If you are a knife collector, inevitably there will be a time when the number of your knives exceeds what you can have on you all the time, and you will be faced with the same problem many collectors, including myself have faced before - Where to put all your precious, sharp and pointy toys. Makeshift solutions like using various boxes, or closet shelves are just that, temporary solutions and eventually you'll want something real. I did, for a long time. Unfortunately, dedicated knife storage is an expensive thing to obtain, and as it turned out it's not very simple to get what you want either. In theory it was very simple, get a few drawers in the cabinet dedicated to knives, but there were so many unknowns to deal with, I almost gave up. Thanks to TBS Construction Inc. team, I was able to get through with the project. Well, they did, and I just watched here and there. Anyhow, besides reviewing the cabinet itself, I just wanted to share few things I've learned in the process and if you end up doing the same, you'll have to answer the same questions.
Design
- Perhaps the most important part I was involved in, and if you are like me, in that you have no clue about woodworking etc, the same will apply to you. All I knew, and all I could tell the designer was that I wanted to store knives in the drawers. However, the drawers themselves can vary in size, their own design and complexity and that's where good designer will help. Drawers themselves were made by Crystal Cabinet Works company, having to deal with them directly was really not an option for me, I simply don't have enough knowledge or time to sift though all the options of wood and handles and all that. Leave that to the designer. I went with rather simplistic design - maple, with flat sheen Blackstone stain, partly dictated by budget constraints, because being a knife collector with not unlimited funding(unfortunately) I'd rather spend money on the knives themselves. Still, having a pro to advice on those things, even on drawers does help. To give you an example, I did my own design on custom kitchen knife block, which seems to be a simple thing, than the whole cabinet, and ended up filing slots for few months to fit all the knives I had, even though I thought I measured everything quite precisely and everything fitted. By the time the block was ready, I had new knives which didn't fit and I had to enlarge holes, in the end, layout wasn't optimal of future proof. To summarize, if you are not doing the build yourself, spend time on design, rethink and redo, better yet, have a designer do it for you. Having CAD drawings in front of me did help things immensely and saved quite some money and frustration in the end. Cabinet is not a slot on the knife block that I can expand with a bastard file... In the end, it'll be better for you and your knives. As you can see on the photo, the final design involves 9 knife drawers, in 3 rows, with 3 drawers per row. The bottom row of large drawers is for miscellaneous stuff, sheaths, lubricants, small tools I need for knife assembly/disassembly, documents, etc.Actually, I was remodeling the office, and that cabinet was built into the old closet. I'm not quite sure what came first, office or the cabinet. The idea to integrate cabinet into that closet wasn't mine either. I just wanted knife storage. Kudos to TBS Construction for coping with my requests. I figure, it's not every day when the customer is a dude with few hundred knives, some of which he wants to store in the office. Top part is designated for books, and the cabinet is in the lower part. No way I could do any of that, and incorporating knife display drawers into the design was way out of my league as well. I'm glad it all worked out so well. I have my precious(es) within the arms reach, in my office now. Whenever I get tired of coding, roll over to the cabinet, play with knives... I figure, that gets real close to nirvana by definition.
Lock
- One more important aspect, that I have to stress would be the lock on the drawers. Even if you don't have kids, your friends do, or will. Unless you are a type of person who doesn't have friends, or doesn't let children in his/her home, then having a few unlocked drawers full of sharp knives is a really bad idea. Strange enough, but locking drawers are not default option for most of the makers out there, even customs, and my requirement was even more stringent, in that I wanted single lock to lock multiple drawers. The best I got - a single lock locking the column of drawers. One master lock able to lock all 9 drawers(plus the bottom ones) was not an option. Still, having to lock only 3 vs. 12 is considerable relief :) Drawer lining
- There is plethora of materials that can be used as a drawer liner. Theoretically, or ideally you need something soft, but not too soft, with enough traction to prevent knives from slipping and moving around when you open and close those drawers, and the material should be knife, to be precise carbon steel friendly. Felt over some surface would be probably very good, but that option was not offered by the company who made the drawers. having them custom made and installed would be associated with more expenses, and I wasn't decided on the material, plus I thought it'd be to add liners later. Well, turned out it wasn't very easy. Simply felt over the wood isn't that soft on its own, and knives tend to slide back and forth on it. I've had a piece to try, so I had to ditch that idea. I have no skills to make soft padding for it. Eventually, after quite some research, I've stopped on microfoam rubber. Other options included cork, of which I didn't like the color, various types of cotton canvases, which were too thin and who knows what other stuff, just search for drawer liners, you'll get tons of results, but still difficult to pick. Most of the stuff is very thin. Remembering cell rot, or celluloid rot, the rust caused by gasses released by celluloid, I was specifically avoiding types of plastic and with that foam, I had to check with the dealer if that was a problem, and the answer was no. Well, the knives, including all the carbon steel knives, have been sitting in those drawers for almost a year now, and there is no sign of rust on anything. Generally speaking, when storing the knives for a prolonged period of time, you should cover the blades with something like Renaissance Wax or Tuff Cloth, etc. I use most of the knives in those drawers, but can't use hundred knives at the same time, so as an intermediate solution I use tuff cloth. Just a heads up, do not put silica gel packets into those drawers to control moisture levels. Those bags are not designed for prolonged use and will not work long term.Conclusions
- Dedicated knife storage is definitely a nice thing to have, if you can afford it, or if you can make it. Either way, you'll have to organize at some point, when you have dozens(or hundreds) of knives. If you are like me and you're having a pro making things for you, then be sure who you pick. Remodeling and construction in general are difficult business to deal with and especially things like knife cabinets integrated into the office furniture. I was happy with TBS Construction, they gave honest estimates, warned about problems with my choices, accommodated with my requests and budget. If you are in SF south bay and looking for something like that, I can definitely recommend them. Overall, I'm very happy with my new knife display/storage cabinet. Wasn't cheap, but whatever, it was worth it. I had to balance between the budget and what I wanted, in that not all of my knives fit in those drawers, mostly kukris, but there's plenty of room for folders and large knives. For a while I am set. There are plenty of things to consider, placement, how many and what types of knives you are planning to store, choice of materials for the storage itself and then the liners. So, if you are contemplating display cabinet or something like that, you have plenty to think about. This is my first take, and probably I will tinker with liners in the future, but as it is now, it's still very satisfactory to me.Last updated - 05/19/19