DIY Magnetic Knife Rack from a Vintage Ruler

Easily turn any piece of wood into a magnetic knife rack with only a drill, special drill bit, and magnets. This tutorial walks through the steps to make a DIY magnetic knife holder.

Let’s be real. Knives aren’t generally a beautiful piece of decoration on your kitchen counter. I had an (ugly) knife block on my counter for years, but it took up quite a bit of space on my small counter space area. I then tried to keep my knives out of sight in a drawer, and it was just a hassle. So, I took the convenience of having knives out in easy reach, and combined it with something that would not take up counter space AND still look decently pretty in my kitchen.

Easily make any piece of wood into a magnetic knife rack. This one was made with a vintage drafting ruler, but you could easily use barnwood or live edge wood.

I had a 5 foot vintage ruler that I found at an estate sale in the back corner of  the garage, for $1!  I’m wondering if this ruler was maybe once attached to a large drafting table. Or maybe it was a large wallpaper ruler. Either way, it’s beautifully imperfect and I wanted to find a new use for it.

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Supplies Needed to Make a Magnetic Knife Rack

I used a 1/2″ forstner bit to drill holes into the back about a finger width apart. It’s important to drill the hole almost to the other side of the wood, without penetrating the front. That way, the magnet sits as close as possible to the front and will be as powerful as possible.

I put a piece of tape on my drill bit at the depth that I needed to drill. This is an easy way to be sure you drill to the same depth every time, without going through the front surface of the wood.

Easily make any piece of wood into a magnetic knife rack. This one was made with a vintage drafting ruler, but you could easily use barnwood or live edge wood.

Each magnet was about 1/8″ thick, so I put two magnets in each hole. Because the drill bit was 1/2″ in diameter and so were the magnets, they fit in fairly tight and I didn’t need any glue. Boy, these magnets sure are powerful!  Don’t walk near any saws, screwdrivers or knives, because they’ll go flying.

This magnetic knife holder looks easy enough to make with only a drill!

These magnets sure were stubborn, but I am stubborner!  They are super strong, and I can’t tell you how many times all of the magnets would start jumping out of their holes and attaching to one another. After quite a bit of fighting, flipping, and a little bit of freaking out, I learned a couple of tricks that made my life a lot easier. 

This magnetic knife holder looks easy enough to make with only a drill!

I figured out that the best way to put them in was the way that they seemed to want to fall.  If you flip them over, you’ll feel the resistance as you try to smash it into the hole, and this creates a mess as you try to put more in. 

I also made sure to cover up all the magnets with my hand that were already in place before I brought the next magnet to the open hole.  Finally, I kept my tube of magnets far from the board, because if it gets anywhere near to it, it pulls them all out faster than you can make it stop – it’s out of control!

This magnetic knife holder looks easy enough to make with only a drill!

After all the magnets were in place, I drilled two pilot holes and then attached it with screws.  I considered adding hanging brackets on the back, but I liked the look of the brass colored screws on the front.

This magnetic knife holder looks easy enough to make with only a drill!

I’ve been using this knife rack for six years, and it’s holding up beautifully. The wood has been scratched a bit, but what else can be expected when knives are being placed on it everyday.

This magnetic knife holder looks easy enough to make with only a drill!

Mine is strong enough to hold some larger knives, but if I try to put multiple large knives on there at once, some of them end up falling.

Easily make any piece of wood into a magnetic knife rack. This one was made with a vintage drafting ruler, but you could easily use barnwood or live edge wood.

I recently painted my kitchen cabinets this perfect shade of green. If you want more details on the cabinet color, hardware, or other materials in this room, you can find all of that information in this post: Green Kitchen with Vintage Touches

Easily make any piece of wood into a magnetic knife rack. This one was made with a vintage drafting ruler, but you could easily use barnwood or live edge wood.

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Jenny at Refresh Living (dev.refreshliving.com)

Post by Jenny Leads

Jenny is the voice behind Refresh Living. She has a passion for helping people to create a home they love without spending a lot of money.

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24 Comments

  1. It looks great and sounds like you had some interesting magnet fun along the way. I have visions of your wrestling with magnets as the cling to each other, and your project, and anything magnetic!
    I love the ruler instead of plain wood so I’m sure your decision to cut it down was the right one in the end, I can’t wait to see what else you make with the rest of it.

    1. Yep, I hope you’re chuckling to yourself as you envision the magnet nightmare. I mostly had to laugh as it continued to happen, over and over, because if I didn’t laugh, I would have had to wash my mouth out with soap.

  2. ooh I’ve seen this idea floating around, but I love your version of the vintage ruler so much better. What a great garage sale find!

  3. Jenny, you knocked it out of the park on this one! I ADORE the ruler as a knife rack. I never would have thought to use the magnets on the back so they are not visible! Sweet! That opens up so many possibilities…. small jars with their metal lids … hmmm. Thanks also for your insight into dealing with the magnets. I laughed out loud at the phrase “wash my mouth out with soap”! I haven’t heard that in a long time!

  4. YOU are some kind of wonderful, clever, and creative. This is so cool, i love it.
    I love the magnets and how you kept the “vintage look”.. 5 stars on this one.
    So handy and great looking,
    Lynn

  5. This is such an awesome project! Love it! I wanted to let you know that it’s my pick of the week at the DIY Sunday Showcase! Thanks so much for linking up and your feature will be live on Sat eve!

  6. Hi I love the ruler idea, however I have a couple questions, how long n thick was the wood u drilled to put ur maginets in ? And did u put the ruler to cover the maginets ? I need a video lol.. I would love to make it for my home however I need more instructions .. thank you for shearing, keep shearing ur ideas

    1. Hi Mona. It’s funny that you commented on this post, because I’ve been thinking how I need to update it with more details and images. So the ruler is definitely thick, probably about a half and inch. It definitely wouldn’t work with a regular yardstick or ruler. So then I drilled holes into the back of it, almost deep enough so they went through, but not quite. The magnets actually go into those holes and sit at the bottom (which means there is only a thin amount of wood between the magnet and the front of the ruler). I hope that helps some. The hardest part might be finding a ruler thick enough! This one must have come off of a vintage sewing/drafting table or something like that.

  7. This is really an awesome project and am in love with this project and the style that jave you adopt ,,,,,,,,,,,,
    Thank you so much

  8. wow, you describe very well this article and its look so amazing beautiful. i really like your idea of describing DIY magnetic knife rack from vintage ruler. thanks for sharing this amazing article.