Knife Block, Ultimate Modular by echomirage

Last crawled date: 2 years, 11 months ago

Update 2021.06.12
Added a version of each of the 3u Panels with 20mm spacing between slots, which lowcarbcoach needed for Henckle knives with large handles. This is experimental, as the outer-most supports had to be cut off to fit in the block; if necessary, these will be revised. - The existing 3u panels were all renamed to reflect that their spacing is 17mm between slots.
-I've also added a new Middle Interface that is broken into four separate pieces that do not require supports. (After printing, attach the front and rear pieces to the holes in the ends of the sides with four screws.)
UPDATE 2021.05.29
I've implemented dito49's suggestion to add a 30-degree chamfer under the braces on the Base, Top Tier, and Bottom Riser pieces to eliminate the need for supports. These are marked as v2.
Note: This is a work in progress and should be considered in beta. Everything should be fully printable and functional, but check back before you print this to see if any panels have been added.
This is my attempt at making the ultimate, fully-modular kitchen knife block that should be printable on even smaller print beds. I spent a lot of time shopping for one online, and none of the existing offerings impressed me. I was turned off by either the layout, lack of flexibility, cost, or some combination of the three: this design solves all of those problems at once. The more I thought about the design, the more ideas I had for expanding it. I came up with this idea completely independently, and then searched Thingiverse to see if anyone else had thought of it. I found iomaa did something similar and implemented it well (www.thingiverse.com/thing:2567710), and some credit is certainly due because seeing his idea already rendered probably had some influence on my subsequent design, though I didn't copy anything directly.
This design uses a hollow block, with an optional second tier or an optional riser, to which you affix a selection of interchangeable panels to hold the knives. Get different knives later, or just decide to change the layout? No problem! Individual panels are easy to customize and swap out.
The system I came up with consists of 112mm-long knife panels that are sized in increments of 12mm wide; think of this as one unit (1u). The main panels are 2u (24mm wide), and oversized panels 3u (36mm wide). The panels can be arranged in any combination, with blank 1u or 2u spacers if desired. Parts are secured together with small screws, and the base has 3mm-diameter holes spaced every 6mm for great flexibility. Each block piece you use requires 4 screws, and each panel requires 2 screws. Screws with blunt ends and very coarse threads made for plastic are ideal, but you can use any screw that's the proper dimensions.
The base knife block stands 5in tall, and accepts 13u of panels. An optional adapter can attach to the bottom which tilts the block forward either 5 degrees, 7.5 degrees, or 10 degrees. Note that I have not tested these in practice, so it is quite possible that 10 degrees is too much tilt and will cause the block to fall over when loaded. If that's the case, I may have to create a front support piece.
The best arrangement is for the blades to be oriented 90 degrees, as pictured. However, I also created an optional top tier adapter to orient the knives 180 degrees; the downside is that this loses 2u of panel space. I haven't actually bothered making any panels for this arrangement yet, but might do so if there's interest.
The optional (but usually desirable) top tier block takes up 10u of the base block and accepts 10u itself. One version of the top block is 3in (76mm) tall for blades up to 8in long, and the other is 5.1in (130mm) tall for blades up to 10in long. The top block sits flush with the back of the base, and its front wall sits on top of the back edge of a 2u panel: for this reason, it is almost certainly necessary to print one of the 3u "Front Offset" panels, which have the knife slots moved forward 2-3mm, else the knives will be too close to the top block. Typically, that panel would be the one for your shortest blades such as steak and paring knives).
When using the top panel, it requires the middle interface piece. I ended up creating this separately to minimize the amount of supports needed. Breaking the design into pieces like this also means it will fit on smaller print beds, most notably my Prusa Mini with its 7in bed.
Mix and match whichever panels you need, or customize your own. I suggest you take and write down the measurements of your knives: the width and thickness of the blade at its thickest (usually at the start of the handle) is most important, but watch your length. Also take into consideration if the handles are particularly thick, as this will influence placement with adjacent panels. You'll want the knife slot to be 1mm to 1.5mm larger than the width and thickness of the blade at its largest point; for example one of my blades that is 1.5mm thick and 21.5mm wide fits well in the 3mm x 22mm slot. You'll want to allow for enough space that the knife slides in and out easily without cutting up the slot, but also not tipping in any direction.
Customizing your own panel is pretty simple in Blender. Open one of the "Template" blender files. Size and move the knife cutouts to your needs by typing in the new dimensions. Size the blade supports 2mm wider on each side of the blade cutout (for example, a 28mm x 4mm blade slot has a 32mm x 8mm support). Be sure to leave 5mm clearance on both ends of the panel for the supports in the block, and keep the screw holes centered. Under Modifier Properties on the right, apply the "Boolean Difference" to each piece that has the blue wrench icon indicating a modifier. Then delete the "Blade Holes" and "Screw Holes". Then export an STL for printing. If you want to make wider panels, increase their size in increments of 12mm and keep the screw holes centered on the ends. If someone would like to whip up an SCAD script for doing this more easily, please contact me; the parameters are quite simple, I just don't know SCAD scripting.
Note: the photo is of the prototype. This version was a major redesign that looks about the same, with one notable change being that I tightened up the tolerances so the knife panels will not have the large gaps.