DIY Wooden Knife Block Set

Here I show you how to make your own easy wooden knife block set. This can be made with your own existing knives and is a great tidy solution in the kitchen. You could also make it as a personalised gift for foodie friends and family.

THIS DIY PROJECT CONTAINS A PAID AD FOR WICKES, WHICH I HAVE BEEN A REGULAR SHOPPER FOR YEARS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.

I don't know about you, but I've have so many knives, all different shapes, sizes and colours. But I tend to find myself reaching for the same two or three.

And my two utensil pots are so crammed, I really needed to organise it and declutter. Also, because I'm often doing food prep in my food blog studio kitchen, it's been a bit tedious going from one room to another.

So I thought I'd make myself a dedicated knife block set for this room.

And what I love about this project I designed is that you don't need to buy any fancy new knives. You can make a custom knife block set around your existing ones. Or even as a present for perhaps a foodie lover you know.

All the materials I used for this project are available in Wickes, which is one of my favourite DIY store to go to. In fact, wherever I have lived, whether at Uni, or the holiday chalet my parents built, we've always shopped in there for our home improvement pieces.

They have an extensive and affordable range and if you've been a reader or YouTube subscriber, you may have seen me hang their doors, used their timber decking and so on. And their How-To guides (across most of their social media or leaflets in store) have been a huge source of inspiration for me to tackle my projects.

THINGS YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE A KNIFE BLOCK SET

• 1 x Wickes Redwood PSE Timber - 44mm x 94mm x 2.4m
• Wood glue
• Straight imperial router bit
• Cross cut saw or hand saw
• Sand paper and block or hand sander
• Your own knives
• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Combination square
• Pencil
• Router
• 45 degree router bit
• Sliding bevel
• Clamps
• Food grade Worktop oil treatment
• Rubber dots or foam pads
• Gloves
• Protective sheet to catch glue drips

KNIFE BLOCK SET CUTTING LIST

This knife block set cutting list is here as a guide only. It really depends on how long your biggest knife is.

As a rule, find a length of wood that is wide enough for the width of your largest knife. Also, the thickness of the length needs to be wide enough for the handles. If you choose something too narrow, yes, the handle may still fit, but there needs to be room for your hands.

Then as this is a flat edged knife block set, I just added an extra 3cm on top for a space to glue together as below.

HOW TO MAKE A KNIFE BLOCK SET

Then cut your lengths while clamped to a saw horse of work bench. I was originally going to use a hand saw, which is absolutely fine as we'll be sanding later.

However, to speed things up during a heatwave, I used my circular saw with its track. You'll need to cut same number of knives you have, plus one. Or you may want to add two smaller ones to one panel.

If you want to reduce the thickness of your wood, you could always use a band saw to slice. However, I don't have one, but it's fine as I only tend to use 3 knives.

When it comes to placing your knives, it's best to go towards the centre so you have more glue space.

However, you need to decide whether you want the handle in line, or your cuts along the centre.

I went for the latter. So below, you can see I'm finding dead centre of each blade. Then marking a centre point along the top of the wood and matching them up.

Now put your gloves on and carefully hold your knife's blade against the centre of one of the strips while the handle is resting on the top.

Then, carefully draw around the knife's blade with a pencil.

Feel free to wear gloves to prevent cutting yourself.

But as with my knives, the blade returned, so I needed to fill a bit towards the top with my pencil. Also note, you only need to draw on one side of the strip as we'll be gluing a flat piece on top.

ROUTERING OUT THE KNIFE'S BLADE

Next, you'll need to work put a straight imperial bit in a palm router and set it to the depth of your knife's blade thickness.

Important: it's a good idea to check the thickness of each knife each time and obviously while it is unplugged.

I always test with the depths using off cuts before going for gold.

Then clamp one of the strips to a work bench or similar and router inside the pencil knife drawing.

Make sure your opening is tidy, but it doesn't matter if you're a bit sloppy further down as it won't be visible.

Now number the strips using masking tape in order of size. I.e, 1 = largest 2 = medium and so on.

This is to prevent confusion for the next step.

Place a protective sheet on a work surface, followed by a flat off cut or similar. Then apply strong wood glue on the strips that have been routered, avoiding your knives' indents but don't be too heavy handed.

Now line up the strips in number order, press together, straighten as much as possible and clamp together.

Then wipe any excess glue away before leaving it to set overnight.

Release the clamps and sand your entire piece to ensure it's smooth everywhere. I used an orbit sander, but you could use a sanding block and sand paper if you wish.

Make sure there are no protrusions or glue drips and straighten the top and bottom.

Note, I found it was best to clamp off cuts around it to stop it from moving.

Then for an optional look, I removed all the sharp edges with a 45 degree router bit in a palm router.

It's not essential, but it great for hiding any rough edges and generally smartens up the piece.

TREATING WITH A FOOD GRADE WORKTOP OIL

Then using food grade oil, I ensured my knife block was dust free and clean. A hoover is great for this.

It's also non toxic, so easy to work with.

Then, using a clean paint brush, coated the entire piece and left for 20 minutes before removing with a lint free cloth.

I waited another hour before adding an extra coat and repeated.

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• DIY Tea Towel Ladder
• DIY Chopping board with built in spaghetti measure

PIN THIS DIY KNIFE BLOCK SET TUTORIAL FOR LATER...