Maximising magnet holding power of two adjacent knife racks

May 11, 2008 3 Replies
C

I have a magnetic knife rack which is mounted inside a cupboard door.



The knives are not as securely held as I would like. What is the best distance and orientation for a second magnetic rack placed parallel to the first one in order to help hold the same set of knives as firmly as possible? I can't tell by hand.


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The picture above shows two long magnets on a knife rack and each is sandwiched between two strips of metal. I *GUESS* one long thin surface of a metal strip is N and the other is S. (Is this correct?)



Each rack has two long magnets about an inch apart and maybe they are aligned in a particular way such as "N+S N+S" (going from one side of the knife rack to the other). Or could it be "N+S S+N"?


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Based on maximising the magnetic holding power of a knife placers across both racks:



(1) How close to the first rack should the second rack be placed?



(2) Does it matter which type of magnetic pole on one rack is nearest a particular magnetic pole on the other rack? Or is the distance of the two racks (from question 1 above) too great for the magnetism of one to influence the other even when a knife is places across all the metal strips?



Thank you for any info. Chrish


[X-posted: physics, mech eng, DIY]
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G

I trust you issue the necessary PPE to the cook?

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I

Get a single knife rack with enough holding power ?

The one I used to have had a very powerful grip (was not cheap £20 odd), so much so after a year or two the two magnetic strips started pulling out when you removed a knife (with all the other knives attached) and after gluing the magnets back in starting ripping the plugs out the wall.

Was replaced with knife holder in a drawer as we suffered from dirt and other kitchen "splatters" accumularing on the knives as there were out in the open.

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G

Those little plastic plugs for holding screws into=20 drywall are very poor at resisting forces perpendicular the the wall -- they loosen and will pull out if subjected to repeated tugs. The manufacturers of the plugs don't recommend them for such use, and I don't know=20 why other manufacturers (such as your knife rack supplier) include them with their products. I suppose it's because they're incredibly cheap. Much better to use something=20 like an expansion or toggle bolt fastener.

Why does this form in my mind's eye the image of a medieval kitchen with vats, open fires, and various wildlife being messily slaughtered on a rough wooden bench? :-)

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