Cutting Boards and Magnetic Strips

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best of all worlds for houses with small kids could be the countertop model with a solid hinged door that can be secured to cover/ protect the knives when prep is not underway... In general might make wives feel better, even if is it not a house with kids.
 
Interesting idea, but will have to put it on a back burner as cabinetry is definitely more than I can handle now skills-wise and time wise. but I might team up on that with others. There are a couple of cabinet makers in the vicinity of my shop.

M
 
I sort of like the idea of a free standing mag knife rack, but personally I'm not sure I would choose that over a traditional block. I dont' have a lot of knives, but I have quite a few and most of them get used regualarly, so one issue for me is how many knives can the free standing mag rack hold.

Also, I'm not sure about the tip being up - primarily for safety reasons. I wondering if you flip the rack so the recess for the handles is at the top, and then at the bottom create a reveal that the tips could slide down into to keep them covered/protected. Obviously this creates other problems such as cleaning that area and only knives of a certain length would fit down in there, etc.

I think the comments about blocks holding moisture is worth considering. I've got an idea to modify the wall mounted block design I did some time ago to make the back of the slots open, and put the whole contraption on a base. How ever they are designed, counter top blocks are going to take up the most space, compared to a wall mag strip, or your idea for a free standing mag rack.
 
A free standing magnetic blocks will have 18" of surface. I won't make it longer as it probably will look a bit unwieldy in a larger size. The tip-down design never appealed to me for a number of reasons. One, you got to twist your wrist (thumb down position) to get your hand on the handle of a knife. Awkward at best. Two, some will store the block on a counter-top under the cabinet, and clearance will vary, so imagine that you bump into the bottom of the cabinet every time trying to get your hand on the knife handle. Add the awkwardly twisting your hand while doing this, and perhaps you will see why I never considered this to be a good design. It's pretty amazing to me that many of designs for blocks out there are of this kind - but hey, here is an opportunity to be different.

The board will be taller than the tallest knife, so your tips will never be exposed. In fact it will have a similar to Henckels rest for handles, so knives will be lined up at the bottom.

Cleaning and buffing it will be a breeze. I can use different strength magnets, however this is not as important, as the block will be slanted, and knives will be rested on a board (gravity), and only light magnetic pull will be required to keep them in place.

Nothing is written in stone and the design will be up for revision if necessary,

M
 
After making a couple of mag strips, I concluded that this design - rectangular, low-depth, works better for small objects like keys,and other ferrous things, than wide and tall objects like kitchen knives. The issue seems be with removing the knife from the strip. To keep the knife securely attached, the magnetic pull has to be fairly strong. It also makes removing the knife difficult.

I have a new design in my head and a prototype within days. This mag strip will feature a hidden mounting hardware. I think this is going to be the only design I will offer.

Stay tuned.

M
 
Removing a knife from a magnetic strip is also a matter of technique. Sure, if you try to take it off with the blade flat you get a lot of resistance. But if you twist the knife onto its spine you get leverage from the strip in the twist and then the contact is significantly reduced and you can pull the knife off easily. That's also the best way to place a knife onto a magnetic strip: spine first then twist the blade down flat.
 
Dream Burls said:
Removing a knife from a magnetic strip is also a matter of technique. Sure, if you try to take it off with the blade flat you get a lot of resistance. But if you twist the knife onto its spine you get leverage from the strip in the twist and then the contact is significantly reduced and you can pull the knife off easily. That's also the best way to place a knife onto a magnetic strip: spine first then twist the blade down flat.
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That's true, but sometimes these things are done without giving them much thought, so the easiest to use, the friendliest design would probably be the direction I will take. I have Rosle Open Kitchen (rails with magnets that slide over the rails) that I use and studied the design a little bit and what I will come up with will be a variation of that.

My next question, what do you guys think of a block with a contrasting strip on it's face? Or would you prefer a monotone block in whatever wood it is made of?

Thanks,

M
 
Since you are exploring knife blocks, here is a suggestion. And one you can use for your sayas.

Coat the inside of the slot/saya with shellac. This will prevent most of the moisture from getting to the steel and may prevent rust. This is a time consuming step and requires that any shellac be removed from areas to be glued. Glue will not stick to shellac. I'm glad someone will be making knife blocks. This will take some of the email questions from me and I will then know where to send the inquiries.
 
For me as long as the strip is not hugely different... but I tend to lean towards less is better, keep it classy like all of your items. That being said, you'll have to see these with both options and decide what "your brand" is going to be.. You can always start with simpler version and then do the strip as an "upgrade" down the road to keep it interesting/fresh but also for further potential... sorry, now I'm talking like if I'm at work plotting a marketing campaign.


Marko Tsourkan said:
That's true, but sometimes these things are done without giving them much thought, so the easiest to use, the friendliest design would probably be the direction I will take. I have Rosle Open Kitchen (rails with magnets that slide over the rails) that I use and studied the design a little bit and what I will come up with will be a variation of that.

My next question, what do you guys think of a block with a contrasting strip on it's face? Or would you prefer a monotone block in whatever wood it is made of?

Thanks,

M
Click to expand...
 
The BoardSMITH said:
Since you are exploring knife blocks, here is a suggestion. And one you can use for your sayas.

Coat the inside of the slot/saya with shellac. This will prevent most of the moisture from getting to the steel and may prevent rust. This is a time consuming step and requires that any shellac be removed from areas to be glued. Glue will not stick to shellac. I'm glad someone will be making knife blocks. This will take some of the email questions from me and I will then know where to send the inquiries.
Click to expand...

Making traditional knife blocks is on a back burner, but realistically speaking, might never materialize, as these are time consuming and should probably be made to order.

What I have in mind should be better categorized as knife stands with embedded magnets and wall mount magnetic strips. Both are "open platform", so they can accommodate many types of knives and in terms of time and labor involved, both types are manageable and I can make a limited number of them parallel to making knives.

M
 
Marko Tsourkan said:
My next question, what do you guys think of a block with a contrasting strip on it's face? Or would you prefer a monotone block in whatever wood it is made of?


M
Click to expand...
I like the idea of contrasting wood. It pops the piece out and will make it look more artistic.
 
Started on one in uniform appearance. Will have pics of the prototype on Friday.
 
Anton said:
How about some classy bling?? In the form of a recessed fine nickel line "spacer" across the width..! ?
Click to expand...

Bling is not my thing. Handles is different and even with handles I am being pretty conservative.

M
 
There you have it...

A bit dark in here, so can't capture the grain well. It looks better in person.

Design allows for easier separation of knives from magnetic strip, while maximizing magnetic hold on the surface. Recessed mounting hardware allows for a flush-mount. Magnets are completely sealed inside.

Overall, I like this design much better over the prototypes I have made before.

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This one is 16.75" (16" of magnetic surface). It's all I had on hand for walnut, but I just purchased more, and subsequent ones will be 18" and 24". I won't make them smaller.

You will have to take my word for it - it looks much better in person than on the pics.

M
 
The wide chamfers also highlight grain in 3D, so I have some walnut as well as highly figured maple in mind for the next few.
 
Love it, particularly the chamfer. That really sets the piece off. Nice job Marko.
 
Very nice!

Wouldn't changing the orientation of the fasteners to vertical make more sense? I'd be worried that the strip might work it's way sideways and fall down.
 
it shouldn't matter, as it has to be mount flush (working on a solution), either vertical or horizontal mount. I decided to keep this prototype, so I am going to give it a thought once I mount it and see how it works out.

M
 
Magnetic strips will be available in the store shortly. A typical lengh will be 18 or 24". If I have a particularly nice piece of wood, I will make it in a different lengh (12-24").

These will be made on ongoing basis, but it is possible that I won't have one ready to ship when order is placed. The wait time is up one week.

Same as with my knives, strips will come with 7 days return policy, as long as they come back in same condition as received.

Lastly, higher price reflects cost of materials, time and labor. These are more complex than Mag-Bloks and the price reflects that.


Link to Magnetic Strips

Thank you,

M

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