Hi everyone
As some of you may know I got a sizable commission for producing some custom knife blocks for a client that will give them as Christmas gifts to their best customers.
When I had originally talked with the client they had wanted to order as many as 40 of these blocks but after discussing their budget we settled on doing 25 which considering the deadline for delivery didn’t hurt my feelings. The blocks are made from Walnut, Maple and Cherry and the style was something that the client had suggested but left it up to me to do the final design . I was given the specs of the knife sizes and dimensions and built a prototype block.
In order to keep all of the components consistent I had to make several jigs to help me in this process as you will soon see in action. I have gathered up all of my rough sawn lumber and have made all of the final modifications as per the client. Let the fun begin.
The sides of the knife blocks consist of 5 pieces of bookmatched walnut, maple and cherry 3/8” thick and 13 1/2” long which was determined by the length of the longest knife blade .I sized the 4/4” rough lumber to pieces that are 5 1/4” wide x 15” long and jointed one edge and one face and set the bandsaw up for resawing.
Once all of the resawing is done,a few trips through the planer gets everything to 3/8.” Both block sides consists of 2 walnut, 2 maple and 1 cherry so I ran them through the planer in groups to assure that everything is the same thickness which will help out during the glue-ups.The most important part of any glue up is making sure that all edges are 90 degrees and straight so another trip through the jointer.
In order to get all of the side components exactly the same size I made a sled for the bandsaw that holds each piece to get the 9 degree cut that I need, allowing 1/16" for jointing to the exact size
I get 2 pieces from 1 blank.
After all of the 9 degree cuts are made, another trip through the jointer cleans up the edge. It is a little hard to hold the tapered piece on the jointer so I made a jig that has 3 sharp brads that bite into the blank which allows me to push it through the jointer with no problem.
It is critical that all of the side pieces are exactly the same width on the top dimension which is cut at a 9 degree angle so another jig is made for the miter saw that measures the exact length when the pieces are loaded on the saw .
Cuts are made in pairs
Here are the 10 side pieces for one knife block.
All 250 pieces ready for glue-up
Next session will begin the glue-ups for the sides of the custom knife blocks--stay tuned.
As some of you may know I got a sizable commission for producing some custom knife blocks for a client that will give them as Christmas gifts to their best customers.
When I had originally talked with the client they had wanted to order as many as 40 of these blocks but after discussing their budget we settled on doing 25 which considering the deadline for delivery didn’t hurt my feelings. The blocks are made from Walnut, Maple and Cherry and the style was something that the client had suggested but left it up to me to do the final design . I was given the specs of the knife sizes and dimensions and built a prototype block.
In order to keep all of the components consistent I had to make several jigs to help me in this process as you will soon see in action. I have gathered up all of my rough sawn lumber and have made all of the final modifications as per the client. Let the fun begin.
The sides of the knife blocks consist of 5 pieces of bookmatched walnut, maple and cherry 3/8” thick and 13 1/2” long which was determined by the length of the longest knife blade .I sized the 4/4” rough lumber to pieces that are 5 1/4” wide x 15” long and jointed one edge and one face and set the bandsaw up for resawing.
Once all of the resawing is done,a few trips through the planer gets everything to 3/8.” Both block sides consists of 2 walnut, 2 maple and 1 cherry so I ran them through the planer in groups to assure that everything is the same thickness which will help out during the glue-ups.The most important part of any glue up is making sure that all edges are 90 degrees and straight so another trip through the jointer.
In order to get all of the side components exactly the same size I made a sled for the bandsaw that holds each piece to get the 9 degree cut that I need, allowing 1/16" for jointing to the exact size
I get 2 pieces from 1 blank.
After all of the 9 degree cuts are made, another trip through the jointer cleans up the edge. It is a little hard to hold the tapered piece on the jointer so I made a jig that has 3 sharp brads that bite into the blank which allows me to push it through the jointer with no problem.
It is critical that all of the side pieces are exactly the same width on the top dimension which is cut at a 9 degree angle so another jig is made for the miter saw that measures the exact length when the pieces are loaded on the saw .
Cuts are made in pairs
Here are the 10 side pieces for one knife block.
All 250 pieces ready for glue-up
Next session will begin the glue-ups for the sides of the custom knife blocks--stay tuned.
