How to make your own knife block

You can make your own knife block using offcuts of PAR pine or meranti and have a practical knife block that holds all our kitchen knives for easy access and also out of harms way if there are young children in the house. This easy knife block is also a great DIY gift idea.

 

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In this project you can make your own knife block using offcuts of PAR pine or meranti and have a practical knife block that holds all our kitchen knives for easy access and also out of harms way if there are young children in the house. This easy knife block is also a great DIY gift idea.

YOU WILL NEED:

PAR pine or meranti blocks*
120- and 240-grit sandpaper
Ponal wood glue
Choice of finish

TOOLS:

Router, Dremel Trio or sharp wood chisel
Quick clamps
Tape measure and pencil
Ruler

You will find a variety of PAR pine products at your local Builders. Source PAR pine from a local timber merchant.

HERE'S HOW:

The size that you make the knife block is determined by the size of the knives you want to have in the block. You will obviously want the most often used knives within easy access, so take out your knife set and find both the longest and shortest knives in your set. This will determine how wide and long the wood blocks need to be.

You can buy both PAR pine and meranti in difference widths and thicknesses. The best sizes to look for would be 32 x 69mm or 32 x 94mm. Cut the PAR pine to length to accommodate the longest blade that will be fitted the block. Use the knives themselves as a template to determine the width of each slot. Use a pencil to mark the position for each slot.

To cut out a slot in the PAR pine blocks you can use a router and cutting bit, or a Dremel Trio, or use a sharp wood chisel to make a slot.

Each slot should be about 3 to 4mm deep - or deeper than this if you knife is thicker. You can adjust the depth of the slot to fit any size of knife. Clamp down your block and carefully follow your drawn lines to carve away a rebate for the knife slots.

GOOD TO KNOW
Work carefully to ensure that you have a separator between the slots. This should be no less than 15mm wide.

ABOVE: Test the knives in the slots and make any necessary adjustments

Use Ponal wood glue to assemble the block. Apply a bead of wood glue on the raised sections and smooth with your finger. Don't apply too much wood glue - you don't want the slots filling up with glue when you clamp the blocks together. You also don't want any glue oozing out of the seams if you want to stain your block, as this will affect the finish.

Use quick clamps to hold the blocks together and leave overnight.

Sand the sides and any uneven edges with 120-grit sandpaper and then with 240-grit sandpaper for a smooth finish. Lightly round off the sharp corners.

Finishing
Use Woodoc gel stain to add colour to your new knife block and protect with butcher's block oil, grapeseed, mineral or linseed oil, or two coats of polyurethane varnish.