Cardboard?
I made this to take to a blade show but I still use it.
I made this to take to a blade show but I still use it.
Show me your racks!
- Thread starter kantdooku
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Another successful couple days were had in the shop. Built the shelves and once again happy with how they turned out. Part of me wanted to do some nice proper joinery, but I ended up going with screws because as much as I would like to spend all day making these flawless representations of traditional woodworking, I just don't have the time for that at the moment. So screws it was so that I could get back to other things. However I did at least put in the effort to make some screw plugs to hide them a bit. Which is a VERY satisfying process. So now the japanese rack is finished, and the shelves are finished. The magnets just arrived at my door so I can get to work other the other racks today. I did however get the grooves for the magnets routered in the other day, so those are ready to be glued in now!
Oh! I forgot to mention I did make a slight alteration to the japanese rack. As I may have discussed earlier, I used the dowel holes to conceal the mounting screws. However this means in order to move the rack, I have to pull the dowels out to access the screws, so they can't be glued in. Instead, I screwed a washer to the back of each dowel, the epoxied a magnet to it. Now when they go in they magnetize to the head of the mounting screw. So nothing will be falling out, but everything is easily removeable. Oh and I touched up all the holes from my previous racks and started laying out the new racks and shelves. I touched up the wall with matching paint... but it doesn't look too matching to me. Could just be the stuff on the wall is sun faded, lost its sheen, brush texture or whatever, but I'm really banking on it not being noticeable once the wall is covered in stuff.
Now lets see if I can post a video of these magnets
It was a busy day, but I did find some time to make progress on the new rack wall. The magnets arrived so I got those into the boards with epoxy right away. I thought I calculated the length of the slots to fit the magnets perfectly, but I forgot to account for the obvious round cutter in the router. So I had to hand chisel the corners for the magnets to fit in the slots. The racks were then placed on my jointer so that the magnets pull themselves all the way into the groove as the epoxy dries.
While that was drying I moved inside and started mounting the shelves and japanese rack. The shelves are hilariously strong which makes me happy. The japanese racks aren't perfect though. Each piece is mounted to the wall with seven drywall screws which is ridiculously overkill, so that's good. but I immediately found the magnetic pull wasn't enough. If you saw in a previous post, each knife got one magnet in a metal cup to hold it in place. I thought this would be plenty and its not the case. I pulled it off and added three more magnets to each for a total of four with a metal spacer and now it is WAY better.
In addition, the pegs aren't solid enough for me. They almost don't even serve a purpose because there is now so much magnetic pull that on the left side they are pulled in by the magnet harder than gravity pulls them down onto the peg. However on the right side where the handles are and therefore no magnets, some of the pegs angle down ever so slightly when the knife is resting on that, which I don't love. Again nothing is falling and it is totally fine, but I want it to be better. Even though I want the pegs to be removeable to I can access the screws, I think I will put a little bit of CA glue in there to hold the pegs where I want. Enough to hold the knife, but not so much that I can't grab the peg with pliers and break the adhesive connection to pull them out. Sorry if that doesn't make any sense, basically CA glue has terrible shear strength so I'm gonna use that to my advantage. ANYWAYS! Here's some pics of the process.
While that was drying I moved inside and started mounting the shelves and japanese rack. The shelves are hilariously strong which makes me happy. The japanese racks aren't perfect though. Each piece is mounted to the wall with seven drywall screws which is ridiculously overkill, so that's good. but I immediately found the magnetic pull wasn't enough. If you saw in a previous post, each knife got one magnet in a metal cup to hold it in place. I thought this would be plenty and its not the case. I pulled it off and added three more magnets to each for a total of four with a metal spacer and now it is WAY better.
In addition, the pegs aren't solid enough for me. They almost don't even serve a purpose because there is now so much magnetic pull that on the left side they are pulled in by the magnet harder than gravity pulls them down onto the peg. However on the right side where the handles are and therefore no magnets, some of the pegs angle down ever so slightly when the knife is resting on that, which I don't love. Again nothing is falling and it is totally fine, but I want it to be better. Even though I want the pegs to be removeable to I can access the screws, I think I will put a little bit of CA glue in there to hold the pegs where I want. Enough to hold the knife, but not so much that I can't grab the peg with pliers and break the adhesive connection to pull them out. Sorry if that doesn't make any sense, basically CA glue has terrible shear strength so I'm gonna use that to my advantage. ANYWAYS! Here's some pics of the process.
Also, I'm starting to worry those areas I touched up with paint aren't going away 
I hope it's just because I did it so I look for it and spot it right away, but I'm really hoping they aren't noticeable once the wall is filled....
I hope it's just because I did it so I look for it and spot it right away, but I'm really hoping they aren't noticeable once the wall is filled....
Looks like you should add knife racks to your list of products for sale.
Hahaha, I think I’m gonna stick to boards for nowLooks like you should add knife racks to your list of products for sale.
These may look good, but the quality compared to my cutting boards is just nowhere near. I’d feel bad sending anybody these, or I’d spend way too long trying to get them perfect.Something I should add is the first rack I made years ago, I actually had a knife slide off and take some handle damage due to not enough magnetic pull. Could have been much worse, and I would be worried about that constantly if I were to sell a rack to somebody.
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Hualicopter
Well-Known Member
I have a bunch of walnut I need to use so I am tempted to make something similar but a countertop version since I don’t have any walls to drill into.Hahaha, I think I’m gonna stick to boards for now
It’s a very fun project, I highly recommend it. And a counter top version could be at an angle, so you probably wouldn’t even need magnets.
What's the story of the coloring on the Wüsthof?
The finale! Took a while for the epoxy to dry, but I went out this morning and everything was good to go. I put a couple coats of lacquer on and some double sided tape to the leather which I am reusing from my old racks. I used to use spray adhesive for these, but I wanted to mount the wood to the walls using screws that go right through, as opposed to a hanger hardware on the back, so I needed a way to mount the leather while the wood was on the wall. To elaborate on this, usually magnetic knife racks use what are called key hole hangers, and I don't love these, but they're necessary for when the rack is going to a customer who possibly has very limited equipment. For me though, I have the luxury of all the tools, so I put the wood on the wall and drilled straight through into the studs. Then I applied the leather and I am so happy with this system. Rock solid racks you could hang off of now.
I now have my western knives on the left, shelves in the middle for stones, powder, cloth and oil and such, and my japanese knives on the right. This is definitely the system I've been dreaming of for a long time. Very happy to see it finally come to fruition. If you have any questions please let me know. I've done my best to document the process and decisions for anybody who wants to attempt it on their own. And I am happy to help in any way I can. My main advice would be to:
Really plan for what you want it to be able to hold so you don't need to change it all in a month or two
Use four times the magnets you think you need
Bar magnets are WAY better than disc magnets
If they are somewhere that people will walk, put them above shoulder height
If you can, screw right through the whole thing into studs to make it super solid
Hopefully this has been interesting for somebody, and you stay classy San Diego
I now have my western knives on the left, shelves in the middle for stones, powder, cloth and oil and such, and my japanese knives on the right. This is definitely the system I've been dreaming of for a long time. Very happy to see it finally come to fruition. If you have any questions please let me know. I've done my best to document the process and decisions for anybody who wants to attempt it on their own. And I am happy to help in any way I can. My main advice would be to:
Really plan for what you want it to be able to hold so you don't need to change it all in a month or two
Use four times the magnets you think you need
Bar magnets are WAY better than disc magnets
If they are somewhere that people will walk, put them above shoulder height
If you can, screw right through the whole thing into studs to make it super solid
Hopefully this has been interesting for somebody, and you stay classy San Diego
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its beautiful 
Thank you! I’m extremely happy with it. And my wife doesn’t mind it, so that’s the real win here.its beautiful
Amazing set up. Oh and Luke, if you ever get scared of stabbing the celing with that Yanick sakimaru, let me know. I'll be the good samaritan and take it of your hands to ease your mind.
Oh thank you! I always wonder how I’ll dispose of my Yanick’s one day. Glad I have you looking out for me
Hualicopter
Well-Known Member
The leather is awesome!!
Thank you, It was made by Imperial Custom Works down in Texas for me! I am definitely not talented enough to make something like that
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Wish I had room for a magnetic bar, but...
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2020
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- 874
- Reaction score
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6btl wine bag works well for an unwieldy group of sayas:
I finally broke down and got another rack.
Nice. Looks like you need to buy about 6 more knives to fill it up.
What a great excuse to buy more knives!
Nice. Looks like you need to buy about 6 more knives to fill it up.
My wife was a sweetheart - she kept insisting the rack wasn't big enough and I needed to get a bigger one.
But phrased more like, "It's not big enough! Make sure it's big enough this time because I don't want to hear about you needing another rack!"
New drawer rack. Holds 31 knives, 16 long ones and 15 short ones. Have enough knives (excluding the ones on my wall racks) to fill all but one of the short slots. Guess I need to buy another petty. 
