knife rack/cabinet

i want to make a knife rack that holds say 20 or 30 knives

have you made one if so did you display them tip down or tip sideways

and what about the sheath some are nice and should be displayed too

just tossing ideas around right now

i may put some led lights in it too

Reply to
Electric Comet
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------------------------------------------------------------- Time to get out some graph paper and play with the layout in plan view unless you are Leon, then you use Sketch Up.

Having the knives hang vertical takes up the least amount of counter space but is not as user friendly as having the knives hang 15-20 degrees off vertical, but I found it to be quite usuable.

Hanging the knives vertical uses the least amount of wood and is simplist to build, just add some rubber button feet at each bottom corner.

This will insure the rack will rest on the counter top and not wobble.

The steel or maybe a 10" chef knife will be the longest piece, plan according.

I built a couple of racks using maple, cherry and walnut and white oak, alternating for color presentation. Vary the thickness of the boards from 3/4" to 5/4" for presentation.

Makes for a good router project.

Glue up the boards in groups of two which will insure minimum drift between boards.

I finished mine with BLO.

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------------------------------------------------------------- Tip down. Didn't want to screw around fitting rack into a drawer.

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--------------------------------------------------------------- What about a sheath? These knives don't get carried on the hip to be used for field dressing, they are kitchen knives.

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--------------------------------------------------------------- Planning on mounting rack on a drone?

Will you be filing a flight plan?

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Like Lew suggested, that's not exactly the right question. You have the advantage the you are doing custom work. Why not set the knives before you and arrange them in a way that you like. Then maybe take a picture. That would be far faster than Leon's idea (probably) of drawing each one in SketchUp and moving them around there. But if alot of them are the same style, creating them in Sketchup won't take any longer than drawing one. One can be copied and resized in seconds. Instead of lights, some photographs in the background might be nice.

Reply to
Bill

think more along the lines of a gun cabinet but for knives something to display a collection of knives

have you made such a rack/cabinet

Reply to
Electric Comet

Electric Comet wrote in news:morv8p$pn6$2 @dont-email.me:

If I wanted to display knife and sheath, I'd probably do it tip sideways. This would allow me to rest the knife on pegs (dowels) and maybe put a nice catch/latch on it. (The catch is not to protect anything, it's to keep things organized if (when) the box is bumped.)

You could also get a little more fancy with the pattern if so inclined... Things like spokes, herringbones, etc.

I think if I were designing this I'd put my most attractive half dozen or so knives out tip-sideways, then my more common knives tip down in a row.

The LED lights will really look nice. Be sure to select them before you finish the design, so you can keep the LEDs from blinding you. (There are 12V LEDs that you could use if a point-source is desired instead of strip lights. They're just as easy to use as strip lights if you know how to solder.)

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

I used to sell knives, among other things...out of a cabinet in a sporting goods store. I had to keep them looking presentable. Models displayed were not mostly-constant like they will be for you.

Reply to
Bill

i need to visit shops that sell knives and pay closer attention to the displays

Reply to
Electric Comet

catch is a good idea makes it easier to set the proper viewing angle too

you mean with the layout of the knives

like this changing the direction would probably look better

the lights will be subtle and only highlighting the knives and probably wired to a switch on the door

was thinking of spotlight type so there are some shadows

this is ideal but have to say i do do the latter i have stumbled into new designs by abandoning the initial plan when trying to make it fit

taking mental note of mistakes of course for next time

Reply to
Electric Comet

Consider also, rare earth magnets... These things can solve a lot of problems. 8 or so years ago I built a model car display cabinet for my son. It hangs on the wall and has lots of glass. The stiles on the cabinet are very thin as are those on the door. Read that as troublesome adding hinges.

Instead the door simply sets on the bottom ledge of the cabinet and is held in place with rare earth magnets. You simply slide the door to the side to go beyond the range of the magnets and the door is released.

Not suggesting their use for this particular purpose but maybe in helping to stabilize the knives.

Anyway, two of six magnets in the cabinet portion to hold the door in place.

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And with the door in place. I used short countersunk screws on the back of the door as the target for the magnets. I screwed them in and out to get just the right amount of attraction. Pulling the door out in the usual fashion to open the cabinet is almost impossible but sliding the door to one side or the other is smooth and uneventful and then simply remove the door.

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Reply to
Leon

Oops! Link corrected.

And with the door in place. I used short countersunk screws on the back of the door as the target for the magnets. I screwed them in and out to get just the right amount of attraction. Pulling the door out in the usual fashion to open the cabinet is almost impossible but sliding the door to one side or the other is smooth and uneventful and then simply remove the door.

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Reply to
Leon

Light Bulb!

Carve a hog and a beef model. Cut slots (mortises?) at appropriate spots, for inserting the appropriate knife, for the carving/butchering of that particular cut of meat. Likewise, carve tomato and cuke models, for your vegetable knifes.

*My brilliant ideas amaze even me, sometimes. :-) Sonny
Reply to
Sonny

You haven't make it real clear whether you want to display them for the sake of displaying them, or display them for the sake of using them. The latter can probably be done in less space for instance.

Reply to
Bill

My local Menards home store sells styrofoam (2-6 inches thick?). I wonder how well you would do using each knife to make an impression and then painting the result (maybe after applying a primer?) That's in the spirit of how Case and some other knife makers display their knives for sale. They don't use styrofoam, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Reply to
Bill

have seen something like this i think in a butcher shop maybe it would be a nice idea for a kitchen knife display

this project is just for display a knife collection some are for show and some are for go

Reply to
Electric Comet

i think that is a novel and elegant solution

well that is great plus it adds a bit of mystery what no hinges how does it open no doubt the coolest model car cabinet on the block

it might be an interesting design to base it on these magnets neodymium??

i like this for the door some of the knives are too heavy for these magnets but it would be interesting to have some of the magnets concealed in the cabinet back for holding the knives

Reply to
Electric Comet

Thank you. They do help when normal fasteners are too clunky.

A google search gave me this place. Just an example of the sizes and shapes that the come in.

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Exactly.. ;~) A little hidden magic!

Reply to
Leon

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