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I Can Do ThaT

b y  C h r I s T o p h e r  s C h w a r z

lead photo by al parrish; step photos by the author; illustr ation by robert w. lang

Knife Block

when we build an “I Can Do That”

project we buy all the materials rom a home

center. For this project, however, I also had

to stop at the grocery store on the way back

to the shop.

That’s because this knie block holds all

your cutlery in an array o bamboo skew-

ers – the kind you use or kabobs. Though

you’re not going to believe me, you need

more than 1,000 1 ⁄ 8"-diameter skewers to

do the job. Good thing skewers are cheap

– about $1.80 or 100.

In addition to cleaning out your super-

market o bamboo skewers, you’re going to

need some 1 ⁄ 2"-thick wood. You need about

4' o a board that’s about 10" wide. I luckedout. Our Lowe’s happened to have one piece

o 1 ⁄ 2"-thick quartersawn red oak.

Begin by crosscutting your parts to

length with your miter saw and ripping them

to width with your jigsaw. The next step is to

cut the inger joints with the jigsaw.

 Jigsaw Joinery A jigsaw that’s ftted with a quality blade

(such as the Bosch T308B Xtra-clean blades)

can make cuts that require only a little

tweaking with a chisel. The trick is to work

against a ence.

First you need to igure out the exact

distance rom the edge o your jigsaw’s shoe

to one side o the blade. I made a test cut in

some scrap to igure this out. Your blade

might not be exactly centered so you’ll want

to check against the let and the right sides

o the jigsaw’s shoe.

Lay out all the cuts on the side pieces

using the construction drawing. Then make

the short5

 ⁄ 8"-long rip cuts that deine all theingers on the side pieces.

To remove the waste between the ingers,

clamp a straight piece o scrap to your work-

piece that will act as a ence or the shoe o 

the jigsaw. This ence will guide the jigsaw to

make a straight cut as you saw out the waste.

First remove the waste rom the ends.

To cut the waste rom between two in-

gers you’ll have to make several cuts. Break

up the waste with short cuts, then swoop

in with the saw. A couple swoops and youcan maneuver your jigsaw’s shoe against the

ence to make your inished cut. I you take

o too much your blade can delect.

Transfer the ShapeNow use the shape o the side pieces to mark

the complementary shape on the ends. See

the photo at right or details. Mark the waste

then remove it rom the ends using the same

techniques (and the same ence) you used

to cut the sides.

Now clean up the joints with a sharpchisel until the sides and ends ft together

snugly. Sand your pieces and ease all the

edges o the fnger joints with sandpaper.

Flexible protection. This simple knie block allows you to store any size knie.

o c f f m k ck.

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Kf bck

No. item dimeNsioNs(iNches) material

t W l

❏ 2 s 1 ⁄ 2 9 73 ⁄ 4 ok

❏ 2 e 1 ⁄ 2 9 51 ⁄ 4 ok

❏ 1 bm 1 ⁄ 2 4 61 ⁄ 2 ok

❏1,200 sk 1 ⁄ 8 . 8 bm

o “i C d t” cm f j-

c c cm -

k m ( c) k f 

f m,

m v

m c. w ff f m

pdF fm x

fm c -

-- fm. y’

j, cc m

f 

m.

V iCdtex.cm

f m.

  a t Cm

 AssemblyTo glue the sides and ends together, apply

yellow glue to the mating suraces and clamp

things together. Check your assembly with

a small square and adjust as needed.

Now measure the opening or the bot-

tom. Cut a piece that fts snugly and nail it

in place with a new fnish nails.

Finish the exterior o the knie block with

a clear semi-gloss spray lacquer.

The bamboo skewers need to be 8" long.

Don’t cut them on the miter saw – that’s risky.

Bundle them up with tape and do the opera-

tion with a fne handsaw.

Drop the bamboo skewers into the cav-

ity and fll the block until you have enough

room or your knives. Other woodworkers

I know have used other media in their knie

2

1 ⁄ 2"

21 ⁄ 2"

13 ⁄ 4"

21 ⁄ 4"

73 ⁄ 4"

61 ⁄ 2" 51 ⁄ 4"

4"1 ⁄ 2"

blocks, including coee beans..PW

Chris is the editor o this magazine, and an avid 

cook and knie user. Contact him at chris.schwarz@wmedia.com or 513-531-2690 x11407.

Short cuts frst. Defne the fngers o the joints with these short rips. Set the ence. With the ence in place remove the easy bits rom the ends.

Swoop in. Remove the wastebetween the fngers in stages. Here’sthe frst swooping cut.

 A little tracing. Use the cuts on the sides to mark theshape on the ends.

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