Making kitchen cabinets. Want to have a dedicated drawer for various knives used in the kitchen. So I plan to take a block of wood and make a number of horizontal "slots" to accommodate the knife blades, basically with a saw kerf.
Now, usually when I make kitchen drawers I finish them with several coats of water based poly. Mostly an issue preventing the wood from getting wet from whatever source. This is usually safe for utensils.
But I do not think I can get any type of finish in such a narrow slot, at least not reliably.
Thus, any suggestions for protecting the wood from moisture on the knives? Any type of solid wood I could purchase that can tolerate moisture without swelling/ warping/ expanding a lot etc. ?
07-03-2018, 02:51 AM (This post was last modified: 07-03-2018, 02:51 AM by ianab.)
I wouldn't worry too much. The wood isn't going to stay wet, and the few drops of moisture is going to diffuse into the wood, then evaporate. Much like a wooden cutting board, as long as it doesn't stay wet it's fine.
If you are worried, make it from one of the more durable woods. Walnut / White Oak / Cedar etc. But I've got a "utility" cutting board that's just a hunk of pine with some mineral oil wiped on it. Been washed under the tap at least once a day for ~10 years then stood up to dry. It's still fine.
With your drawers and cupboards it's different as you don't want water marks staining the surface, but if the inside of the knife holder gets some marks? Meh...
Steve, I made one, and did not apply any finish to the inside. I made mine by building it up - that is I made spacers that were slightly thicker than the various knifes, then glued the blocks together with spacers after I arranged them in the order I wanted. It came out pretty well, though the slots are pretty customized to the knives I had at the time, so when you buy new knives of a different shape - they may not fit.
If I wanted a finish on the slots (and I probably would not) I would use a cutting board oil finish. Applied liberally with a brush and wiped clean. A clean cloth could wipe between the slots. It would be food-safe.
Sprayed, or dipped in shellac and allowed to drain would be a second choice. Also food safe.
None of the other finishes make any sense to me.
My first choice would be no finish; second choice would be oil finish; third choice would be shellac.
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(07-03-2018, 01:27 AM)Steve Soldo Wrote: Making kitchen cabinets. Want to have a dedicated drawer for various knives used in the kitchen. So I plan to take a block of wood and make a number of horizontal "slots" to accommodate the knife blades, basically with a saw kerf.
Now, usually when I make kitchen drawers I finish them with several coats of water based poly. Mostly an issue preventing the wood from getting wet from whatever source. This is usually safe for utensils.
But I do not think I can get any type of finish in such a narrow slot, at least not reliably.
Thus, any suggestions for protecting the wood from moisture on the knives? Any type of solid wood I could purchase that can tolerate moisture without swelling/ warping/ expanding a lot etc. ?
Hi Steve - take a look at this THREAD on finishing boards and finishing - the issue is 'food safe' - as to the insert block that you're planning to make, the same principles apply - I would not use a film finish - other suggestions are given in the link; also read Bob Flexner's comments, i.e. any finish once fully cured is food safe. Finally, especially for my more expensive knives, I simply hand wash the blades in hot water, DRY, and put in my knife block (a compact bamboo holder that fits nicely on my kitchen counter - bought from Amazon - treat the same as my cutting boards). Dave
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