A tale of two knives

[rjent]

I bought my lovely bride a full stainless steel knife set (Chef's, Fillet, small Chef's, and a few others) in '72. It was a top of the line case knife set in a beautiful mahogany block. She, even then, was an incredible cook and deserved the tools necessary to do the job. Those knives and knife block have set on our kitchen counter for 44 years. I have always sharpened them by hand. Kept them sharp enough to shave your arm with. But alas, time has caught up and it hurts my hands to much to sharpen anymore as often as I need to.

So I bought a electric knife sharpener. The one with the rotating honing stones on each end. It works great, but takes off too much metal. My solution was that I sharpen the Case knives by hand still, but not often, and I bought her a couple of quality stainless steel Chef's knives made in Japan pretty cheap at Walmart and keep those as sharp with the sharpener.

But there is no place for them in the knife block. What to do ....

The knives:

shopsmith forum knife block pics 01.jpg (443.85 KiB) Viewed 5518 times

Take a block of Maple (thank you Dennis)

shopsmith forum knife block pics 02.jpg (407.05 KiB) Viewed 5518 times

Resaw into three pieces and route the knife shape into the center panel.

shopsmith forum knife block pics 03.jpg (393.04 KiB) Viewed 5518 times

Looks kinda silly just laying there ...

shopsmith forum knife block pics 04.jpg (419.24 KiB) Viewed 5518 times

So make a base for it ...

shopsmith forum knife block pics 05.jpg (432.94 KiB) Viewed 5518 times

Insert block in base ...

shopsmith forum knife block pics 06.jpg (372.49 KiB) Viewed 5518 times

TADA! Wife is happy ....

[Gene Howe]

And it looks great, too.

[nuhobby]

That is super! I like the non-rectangular shape very much.

Chris

[swampgator]

Nice job, and nice wood. How did you get the slots in the board? I missed it. Thanks for the explanation.

Steve, the old swampgator

[rjent]

Nice job, and nice wood. How did you get the slots in the board? I missed it. Thanks for the explanation.

Steve, the old swampgator

I just traced the knife blade(s) on each side of the center part. then routed an eighth inch inside the trace and then glued it back together. It may collect too much moisture inside, but we will see ...

[ERLover]

rjent, I made up block like that, but I hate knife blocks taking up counter space. I turned it flat, got a 5$ 3 or 4" lazy susanne and mounted it under the cabinet where I do my prep work. I can pivot so the handles are under the cabinet if I want. You will have to add a spacer block between the susanne and the bottom of most cabinets since the bottom is recessed.

[jsburger]

I bought my lovely bride a full stainless steel knife set (Chef's, Fillet, small Chef's, and a few others) in '72. It was a top of the line case knife set in a beautiful mahogany block. She, even then, was an incredible cook and deserved the tools necessary to do the job. Those knives and knife block have set on our kitchen counter for 44 years. I have always sharpened them by hand. Kept them sharp enough to shave your arm with. But alas, time has caught up and it hurts my hands to much to sharpen anymore as often as I need to.

So I bought a electric knife sharpener. The one with the rotating honing stones on each end. It works great, but takes off too much metal. My solution was that I sharpen the Case knives by hand still, but not often, and I bought her a couple of quality stainless steel Chef's knives made in Japan pretty cheap at Walmart and keep those as sharp with the sharpener.

But there is no place for them in the knife block. What to do ....

The knives:
shopsmith forum knife block pics 01.jpg
Take a block of Maple (thank you Dennis)
shopsmith forum knife block pics 02.jpg
Resaw into three pieces and route the knife shape into the center panel.
shopsmith forum knife block pics 03.jpg
Looks kinda silly just laying there ...
shopsmith forum knife block pics 04.jpg
So make a base for it ...
shopsmith forum knife block pics 05.jpg
Insert block in base ...
shopsmith forum knife block pics 06.jpg

TADA! Wife is happy ....

I had to do the same thing. I am the cook in the house. Not because my wife can't cook but because I love to cook and she loves the fact that I do it and when we have soul food she cooks.

I have a set of 8 J A Hinkles Twin 4 Star knives. All I thought I would ever need/want. I had a VERY old (my mothers I think) bread knife that I used all the time and worked very well. Then one day the Hinkles Twin 4 Star bread knife came on sale. Time for a new bread knife.

Arhg! I had made a Maple block to hold the 8 knives I thought I would ever need. Now I have one more. So I added a small block to the back of the big block to hold the bread knife. The color of the wood does not match but that is OK. It works just fine.

I also have a Chefs electric sharpener with 3 positions. I use it once a year and use the Hinkles manual honer almost every time i use one of the knives. Works very well.

[ERLover]

Rjent on way to go longer between sharpening is to steel the blade b4 each use. Resets the microscopic wire on the edge to straight.