Knife Block -- Free-Standing

Step 8 The finished knife block

 Here you see the finished knife block from a side view.  This knife block holds the knives at an angle that makes the handles easy to grasp.  

Do not insert knives with food particles on them into the recesses for the blades, or it could make a nest for bacteria.  

Comments

[WILL62]

If you put your knives in sharp side up they will they will stay sharp longer because there is no drag on the cutting edge from the block, believe me all that taking and putting back adds up..........

[Phil B]

One could certainly do that. You probably have a very valid point. The bigger problem in many households is a failure to give a knife a couple of licks on the sharpening steel almost every time it is removed from the knife block. Knives like these should also always be hand washed, not placed into a dishwasher where they bang around against silverware.

[shooby]

While this is "free-standing", the nose appears to be very close to the counter, eliminating the space beneath it for other uses.  Why bother having such a small stand, if the space it saves can't be utilized.  Aesthetically it's slick though, and I appreciate designs that intentionally appear precarious despite being stable. 

[Phil B]

"Free-standing" was the only term I could think of to describe this knife block.  Perhaps there is a better term.  The space under the nose is not really useful for other purposes, and really was not intended to be useful for other purposes.  If space is limited, this may not be the design to use.  I think the important feature for this knife block is the convenient angle at which the handles are held.  Thanks for your interest.

[shooby]

Right, that's why I use your definition of free standing.  I guess my point is that given this angle angle and elevation, you might as well forfeit the "free standing" feature for a conventional base/stand.  Essentially, your design is very similar to conventional knife blocks, other than being slightly less stable.

[Phil B]

 This knife block is not a design that originated with me.  When I made this knife block it was one of two fairly common styles.  One was a vertical block with quite a few slots for knives of different sizes.  The other was very similar to what I show here.  Since that time, manufacturers have added a wedge-shaped piece to the side of the vertical blocks so that they can stand at an angle and they no longer make the style shown in this Instructable.  But, what I believe you are describing as a conventional knife block did not exist when I made this one.   

If you read paragraph 2 in step 7 again, you will notice I tested the block for a balance point before attaching the base.  Because the block is mounted over its balance point, it is very stable.  You would need to work at tipping it over. 

[shooby]

Fair enough! If it works it works.  I wasn't aware that this was one of the standard types.