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Magnetic Knife Stand[8/4 Wide · 2ft · 5-Pack]
One pack. One build. All 5 boards used. • Makes 5 knife stands
Shop Black Walnut 8/4 Wide · 2ft Pack Shop All Speciesselect 2' Lengths / 6-8"
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 freestanding magnetic knife stand for the counter — no wall to drill and no slots to clean. Each board makes one stand: a 14" face leaning back 15° on an 8" base, with six rare-earth magnets hidden behind ⅛" of wood. It holds four or five knives with the blades safe against the wood. One pack makes five: keep one, gift four.
Quick Build — for experienced woodworkers
| Part | Qty | From | S2S size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faces, both ends cut at 15° | 5 | One from each board | 14" × 5½" × 1¾" |
| Bases | 5 | One from each board | 8" × 5½" × 1¾" |
| Magnet holes | 30 | 6 per face, from the back | ¾" dia. × 1⅝" deep |
| Magnet plugs (¾" dowel) | 30 | Bought dowel | 1⅜" long |
Parts: each board → a 14" face (both ends cut at 15°, parallel) and an 8" base.
Face to base: two ⅜" × 3" dowels drilled up from below through the base into the face, glued in their holes, plus one #10 × 3" screw from below, counterbored. No glue on the end grain.
Magnets: six ¾" × ¼" rare-earth discs per stand, two columns × three rows, in ¾" Forstner holes 1⅝" deep from the back (⅛" of wood left in front), epoxied and plugged with 1⅜" of ¾" dowel.
Finished size: Each stand 5½" W × 8" D × about 15" H (wider boards give wider stands). The face leans back 15° and stands 2" back from the front of the base.
Before You Start
Shopping List
- 1 lumber pack — 8/4 Wide · 2ft (6–8" wide, S2S)
- 30 rare-earth disc magnets, ¾" × ¼", N52 (6 per stand)
- 5-minute epoxy
- One 48" length of ¾" hardwood dowel (for 30 plugs)
- 10 × ⅜" × 3" fluted dowels, or cut from ⅜" dowel rod
- 5 × #10 × 3" flat-head wood screws
- Wood glue (Titebond II or III)
- Sandpaper 120 / 180 / 220
- Finish: wipe-on oil or hardwax oil
- Felt pads
Tools
- Saw for crosscuts (mitre saw or circular saw with a speed square) — with 15° bevel or mitre
- Drill press with fence and hold-down clamp
- ¾" Forstner bit, ⅜" brad-point bit, ⅜" counterbore bit
- Drill/driver, countersink bit, pilot bits
- Calipers or a depth gauge
- Clamps
- Random-orbit sander or sanding block
- S2S only: jointer, straight-line rip jig or hand plane
Why S2S only? The 6–8" wide 8/4 boards come S2S: both faces planed, edges rough. Plan on losing about ¼" per edge when you straighten them.
Our sizing assumptions: ⅛" per saw cut · 6–8" wide 8/4 S2S boards trimmed ½" each end and ¼" off each rough edge (5½" clean at the narrowest), planned 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
S2S Lumber Pack (6–8" wide)
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).
- 2 Cut the parts. Square one end of each board and cut an 8" base. Tilt the saw to 15° and trim the fresh end of what's left — just the thin wedge. Measure 14" along the long edge and cut again at 15°, parallel to the first cut. The face is a long parallelogram, and there is only about ¼" to spare, so measure twice.
- 3 Mark the magnets. On the back of each face, mark two columns 1½" and 4" from one edge, and three rows 4", 8" and 12" up from the short point of the bottom cut — six marks per face.
- 4 Drill the magnet holes. In the drill press, set a ¾" Forstner bit to stop at 1⅝" deep — that leaves ⅛" of wood in front of each magnet. Drill a test hole in an offcut first and check the skin with calipers. Clamp the face flat on the table; never hold it by hand.
- 5 Set the magnets. Mark the same pole of each magnet so they all face the front the same way. Mix a little 5-minute epoxy, drop a ¾" × ¼" magnet to the bottom of each hole and press it flat. Glue a 1⅜" long ¾" dowel plug in on top and sand it flush.
- 6 Test with a knife. Before any finish, hang your heaviest knife on the face. If it slides down, add a second magnet on top of each one in the bottom row or use stronger N52 magnets.
- 7 Drill the joint. Mark the base centreline and set the face on the base with its front edge 2" back from the front of the base, leaning back 15°. Clamp it there. From underneath, drill two ⅜" holes 3" deep, about 1½" in from each side, straight up through the base and into the face's end grain.
- 8 Add the screw. Between the dowel holes, drill a ⅜" counterbore ½" deep and a clearance hole through the base, then a pilot into the face. Unclamp.
- 9 Assemble. Glue goes in the dowel holes only — the end grain on the face won't hold glue. Tap in two ⅜" × 3" dowels from below, set the face back on, and drive a #10 × 3" screw from underneath. Trim the dowels flush.
- 10 Sand and finish. Sand 120 → 180 → 220 and ease the edges. Wipe on 2–3 coats of oil or hardwax oil. Stick felt pads under the base, one over the screw hole.
Why ⅛" of wood? Magnet pull drops fast with distance. ⅛" of hardwood still grips a chef's knife firmly and hides the magnets completely, so the face is solid wood with no metal showing.
Why dowels and a screw, not glue? The face meets the base with its end grain, and glue won't hold end grain. The dowels are long grain glued into their holes and stop the face from rocking; the screw pulls it down tight.
Why 15°? Leaning the face back lets gravity press the knives against the magnets and keeps the weight over the base, so the stand doesn't tip forward when you pull a knife off.
Why pre-drill? Maple, oak and hickory split if you drive a screw without a pilot hole. Pre-drill every screw and countersink so the heads sit flush.
Make It Yours
- Contrast plugs: plug the magnet holes with a different species — they only show from the back, like a maker's mark.
- Longer knives: for a 10" chef's knife, cut a 15½" face and a 7" base from each board.
- Mixed set: one stand from each species makes five very different gifts.
Safety and Care
- Wear eye and hearing protection. Use a push stick for every rip under 4" wide.
- Clamp each face to the drill-press table for the Forstner holes. A ¾" bit grabs.
- Rare-earth magnets snap together hard and can pinch skin or shatter. Keep them apart, away from phones and cards, and away from anyone with a pacemaker.
- Pull knives straight off, spine first, so the edge never drags on the wood or your fingers.
- Pre-drill every screw — hardwoods split without a pilot hole.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 6–8" wide 8/4 pack comes S2S (faces planed, edges rough). Straighten the edges with a jointer, a table saw and a straight-line jig, a track saw, or a hand plane.
No. The blade rests on smooth, finished wood, not bare metal. Slide the knife on and off spine first and the edge never touches anything hard.
Four or five: a chef's knife, a bread knife, a santoku and a couple of paring knives. Very heavy cleavers may need a second magnet stacked in each hole.
Wipe the face with a damp cloth and dry it. Only put knives back clean and dry. Re-oil the face when it looks dull, and let the oil cure a few days before the knives go back on.
Planned offcuts only: two thin 15° wedges from the face cuts and about ¼" at the end of each board. The cut diagram shows about ¾" spare because it doesn't draw the wedges. All 5 boards go into the stands.
Yes. A 4ft wide pack makes ten stands: crosscut every board in half first, then follow this plan. Or make five tall stands with a 30" face and a 12" base for a full knife set.
