Jackson Masters

Protecting my knives

I’ve always enjoyed cooking and maintaining sharp, safe knives. Most plastic blade guards I’ve used tend to roll over edges and dull knives. After accidentally ruining a freshly sharpened edge, I decided to make some out of wood that would be more secure.

I started by mocking up the guards with cardboard. I used sacrificial tabs and pins to keep everything well aligned.

As I prepared to glue the wooden pieces together, I realized that I would need far more small clamps than I possessed, so I designed and printed these.

I also knocked together these sanding sticks to make it easier to round over the edges. I had initially used a router with a radius bit but the wood was very prone to tearing out.

The tapered pegs on most Japanese blade guards did not appeal to me because they could fall out easily.

I do a lot of camping and wanted a peg that would lock the knife into the guard.

I designed this 3D-printed peg to twist and lock the blades in place.

I finished everything off with food-safe acrylic paint. The interiors were coated with mineral oil.

Now my knives stay sharper for longer.