CULTRIVOR - Custom 30 Knife Block

For when you have too many knives.
I have a lot of kitchen knives, but since I do a lot of cooking, I need them all readily at hand. I buy good quality knives individually, and I couldn't find a knife block that would hold all my knives in a compact, attractive, easy to access fashion. So, I built one myself that met all my requirements.
- Wall Mountable to take up less counter space.
- Visible Blades for quick selection.
- Doesn't damage blades (Like metal magnet wall mounts can).
- Holds a combination of large and small knives, including a chinese clever.
- And of course, can hold at least 30 knives.
- Blades can be put in without drying, and any water that drips can just be wiped off the countertop.

See more cool projects at:
www.danielbauen.com
www.Engineerable.com
Cultrivor is adapted from the latin word, Cultrivorous: Devouring knives; swallowing, or pretending to swallow, knives.

Step 1 Tools and Materials

Tools I used:
- Band Saw
- Scroll Saw
- Dremel tool with drum sander
- Sandpaper, preferably with a material backing, not paper
- Drill

Materials:
- Wood - 1, 30 inch piece of 2x4 OR 2, 30 inch pieces of 1x4 to laminate.
- Lexan sheet
- Small wood screws

Comments

[richardsan]

soooooo much sanding...why not use a round over bit in a router?; ^)

[JellyWoo]

where can you get some lexan?

[engineerable]

They sell sheets of it at Home Depot, or Lowes. I bought the piece for this at Home Depot. It's in the windows section where they also have pieces of glass, and acrylic.

[JellyWoo]

oh really? how much does it cost? thanks for the help.

[engineerable]

Depends on the size of the sheet. The sheet I used was probably about $5

[JellyWoo]

can you teach me to bend lexan? i searched on instructables and google but didn't find anything clear or specific. thanks.

[JellyWoo]

oh, and is there a subsitute to a heat gun?

[79spitfire]

Your very cleaver using tools at hand. There is a router bit called a "Keyhole" bit for making the slot for the screw head in one step. If you do this regular it is a worthwhile investment, and does a very neat job. Great project BTW, I just may have to make one myself!

[darus67]

Great idea for a knife block. Awesome instructable. Well written and good clear photos. The "Pocket Key Screw Hole" portion is worthy of its own instructable.

[brittohalloran]

agree

[engineerable]

Thanks! Ya, I was thinking about writing up a separate instructable for the pocket key hole. This is how I hang all my pictures frames, or any wood wall art I make (without the front hole). It's great, because it requires no extra hardware, and the frame is flush to the wall.

[JellyWoo]

very nice!

[QuietStorm81]

Wicked Instructable. I'm almost tempted to make one for work. One question: Can you use a thinner single piece for the block as opposed to a double laminated or a thicker single? I'm going to want to do the cutting for the block with a router and I'm not sure there are router bits that can cut a piece of wood so big. Later. :D

[engineerable]

You could, but the reason I made it thick, is because of the hole width to height ratio. If the holes remained the same width as they are now, and the height was decreased, the blades could have a tendency to lean and hit each other. However, unless the knife is handle heavy, most of them tend to hang straight down, and they don't lean against the walls of the slot. I only have one knife with a short blade that has a heavier handle, and the thick slot height prevents it from flopping over. So, if your knives all have a heavier blade then handle, it should work fine to use a thin piece of wood. Alternatively, you could decrease the width of the slot, but that makes it more difficult to put the blades in.

[QuietStorm81]

F-ing fab. Considering I'm wanting to invest in a fine set of cutting edge (literally!) ceramic knives for my job, having a block like this with the more balanced modern knife is wicked. Again, fine idea and fine execution. One more question: What other types of wood would work best for the top? I'm thinking a nice heavy hardwood might be best but does it matter save that it resists warping?

[engineerable]

For the amount of time you will spend making it, use as nice a wood as you like. A denser wood will be more resistant to knife marks. The most time consuming part was sanding, and that would have taken even longer with a denser wood. I really wanted a nice block of wood, but I didn't know where to get one at the time, so I settled with poplar. Although not very dense, it worked out well, and still looks like new. Cool that this inspired you!

[kerns]

Fantastic Instructable! I will be making one of these soon to get our cleavers more safely into daily rotation. But - why drill through the piece at all for the hanging screws? Why not simply create pocket holes in the back of the piece, determine how much shank/screwhead to leave protruding from the wall, pre-sink those in the wall and then hang the piece from them? That'd leave no holes visible from the front, though at the cost of being able to adjust the mounting screws.

[engineerable]

You're right about the pocket hole, if you are mounting to a flat wall. I forgot to mention that the reason I had to drill the front hole was to be able to tighten the screw to keep it from wobbling because of the mounting location. If you look at the main picture, you can sort of see that it's mounted to the window frame, which is slightly curved, and protrudes from the wall. Mounting it with a regular pocket hole did not give the block a solid feel. I had to be able to tighten the screws to give it a nice solid feel. The holes are pretty well hidden in the slots.

[coopgrl88]

Much more attractive and less threatening in appearance than those magnet strips for knives. takes up less space too. Great Job.

[cuteaznprincesss]

aside from building an awesome kitchen addition, the name is hilarious. if i had a little puppy, i would name him cultrivor.

[engineerable]

Thanks, it took me a while to come up with that name. I try to figure out creative names for my creations, but it's usually difficult, and I can't come up with a good one. Cultrivor sounds like a vicious name for a puppy, unless it's a doberman or similar. Since you don't have one, maybe it's better suited for your Ugly Doll, if you haven't named it yet.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Very nice! I could see these being sold in stores

[Weissensteinburg]

Very well planned, executed, and explained! I could see these being sold in stores.

[redheadeb]

Absolutely. I'd buy one!

[oldmswxman]

Great idea! best way to have knifes available and not 'thrown' in a drawer. You ought to check on 'patent-rights', you maybe able to patent it and make some bucks from it, maybe thru e-bay etc.