Preference for knife block lumber?

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

David Yoho

The only one I ever made was from red oak. It was for a friend that wanted to match the wood in his kitchen. I think the type you go with depends on what you like and have on hand. Any would be fine. Personally, I would lean toward walnut.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

John McGaw

Instinct tells me to steer away from woods with high tannin content for fear that a drop of water on a knife put away would lead to staining on the metal. I've only ever made one knife block (and it wasn't very good) but I used maple but that was mostly because that is what I had in the way of thick stock.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

Barry Irby

I made one for my own use literally close to fifty years ago and am still using it. Red oak . A thick piece with slots/kerfs cut into it and a thinner piece to seal the other side. For reasons that escape me now, I custom cut the slots to the shape of the knives. Somehow that seemed important at the time but I can't imagine why. And I never finished it. Just took it to the kitchen to test it and it's still there. Hmm, maybe that's a good project for the shut down.

I have never had a problem with tannins staining the blades and I put them away wet, but they are all stainless steel.

Doing it again, I might use White Oak, walnut, or maple and let the color or availability be the deciding factor. The harder the better, there is some slight surface damage around the slots from dropping the knives in. And mine is set up so the knives rest on the back of the blade to avoid dulling.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

John K Jordan

I'd use a heavy, hard wood with fine grain if possible. Hard maple, dogwood, lignum vitae, bubinga, bloodwood, osage orange, black locust, ebony. I would personally make one from olive since I have kind of an olive theme going in our kitchen.

I've seen several knife blocks from softer wood with the bottoms of the most used slots significantly abraded by inserting and removing the knives. Maybe a glue-up of multiple woods would look "interesting."

If intended for a specific kitchen it might be nice if the colors would complement.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

roger lance

I made a good sized cutting board with hard maple. So, I matched it with a maple knife block. Both have been doing their job with no problems for many years.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I’ve made them from walnut, cherry, oak, maple and

The first one I made was for my wife, which I made from a chunk of fir 2X8, just to test the design. 38 years later we’re still using it, even though I’ve offered to replace it with something nicer.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

Johanna Johanson

I made mine from red oak because that was what I had on hand. Maple might be a better choice. I love walnut, but I think it would get beat up if used in a knife block.

Re: Preference for knife block lumber?

William Duffield

Hard maple, for durability and lack of tannins and other absorbed corrosives. I would avoid all ring porous open grain woods. I have some cutlery that are not stainless, that I can't put away wet. One is high carbon Solingen steel. I can't read the Chinese characters that are struck into the other one, but there is also some information in English, STAINLESS STEEL CLAD, which does not apply to the cutting edge. There are some other materials that I have used for other projects, but not knife blocks, that would also suffice: beech, hornbeam, hophornbeam, and as someone else mentioned black locust.

I used oak and walnut

Tim Greif - West of Chicago

I made this one to match a cutting board I made using oak and walnut.

Thanks for replies - hard maple it is.