Custom Knife Blocks #2: The Sides

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.

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 vital 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.

Only 240 more to go.

All 250 pieces ready for glue-up

-- Mike --www.midlothianwoodworks.com