Can you use a standing magnetic knife block that is too short?

[josemartinlopez]

Can you use a standing magnetic knife block that is too short? Say you have a two-sided, wood magnetic block that stands on your counter, but the block (not counting the base) is only 180 mm. Would it be okay to put a 240 mm gyuto there, such that the 1/4 or more of the blade closing to the handle is not in contact with the wood and not gripped by the magnet? And is this kind of standing block safer in that the knife is less likely to fall on the floor due to a freak accident?

 

[juice]

And is this kind of standing block safer in that the knife is less likely to fall on the floor due to a freak accident?

Safer than what?

Freak accidents are hard to assess because, well, they're freaks.

 

[simar]

I think we need pics to see this short block to make a real assessment

 

[Marek07]

Freak accidents aside, I would have concern with a length of exposed (and sharp!) blade protruding above the block. Guess it depends on who has access to the block and are they mindful enough around it. I don't think magnet strength or amount of contact with the knives is as big an issue but YMMV.

 

[kennyc]

Same as above, I get uncomfortable (in the same way when someone cuts a round pizza into squares - like some psycho...) when I see exposed edges near the handle of a knife while in storage

back when I was working more with knives, i would give my staff a hard time for storing knives mid-blade on the magnet bar instead of right up against the bolster; the first step to an accidental cut is leaving an edge exposed...

 

[josemartinlopez]

Something like this?

 

[parbaked]

no

 

[Qapla']

Pretty much what the others have already said; this sort of thing can be treacherous simply because the vast majority of knifeblocks are designed with the assumption that the user isn't likely to have any knives longer than 8"/203mm (mainly because that's what's in most generic block-sets).

In the meantime, it may be suitable to temporarily invest in a few cheap plastic blade-covers (assuming you're mostly using chef's-knives and slicers) until you find a more suitable block/board/rack/etc. that doesn't pose any such exposed-edge hazards.

 

[josemartinlopez]

There are a few of these (including from China) that are 250-300 mm high (excluding the base), does anyone use these? Do the double-sided versions make sense over the angled single sided versions?

 

[josemartinlopez]

Found these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TQ9F48J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1