Hey guys, so we were looking to make a new knife block for our kitchen.

We designed a super easy knife block that is functional as well as minimalist.

This design has a drain slope at the bottom to avoid water from settling at the bottom.

Note that this plan works well for most knives, but if you have a larger knife you intend to store, you’ll need to make a bigger knife block.

Also the width of each slot is 3 mm, which is thinner than the width of most knife handles.

Again, if your knife size is different, make adjustments in the design.

Build Video- DIY Wooden Knife Block

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Plan for this build

The yellow part is to be routed at a depth enough to accomodate the thickness of your knife.

How To Build The Wood Knife Block

Step 1: First, we took 2″ x 6″ dimensional lumber and sized it to 4 ¼” by 1 ¼” size on the table saw. Note that 2″ x 6″ is the nominal size and the actual sizes are usually half inch less for both dimensions.

So you’ll have to cut of a little bit to make it the size we need.

This extra quarter inch will be lost during planing, so we will end up with 4″ by 1″ pieces. This was done using a table saw.

Step 2: So we cut out 5 pieces from this lumber using a miter saw with all pieces measuring 10 inches in length.

Step 3: Then we used the bench-top planer to plane all the 5 pieces on both sides and the edges to make all the pieces 4″ by 1″ in size.

Step 4: So the next step is making the top mitered part of the knife block. This part gives a nice angle to the knife block and makes it look nicer. For this we cut out 1 edge of each of the 5 pieces by setting the miter saw at a 15-degree angle.

Step 5: Once that was done, the next part is making a 15-degree angle at the bottom of each slot in the knife block for ensuring drainage.

So the inside of the knife block will have a slope at this angle for drainage. You’ll understand this much better if you take a look at the plan above.

We used a sliding T-bevel to mark the angle on all the pieces.

Notice that the first line ends one inch above the bottom edge and the second line is marked 1 inch from the long edge of the piece. If you’re confused, take a look at the plan above!

Actually, the T bevel is 1 inch wide, which made the process really easy. 

Step 6: So we marked all these lines with a T bevel to rout away the wood to make the slot of the knife to go in.

So here we’re routing the slot after setting the width using the router edge guide. Notice that our wood piece is wedged against the vice and the clamps. So using the edge guide, we routed out the straight portion perfectly.

Step 7: We did freehand routing for the rest of the piece.

So, for the slender portion we did a freehand routing and had to do it really carefully to get it right. Even if you make a mistake here do not fret as it goes inside the knife block.

Step 8: Yes, I know the edges look a bit rough, but we made that neat using a chisel after the routing.

Now that all the 5 pieces were ready after the routing, we went ahead and did the glue up. We applied glue on the side face at the part which is not routed.

Step 9: Now we went ahead and clamped the pieces down before the glue dried out.

You want to make sure to clamp it down before the glue dries up and make sure there is no wiggling. Once we had that glued up, we left it to dry and called it to dry.

Step 10: So we came the next day and the knife block is now ready.

After this went ahead and did some sanding.

Since we were planning to finish it with a clear oil finish, we made sure to sand it really well all the way up to 320 grit. 

After this we rounded the sharp edges of the knife block for comfort while using it.

Step 11: Alright, after this we went on to our favorite part-Applying the homemade paste wax.

We applied the same finish for our coaster project as well.

If you missed it, check it out- DIY Wood Coaster and Holder.

If you don’t have paste wax you can use Rubio Monocoat.

We used this because it is a food safe finish and also gives a hand-rubbed feel.

There you have it! The knife block is ready and we tested it with our knives and it worked quite well.

So this was a really simple but nice project. Check out other kitchen projects of ours:

• DIY Kitchen Cart on Wheels
• DIY Wood Coaster and Coaster Holder
• DIY Wooden Spice Rack
• DIY Serving tray using scrap wood

Please take a moment and pin the photo below to your DIY/Home Decor/Wood Projects/Kitchen Projects board.

How to Make a Knife Block Out of Wood

Yield: Knife Block

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 1 hour

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Learn how to make a knife block for your kitchen using just a piece of regular lumber

Print

Materials

• 2" x 6" x 8 ft. Lumber (one piece) from lowes or homedepot
• Wood Glue
• Homemade Paste wax or Rubio Monocoat

Tools

• Miter Saw
• Table Saw
• Random Orbital Sander
• Planer
• Wood Clamps
• Router
• T-Bevel

Instructions

1. Size the lumber to 4-1/4" by 1-1/4"
2. Cut out 5 pieces from this lumber each measuring 10 inches in length.
3. Plane using planer on all sides to get a final size of 4" by 1" for all the 5 pieces.
4. Miter one edge of each piece at a 15 degree angle.
5. Mark the 15 degree angle for drainage at the bottom as well as the boundary for routing the knife slots using a T-Bevel.
6. Rout away the marked portion using an edge guide and freehand routing.
7. Glue all the pieces and clamp them together.
8. Sand the entire block to 220 grit.
9. Finish using homemade pastewax or rubio monocoat