak knives.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10066670/
Click to expand...


I wanted to post exactly that one, can't make one yourself for that price :thumbup:
And they aren't bad at all, I have 2 of them for my good kitchen knives
 
Before you rule out a magnet bar remember that they can be placed under cabinets and the knives mounted horizontally (handles out of course). In this position they are close to invisible which is a good and a bad thing. I do think the bamboo skewer things are cool. I have see that second design with other things besides bamboo skewers such as thin plastic rods and a friend of mine kept his in an old wooden farm pulley wheel full of corks. Make sure you make it pretty for your girlfriend, that is often half the battle. Good luck.
 
This is what I made. I like it. It looks nice, keeps the knives out of the way, but still easy to get to.
 

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Each knife has it's own magnet. They are 1/2"x1/8 Neodymium disc magnets that I put into the wood. I just drilled 1/2"x1/8" holes and used epoxy to glue them in. I looked at using magnets set into the back of the wood so that they could not be seen, but my testing showed I was going to need over $100 worth of magnets to get that to work. The magnets set just a little bit below the level of the wood so they don't contact the knife. If you look at the far left knife, you can see the edge of one of the magnets sticking out. I would have loved to be able to find chrome wood screws to use, but I could not find any.
 
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