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Angled Knife Block[8/4 · 2ft · 5-Pack]
One pack. One build. All 5 boards used. • Makes 2 knife blocks
Shop Black Walnut 8/4 · 2ft Pack Shop All Speciesselect 2' Lengths / 4-6"
How it goes together
Black Walnut
Hard Maple
Cherry
White Oak
Red Oak
Ash
Hickory
Ambrosia Maple
Sapele*
Padauk*
Purpleheart*
*Exotic — not available for shipment to US customers.
A solid hardwood knife block that leans back at 15°, with seven slots for a chef's knife, a bread knife, utility knives and paring knives. The trick is simple: cut the slots as table-saw grooves in the faces of four layers, then glue the layers together. No deep drilling, no chisel work. One pack makes two blocks — one for you and one to give.
Quick Build — for experienced woodworkers
| Part | Qty | From | S4S size | S2S size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layers | 8 | Boards 1–4, two each | 9" × 4" × 1¾" | 9" × 3½" × 1¾" |
| Bases | 2 | Board 5 | 7" × 4" × 1¾" | 7" × 3½" × 1¾" |
Block: four 9" layers face-glued, long grain to long grain. Slots are matching ⅛" table-saw grooves in the joint faces, cut before glue-up.
Slots: front joint 2 × 1¾", middle joint 2 × 1¼", back joint 3 × ⅞" (half the depth in each face).
Lean: 15° crosscut on the bottom. Base: 4 × #10 × 3" screws up through the base into the block's end grain. No glue.
Finished size: S4S 4" W × about 7¼" D × about 10½" H · S2S 3½" W × same depth and height. Front slots take blades up to about 8½" long.
Before You Start
Shopping List
- 1 lumber pack — 8/4 · 2ft (S4S or S2S)
- Wood glue (Titebond II or III)
- 8 × #10 × 3" flat-head wood screws
- Paste wax and a scrap of ⅛" hardboard (alignment strips)
- Felt pads
- Sandpaper 120 / 180 / 220
- Finish: wipe-on oil, hardwax oil or water-based poly
Tools
- Saw for crosscuts (mitre saw or circular saw with a speed square) — with a stop block
- Table saw with a full-kerf (⅛") blade, fence and push block
- Sliding mitre saw or bandsaw (for the 15° cut)
- Drill/driver, countersink bit, pilot bits
- 4–6 bar clamps, 12" or longer
- Tape measure, combination square, pencil
- Random-orbit sander or sanding block
- S2S only: jointer, straight-line rip jig or hand plane
S4S or S2S? S4S boards arrive flat and square on all four sides — cut and build. S2S boards have rough edges you straighten first. No jointer? Choose S4S.
Our sizing assumptions: ⅛" per saw cut · S4S boards 1¾" × 4", ¼" to square an end · S2S boards trimmed ½" each end and ¼" off each rough edge (3½" clean); we plan S2S at 1¾" thick · sizes drawn for the narrowest board in the pack. Wider boards give you a bigger offcut or a wider part — never a shortage.
Step-by-Step
S4S Lumber Pack
Surfaced 4 sides — no jointing
- 1 Plan the boards. Boards 1–2 make the four layers of the first block, boards 3–4 the second block, and board 5 the two bases. Number the layers 1–4 from front to back and put a pencil mark on the edge that will be the left side of each block.
- 2 Crosscut. Square one end. Clamp a stop block at 9" and cut two layers from each of boards 1–4 — 8 layers. Cut two 7" bases from board 5.
- 3 Plan the slots. Each block has seven slots in the three glue joints. Front joint: two 1¾" slots for a chef's knife and a bread knife. Middle joint: two 1¼" slots. Back joint: three ⅞" slots for paring and steak knives. Measure your own blades at the widest point. If one is wider, make its slot about ⅛" more than the blade.
- 4 Cut the grooves. Every slot is two matching grooves, one in each face of the joint, each half the slot depth: ⅞", ⅝" and 7/16". Use a full-kerf (⅛") table-saw blade. Lay each layer face down with the marked left edge against the fence and run it with a push block. Fence settings from the left edge: front joint 1 5/16" and 2 11/16", middle joint 1" and 3", back joint 1" and 2" and 3". Cut both faces of a joint at the same setting so the grooves line up.
- 5 Glue the blocks. Spread a thin coat of glue on each joint face, staying ½" clear of the grooves. Stack the four layers in order — this is long grain to long grain. Slip a waxed ⅛" strip of hardboard into a few grooves to line the layers up. Clamp, pull the strips out after 20 minutes, and leave it overnight. Each block is 4" × 7" × 9".
- 6 Cut the lean. Draw a 15° line across one end of the block so the front stays a full 9" long. Cut it on a sliding mitre saw (block on its side) or a bandsaw, then sand it flat. The block now leans back 15°.
- 7 Shape and sand. Scrape the glue lines flush. Chamfer or round every outside edge. Sand 120 → 180 → 220. Clean each slot with a thin blade wrapped in sandpaper, then blow out the dust.
- 8 Attach the base. End grain doesn't glue well, so the base is screwed only. Set the block on the base, flush at the front — the back overhangs about ¼". Drill four countersunk holes up through the base: two ½" from the front and two ¾" from the back, 1" in from each side. These miss the slots. Drill pilot holes into the block and drive #10 × 3" screws.
- 9 Finish the outside only. Wipe on oil or hardwax oil, two coats. Keep finish out of the slots — tape over the top while you work. Add felt pads under the base.
S2S Lumber Pack
Surfaced 2 sides — straighten edges first
- 1 Prep the boards. Trim ½" off each end to remove any end checks. Joint one edge straight, then rip the other edge parallel (¼" off each rough edge is our planning allowance). S2S boards finish 1¾" thick, so screws and some sizes change — use the sizes in this column.
- 2 Plan the boards. Boards 1–2 make the four layers of the first block, boards 3–4 the second block, and board 5 the two bases. Number the layers 1–4 from front to back and put a pencil mark on the edge that will be the left side of each block.
- 3 Crosscut. Square one end. Clamp a stop block at 9" and cut two layers from each of boards 1–4 — 8 layers. Cut two 7" bases from board 5.
- 4 Plan the slots. Each block has seven slots in the three glue joints. Front joint: two 1¾" slots for a chef's knife and a bread knife. Middle joint: two 1¼" slots. Back joint: three ⅞" slots for paring and steak knives. Measure your own blades at the widest point. If one is wider, make its slot about ⅛" more than the blade.
- 5 Cut the grooves. Every slot is two matching grooves, one in each face of the joint, each half the slot depth: ⅞", ⅝" and 7/16". Use a full-kerf (⅛") table-saw blade. Lay each layer face down with the marked left edge against the fence and run it with a push block. Fence settings from the left edge: front joint 1 3/16" and 2 5/16", middle joint ⅞" and 2⅝", back joint ⅞" and 1¾" and 2⅝". Cut both faces of a joint at the same setting so the grooves line up.
- 6 Glue the blocks. Spread a thin coat of glue on each joint face, staying ½" clear of the grooves. Stack the four layers in order — this is long grain to long grain. Slip a waxed ⅛" strip of hardboard into a few grooves to line the layers up. Clamp, pull the strips out after 20 minutes, and leave it overnight. Each block is 3½" × 7" × 9".
- 7 Cut the lean. Draw a 15° line across one end of the block so the front stays a full 9" long. Cut it on a sliding mitre saw (block on its side) or a bandsaw, then sand it flat. The block now leans back 15°.
- 8 Shape and sand. Scrape the glue lines flush. Chamfer or round every outside edge. Sand 120 → 180 → 220. Clean each slot with a thin blade wrapped in sandpaper, then blow out the dust.
- 9 Attach the base. End grain doesn't glue well, so the base is screwed only. Set the block on the base, flush at the front — the back overhangs about ¼". Drill four countersunk holes up through the base: two ½" from the front and two ¾" from the back, ⅞" in from each side. These miss the slots. Drill pilot holes into the block and drive #10 × 3" screws.
- 10 Finish the outside only. Wipe on oil or hardwax oil, two coats. Keep finish out of the slots — tape over the top while you work. Add felt pads under the base.
Why cut grooves instead of drilling slots? A 9" deep, ⅛" wide slot is almost impossible to cut in a solid block. A groove in the face of each layer takes one pass on the table saw, and the glue-up closes it into a clean slot.
Why split each slot between two faces? The layers are 1¾" thick. Cutting half the depth in each face keeps every layer strong, and no groove ever comes close to breaking through.
Why screws on the base? The bottom of the block is end grain. Glue barely holds end grain, so four screws do the work. The base also closes the bottom of the slots.
Make It Yours
- Your own knives: measure each blade at its widest point and set the groove depths to suit. Keep the two grooves in any one layer under 1½" combined.
- Two-tone: alternate walnut and maple layers for a striped block.
- Scissors slot: cut a wider groove (two passes) in the back joint for kitchen shears.
Safety and Care
- Wear eye and hearing protection. Use a push stick for every rip under 4" wide.
- Cut the grooves with a push block that holds down the back of the layer. Keep your hands off the top of the piece over the blade.
- Cut the 15° lean with the block clamped to the mitre saw fence, or on a bandsaw. Never freehand it on a table saw.
- Pre-drill every screw — hardwoods split without a pilot hole.
- Keep the block back from the edge of the counter and out of reach of children.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not for S4S boards — they arrive flat and square on all four sides. S2S boards need their edges straightened: a jointer, a table saw with a straight-line jig, or a hand plane all work. No jointer? Choose the S4S pack.
The front slots fit most 8" chef's knives and bread knives, the middle slots fit 5–6" utility and santoku knives, and the back slots fit paring and steak knives. Measure your blades and change the groove depths if yours are wider.
Only put knives in clean and fully dry. Every few months, turn the block upside down and shake it out, and run a thin brush through the slots. No finish inside the slots means nothing to peel or trap water.
Yes, if your knives are thin. A thin-kerf blade cuts a 3/32" groove, which holds thin Japanese-style blades snugly but may be too tight for heavier German knives. Test with a scrap first.
Planned offcuts only: the end trim and about 5" (S4S) or 4¾" (S2S) at the end of boards 1–4, and about 9" of board 5. Use the scrap to test your groove settings before cutting real layers. All 5 boards go into the blocks.
Yes. A 4ft pack makes four knife blocks: crosscut every board in half first, then follow this plan twice.
