I got a request for something like this. Anybody made one? What kind of magnets. If I could find long rod magnets, that could make a good looking rack.
Hey, you don't know me, but you don't like me ... Buck Owens
I have found the rare earth magnets at Hobby Lobby, seems like some of them were 3/4" diameter, and I remember seeing strips also. Inlay them bit and use epoxy. I have used some of them in my boxes to keep things closed.
Now if you could find a long rod, drill out the center and install so just the ends are showing, or even use a wood plug to cover the end (that would look better). Just need one strong enough so it penetrates the wood.
If you can’t find long bars that are strong enough, you could resaw the slab, then drill/route out recesses inside and epoxy the magnets in, then glue the slab back together. Should be virtually invisible…just gotta play with the depths to give the rare earth magnets enough power…
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
Neodymium magnets are probably the strongest but also rather expensive compared to rare earth magnets. I think you could embed the magnets in the wood block (the shiny coated ones could be left exposed) and if you want to hide them cover them with a thin veneer. A pair of 1" rare earth magnets positioned vertically a few inches apart to each other would probably hold the biggest knife. There are other shapes if you search, such as cylinders that could join end to end to form a long rod shape horizontally across the top of the holder. .
The thing to remember about embedded magnets is that the pull force decreases exponentially with separation distance. So you want the magnet as close as possible to the surface. If you search Ebay and Amazon for rare earth magnets, you can find them in just about any shape and size you desire.
Yeah Kenny. I’ve press fit magnets into wood allowing only maybe less than a 32nd as backing and had them crack the wood. I feel like adding some epoxy might help with that.
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
I made a wall mounted knife bar. I used some strong neodymium bar magnets. Even so, for the proper pull strength, I had to route down so that there was about 1/8" thickness. If you're going to point the knives down, you might not need as much pull, as the handle/bolster will aid slippage (funny thing that I found is that the small knives are actually more problematic than the biggin's).
