Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)
This was a simple little project that punches above its weight in terms of functionality and aesthetics vs effort and skill.I needed to free up some kitchen drawer space and I also wanted to easier access to my knives (I do cook a lot) without resorting to a traditional knife block, so I decided make this knife bar from a scrap of 3/4 walnut and some bar magnets from Amazon.I had to experiment with the magnets and the thickness of the wood, so that the bar would have the right holding power – enough so that the knives would stay put, but could still be removed pretty easily (with a little twist, cutting edge out). In the end, I had to route the dado so that the remaining thickness was about 1/8th of an inch and I had to stack two magnets on top of each other to increase their pull. I ended up using a total of 14 magnets and they're all oriented in the same direction – I could have gotten the magnets closer to each other if I inverted every other pair, but that resulted in more pronounced dead spots between the magnets. As is, the pull is strongest in the middle of each magnet stack, but it's still strong enough to hold between magnets, too.Using fasteners to keep the magnets in place didn't seem practical, so I covered them in epoxy. Keeping strong magnets in place for the pour and curing time can be a challenge when they're this close together, they want to jump at each other, so I placed the bar face down on a metal table and then put the magnets in place – this made them stay in place, holding on to the table, and kept them from fighting each other.In addition to the dado to house the magnets, I routed keyhole slots for a cleaner look without fasteners on the face of the mounted bar.It was finished simply with Danish Oil.