Wall mounted magnetic knife block

Step 1 Behind the magic

Open up some old harddrives, you'll need the pair of magnets from each drive for every 1.5" of knife block. Dispose of harddrive wastage responsibly.

Mortice out the back of the knife block, to 1/4" from the block face.

I hung it with 2 screws, the screw head hooks were washers till I went at them with a hacksaw. Glue in place. Tip: use a sheet of paper against the back of the block and mark where the screws need to go, then place the paper against the wall and use a level for once.

Do not put up in an earthquake prone area, keep out of the reach of children, etc etc.

Comments

[yemoss]

this is a cool project, thanks for posting it. getting the magnets out of the hard drives is tricky business though. as i've always loved to destroy things, cracking open a HD was pretty tough. the drive i opened up had torque screws (star-shaped), so you'll need a torque screwdriver to do it cleanly. miraculously, i had one, but it was too large for the screwheads. (i had a T10, and it looks like you'll need a T8 or T6 if there's such an animal). so with a hammer, a strong flathead, a crowbar and a good pair of pliers, I got to the magnets. and man they are strong. now i need to find some more hard drives. good luck.

[GeekTinker]

Wouldn't it have been easier to make a trip to any hardware store and buy the correct torque driver? Any hardware store worth it's salt is going to have these. For the sake of safety, I would not recommend that anyone use a hammer, flathead, crowbar, and pair of pliers to disassemble an old hard drive. The chance of getting injured is too high and a trip to the hospital is just not going to be worth it.

[emerson.john]

Ridiculous. Why spend the money if you can do it with what you have? Most readers of this site can use a screwdriver or hammer without personal injury! If reassembly is not necessary, there is no need to buy a #4 Torx for disassembly. Get out the hammer and tongs and have some fun! Good project.

[GeekTinker]

Since when is personal safety considered ridiculous? The very notion of blowing off the safety concern while working on any project would be ridiculous. There are just as many young readers of this site as their are old tinkering sorts. The cost of that #4 Torx driver is much less than the cost of an eye or a trip to the hospital for stitches. My theory is that if you need a tool (especially one as inexpensive as a Torx driver set) for one project, you are likely going to need that same tool for another project in the near future. If not, consider borrowing one from a friend or relative. It's just common sense. Safety should always be in the forefront of any project. You shouldn't assume anything about the readers of this site. If most were honest, I'd bet the stories of getting injured while not using the right tool for the right job would never end.

[globeadue]

I agree with Geek Tinker,
5-10 years ago i had no problems with drilling / bashing / warping my way into a hdd just to take it apart, they were entirely metal then, and the metal platters made nice windchimes, nowadays your looking at glass platters etc, you bash your way into one of those and your looking to be rubbing out glass dust of your eyes for weeks once you crack it open. (over dramatization but you should get my point)

[wanderer_roch]

If you're not saving the screws then just drilling out the heads will usually take them out cleanly and without 'special' tools. but I think we all like collecting tools...

[ZokiS]

Personal safety is important, but it's common sense not to be obsessed with safety. I'd smash a hammer in an old monitor any day, just for fun!

[Spendlebury]

I am looking at making a knife block for my GCSE rm project. I was wondering where did you get the magnets from even though my idea is a free standing unit it could still be an interesting way to secure the knives Sam

[the gamer 579]

thay are hard drive magnets take any old hdd apart you should get 2 out of one hdd

[jello666]

Hobby shops carry rare earth magnets.

[BGreenHVAC]

I was thinking the same thing. I like how strong the rare earth magnets are. You have to be careful though, they are a little fragile.

[feiming]

Should use metal plate or a metal tray. It's thin,so you don't need to many magnet and it will remain in place without glue.

[poindexterous]

Looking at the photo of the magnet placement, I noticed that you left them on the mounting plates and placed them in the block with the plate facing the front. These plates are magnetic dampers. They inhibit the magnetic field on the side they are placed on. They should either be removed or placed facing the rear of the block.

[radiorental]

Great point to note. Fwiw, the magnets are stacked two high.. the plates were removed. But it looks like the plates are still on.

[poindexterous]

Well I did some research and found that those plates don't actually dampen the magnetic field, but channel it around the magnet and greatly increase the magnetic strength on the opposite side.

[lofgren]

I like it! Well done :)