Making my 1st magnetic knife rack

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Weird Wood Pusher
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Now that I am starting to get some good kitchen knives, I figured I needed a magnetic knife rack.
Let me preface this with the comment that this was not preplanned. I just winged it as I went along.
As I was putting this together I remembered a lot of things I had forgotten as well as thought of different ways to do things better next time.

1st I took a slab of maple burl and drew an arc to help with the magnet placement.
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Then I drew a circle around the magnets and colored in the ones where the magnets would go. This gave me a better idea what it would look like and kept me from drilling in the wrong place.
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Now I drilled the wholes.
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I found out when glueing them into place, I needed to give some space between the ones I glued.
1st try I was doing one magnet next to the other and one pulled the other out of the hole next to it and they stuck together.
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Now they are all glued in place.
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Now the excess glue and the lines sanded away.
7-1.jpg
 
Here I have the first few coats of the finish.
1st danish oil followed by spray lacquer.
8-1.jpg


I am having a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
Something I should have checked in the beginning.

Will the placement of the magnets be strong enough to hold my knives in place?
I have a feeling I messed up.
I will take it home tonight to see.
 
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I am thinking I messed this one up.
I wonder what else I could use this for?
 
Looks good! I certainly hope it works out for you. If not, the only thing I can think of is a big fridge magnet :D. Sorry couldn't help myself :sofa:
 
Wow that's looks really really good!!! Looks like it would work fine did you try it from the non-magnet side or do those go all the way through? Are those rare earth magnets?
 
You could write a message on the backside and stick it to the bumper of your car. Want a new message - sand it off and write a new one - voila! ;) If that turns into a business, I want my cut ;)

But I also think it should be fine for the knives...

Stefan
 
Taylor,
I think you have identified this correctly.
My wife is the sort that will want to keep it and tell me she loves it.

Well, I have lots more magnets so I better make one that works.

Deckhand,
Yes they are rare earth magnets.
I haven't tried it yet. Just a feeling
I am taking it home tonight to see if it is strong enough.
I will try it out before my wife sees it.
That way I might sound more convincing when I say "Look Honey, I made you a giant refrigerator magnet".

Stefan,
The idea of magnetic bumper burls might be a tough one to market.
It does have a ring to it though.
 
I can't imagine it won't be strong enough to hold knives, but only one way to find out!
 
It will be strong enough with rare earth magnets. Beautiful piece of wood. I bet you could generate a lot of business with these if you were ever inclined. I for one would get in line providing magnets were countersunk, but didn't go all the way through just having wood facing out.
 
You will get a better hold if you add another row of magnets above or below the row you have installed now.
 
You could add another row and have a darker thin burl inlay over the top. Love the wood and the shape you chose.
 
are you planning on having the magnets facing out, or against the wall. If against the wall you can easily add another row.
 
I found a double row of 10mm by 5mm magnets countersunk by 1mm holds most knives up to 240. For mighty 240s, single bevels and above 240 a triple row holds. I can't remember the magnet grade I used, off the top of my head n42 but I'll check if it's useful. With the tools I had I found it easier to drill through from the face of the board and then fill the countersink with a sliver of dowel from a contrasting timber.

Fingers crossed that yours is saveable if it doesn't work as the current iteration as it's looking really good
 
Well, that's just beautiful. Hope it works out.
 
If it doesn't hold, you can add more magnets and you can also sand the other side down (as long as it doesn't stick to your sander, lol) and then mount it on something to give it some support.
 
So what happened? Update?

It was a double failure.
The magnets were not positioned correctly to hold my knives securely.
But I know what to do for the next one. Jim's comment about a double row is right on.
Since the blades are not flat I need more strength and surface contact area.

I think next I will try double rows and closer together. I will do a test piece before I make the whole thing.

As for being a fridge magnet....
.....nope.
 
Sorry to hear that. I know you will get it right. Good luck!
 
Its so damn beautiful I don't even care if it works. It would still look good hanging on the wall
 
drill out the old magnets and use same or larger diameter in double thickness with thin round pieces from a nice burl to cover the magnets...
 
Too late to do anything else with it.
I poured gasoline on it,
lit it on fire,
called it names,
and then urinated on the smoldering coals.
I will never work with burl again!!!!!

Not really.
But.... I will start over with a new piece and try to do it right this time.
I usually keep my failures around as a reminder.
 
It was a double failure.
The magnets were not positioned correctly to hold my knives securely.
But I know what to do for the next one. Jim's comment about a double row is right on.
Since the blades are not flat I need more strength and surface contact area.

I think next I will try double rows and closer together. I will do a test piece before I make the whole thing.

As for being a fridge magnet....
.....nope.

I know this is years after but I thought I would add that you didnt have to add a new row of magnets and an easy to to fix this exist (not talking about the spacing between each magnet).

If your magnets are not set deep enough to have enough pull strength, simple use a planer to reduce the amount of wood between the outside wall and the magnet. Sanding may be an option
 
I know this is years after but I thought I would add that you didnt have to add a new row of magnets and an easy to to fix this exist (not talking about the spacing between each magnet).

If your magnets are not set deep enough to have enough pull strength, simple use a planer to reduce the amount of wood between the outside wall and the magnet. Sanding may be an option

Ya, sorry to show up to the party a bit late too, but I agree that all was not lost. I like Wil C's thought, and almostly agree with the above, accept I would suggest a drum sander to reduce the thickness of the material on the front side where the knives will be hanging. If it feels like it would have thinning the material out to much, then you could simply fir it out from the back side, allowing you to place your wall hanging hardware. Heck, could be a good way to do it in the future. Kind of give the block a bit of a shadow box appearance with it being off the wall slightly. Also would allow you to work with thinner slabs. Probably 1/2" min? Especially when it's made out of burl. Just my 2¢ please feel free to ignore. :doublethumbsup:
 
Good advice guys.
I have a bunch of magnets so I will have to try again.
 
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