I was inspired by a number of sources to make a wood magnetic knife holder.

Originally I figured it would be best to cut a single slot into a piece of wood to accept magnets all with the same pole facing outwards. However, this proved functionally impossible to accomplish – when forced near each other in that orientation, they were extremely unstable. Even a slight perturbation would send them all flying rather forcefully.

In the end, I was able to get something that worked. If I recall correctly, I ended setting them in with their poles alternating. It wasn’t the most stable set up, but the resulting magnetic field was strong enough to hold up the knives.

Lessons Learned

If I were to do this over again, I would drill out regularly-spaced holes all the way through the workpiece and glue on a thin exotic veneer. Then I would glue in cylindrical magnets in each hole.

It’s also important to consider the widest knife scales you plan to have on the knife block. If the wood is too thin, thick handles will bump against the wall when putting them in place.