And here’s the last in our knife block series. And what a knife block it is! This one was submitted by Phil. Let’s check it out:
The rain finally ceased long enough for me to apply the finish on a knife block I made for my daughter and new son-in-law. I’m in my second year of woodworking and this was my first attempt (and could very well be my last) in spraying lacquer. The base is made from scraps of hard maple and the fingers are made of cherry. Two coats of sanding sealer and three coats of lacquer were applied and removed and applied again at least three times before I decided to either hand it over to my daughter or roast marshmallows over it. My photography is as bad as my finishing techniques, so hopefully it helped to hide some of the flaws. I appreciate all the information from you and the people who have shared their projects on The Wood Whisperer, as most of what you see was acquired knowledge from your website.
Check out Phil’s website. He makes a few cool items like the Picnic Stick and the Soda Skirt.
Neat, design, Phil. And the pics don’t show finish problems.
How did you attach each sleeve to the base?
Thanks Jim,
The sleeves were glued together at 10 degree intervals and then the whole fan was glued to the base. For insurance, I applied a couple of screws through the bottom of the base.
Wow! Very nice.
Looks great Phil. How’d you cut the slots down the middle of the fingers?
Thanks Matt,
The fingers were resawed on the band saw (offset to one side to give about 3/8 inch of material around the slot) and then I routed the groove in the thicker piece. A quick pass on the jointer and the pieces were glued back together. The straight grain really helped to hide the joint.
Looks stroboscopic. Nice design and nice choice of woods. If I were to build one like yours it wouldn’t look as artistic since none of my knife handles match.
Wow, you really thought “outside the blocks” on this one ;) Very unique, I like it.
I love this design! What is so compelling is it looks so complex and it is hard to see how it went together. In reality as your comments state the construction was really very simple which is what is even more exciting is with effortless technique you created a truly original and thought provoking piece. Great work Phil!
Appreciate the kind words Shannon!
Really, really coo. I wish I had some knives needing a home. I’d have an excuse to make one!
That’s really cool.
You guys are just showing off now.
Nice job Phil.
Awesome work. What was your inspiration for the design?
Very creative, like a piece of art.
Very nice. I just wish Marc had spaced the posting a few days so mine didn’t look like a polished turd. Very nice design and execution.
A very unique piece, have never seen one like that, good job Phil. was there an inspiration for this piece?
I have to admit I saw a single fan design on the web some time ago. It looked like a key bit was used to make the slots since the fingers had an open dado down the side that showed the blade. I used that design on the first one I made and after studdying it, I decided that I liked the fingers completely enclosed. This knife set came with matching steak knives so I decided to create a second row for them.
Phil, not only is your knife block unique, it is the nicest one that I have ever seen. I have never wanted one because they were not very attractive but I would gladly display your design. You did an awesome job!!!!
Very sharp!
Beautiful work, Phil. I really like the unique design.
One question: The knife block looks like it might be easy to tip over if a person presses downward as they are inserting or removing a knife. Any problems with the block tipping over?
Denny,
I was worried about that too after I assembled the piece but the weight of the larger blades up front help keep it balanced and we haven’t had any trouble with the block wanting to tip. Great question and thanks for the comment.
Cool looking design!
That was very creative.
i am makeing a knife block for my school prodject and was looking at ideas and when i saw yours i was amased it is briliante could you please lend me a plan