I have a concept for a much nicer knife block, but it will take me ages to
start making it, and until recently all our knives were just sitting out on
the counter acting as clutter. I wouldn't let them go into the drawers for
safety reasons (they're really sharp), and to keep them from knocking around
getting dull. But my mother-in-law gave us this old crock pot her mother
used to use to hold kitchen utensils, thinking I could put them in that.
Wanting to protect the knives, I routed a pine disk to cover the bottom, and
coopered a 19 sided lining to cover the insides, then made a slotted top to
hold the knives, leaving a little gap at the sides for additional utensils.
Scroll to the bottom of this web page to see what I'm talking about:

http://www.manyirons.com/Puker/knifeholders.htm

- Owen -