Knife drawers
Knife drawer with built in dividers: one bay per blade, built into the box
A knife block takes counter space and a plastic knife insert floats around in the drawer. A knife drawer with built in dividers lays every knife flat in its own wood bay, edges apart, in a dovetailed box sized to your cabinet. This page is for the homeowner replacing a block or a tray and the cabinet shop building a knife drawer for a client: the bay sizes, the layouts and the exact configurator picks for 15, 18 and 21 in cabinets.
Quick answer. A knife drawer with built in dividers is a dovetailed drawer box with front to back Baltic Birch dividers set in dados, so each knife lies flat in its own bay about 2 to 3 in wide and at least 16 in long. In a 21 in deep box the bays are 19 3/4 in long inside, enough for a 10 in chef’s knife at about 15 in overall. For an 18 in cabinet on undermount slides, a 16 1/8 in wide box with four front to back dividers gives five knife bays about 2 25/32 in wide, and a 3 in tall box clears the handles.
Ready to build it? The custom divided drawer configurator prices every choice live and draws your box in 3D, bays and all, before you order.
Why a drawer beats a knife block
A drawer keeps knives flat, dry, visible and off the counter, and dividers keep each blade from touching the next. In a block the blade drags along its slot every time it comes out; in a loose drawer, blades clank against each other, metal on metal. In a divided drawer the edge rests on wood and nothing moves when the drawer closes, because the dividers are glued into dados in the box walls, not dropped in as a tray.
- One bay per knife. Pick it up by the handle without touching the next blade.
- Nothing to slide around. No wasted rim around an insert and no plastic to bow.
- Out of sight. Behind a closed drawer front instead of standing on the counter.
How wide and how long should a knife bay be?
Give each large knife a bay 2 to 3 in wide and at least 16 in long, and size any bay to its biggest knife plus about 1/2 in of width and 1 in of length. A chef’s knife with an 8 to 10 in blade is about 13 to 15 in overall, and a bread knife is about the same. Paring and steak knives are about 7 to 9 in overall, so they can share a bay at about 1 1/4 in of width each. These are typical retail sizes; measure your own knives before you order.
| Knife | Overall length, about | Width to allow | Bay length |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHEF’S KNIFE, 8 TO 10 IN BLADE | 13 to 15 in | 2 to 3 in, one per bay | 16 in or more |
| BREAD, CARVING OR SLICING KNIFE | 13 to 15 in | 2 to 3 in, one per bay | 16 in or more |
| UTILITY OR SANTOKU KNIFE | 10 to 12 in | 2 in | 13 in or more |
| PARING KNIFE | 7 to 9 in | 1 1/4 in each; a 2 in bay for one | 10 in or more |
| STEAK KNIVES, SET OF SIX | 7 to 9 in | 1 1/4 in each, about 7 1/2 in for six side by side | 10 in or more |
| HONING STEEL, 10 IN ROD | 15 in with the handle | 2 in | 16 in or more |
| KITCHEN SHEARS | 8 to 9 in | 3 to 4 in | 10 in or more |
Our dividers are 1/4 in Baltic Birch plywood in 1/4 in deep dados, so each one takes only its own 1/4 in out of the drawer; the clear widths in the cabinet table below already allow for them. For the bay every other kitchen item needs, see kitchen drawer divider sizes.
How many bays does a knife set need?
Count the knives you want flat and apart, then subtract one: that is the number of front to back dividers. A starter set of chef’s, bread, utility and paring knives is four bays, which is 3 front to back dividers. A block set of six to eight knives plus a steel and shears is six or seven bays, the most the configurator allows at 6 dividers, with the steak knives sharing one wide bay. Keep the side to side count at 0 for a knife drawer; the compartment count is (side to side dividers + 1) x (front to back dividers + 1), so with 0 side to side it is simply the front to back count plus 1.
Blade protection: why wood dividers, and which way to lay the knives
Wood is kinder to an edge than metal or plastic, and a divider that cannot move is kinder still. Our dividers are Baltic Birch plywood, 1/4 in as standard or 1/2 in for a heavier wall, glued into 1/4 in deep dados so nothing shifts when the drawer closes. Lay each knife on its side with every edge facing the same way, toward the back or toward the divider, so a hand reaching in from the front meets handles and spines. We cut the box and the dados to the 1/32 inch, so a bay you size at 2 3/4 in is 2 3/4 in.
Keep the drawer dry and wipe the dividers; wood dividers do not go in a dishwasher. Fixed dividers are our pick for a knife drawer. If you want to lift them out for a full wipe down now and then, choose removable dividers, which sit loose in the same dados and go back in the same slots; fixed vs removable drawer dividers covers both.
Knife drawer layouts for 15, 18 and 21 in cabinets
The box widths below are for a frameless cabinet with 3/4 in sides on Blum style undermount slides, where the box is the opening minus 13/32 in (10 mm, often written 3/8 in); the configurator takes the outside box size, so these are the numbers to enter. Each cabinet gets one more bay than the one before, and every bay comes out about 2 25/32 in wide, one large knife with room for fingers, using our 5/8 in sides and 1/4 in dividers.
| Cabinet (opening) | Box width to enter | Lateral dividers (side to side) | Axial dividers (front to back) | Bays and clear width | Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 in (13 1/2 in) | 13 1/8 in | 0 lateral dividers | 3 axial dividers | 4 bays, 2 25/32 in | Chef’s, bread, utility and paring knives |
| 18 in (16 1/2 in) | 16 1/8 in | 0 lateral dividers | 4 axial dividers | 5 bays, about 2 25/32 in | Four knives and a steel, or three knives and a steak set in two bays |
| 21 in (19 1/2 in) | 19 1/8 in | 0 lateral dividers | 5 axial dividers | 6 bays, about 2 25/32 in | Six knives, or five and a steel |
On side mount slides the box is the opening minus 1 in instead: 12 1/2, 15 1/2 and 18 1/2 in, which brings the same layouts to about 2 5/8, 2 5/8 and 2 21/32 in per bay. A 3 in box height clears every handle lying flat; go to 4 in if utensils share the drawer. Depth sets how long a knife can lie flat:
| Box depth | Inside length | Lies flat |
|---|---|---|
| 15 in | 13 3/4 in | Paring, steak and utility knives; too short for a chef’s knife |
| 18 in | 16 3/4 in | Chef’s and bread knives up to about 15 3/4 in overall |
| 21 in | 19 3/4 in | Any kitchen knife, a 10 in chef’s knife with room to spare; the usual choice on 21 in undermount slides |
| 24 in | 22 3/4 in | The same, plus a long slicer |
Already running 21 in undermount slides in an 18 or 21 in cabinet? Our standard size divided drawer has the four bay flatware layout ready made at 3 17/32 or 4 9/32 in per bay, which holds four knives with no fractions to enter. The divider layout planner walks through the math for any other size.
How tall should the dividers be for knife handles?
Keep the standard divider height for a knife drawer. The top of each divider sits 1/8 in below the top edge of the box, so in a 3 in tall box the dividers stand 2 7/8 in from the bottom edge, and a knife handle lying on its side, about 1 in thick, sits well below the wall and cannot ride over into the next bay. The configurator’s custom divider height, typed in decimal inches from 1 to 12.625 and at least 1/8 in below the box height, is for drawers where you lift something out over a lower wall; for knives, taller is safer.
A mixed knife and utensil drawer
Most kitchens give knives half a drawer, not all of it. In a 21 in cabinet, a 19 1/8 x 21 x 4 in box with three front to back dividers and custom spacing makes two knife bays 2 3/4 in wide, a 5 1/2 in bay for serving spoons and spatulas, and a 6 1/8 in bay for tongs and whisks; the four bays plus three 1/4 in dividers add up to the 17 7/8 in inside width. In an 18 in cabinet, the same idea in a 16 1/8 in box is 2 1/2, 2 1/2, 4 1/2 and 4 5/8 in.
Choose a 4 in box height, since a ladle bowl on its side wants 4 in, pick custom spacing, and type the bays in the layout notes: “Bays from the left: 2 3/4, 2 3/4, 5 1/2, 6 1/8.” Or email a sketch to Sales@gritlyusa.com with your order number; we contact you if anything does not add up. For a drawer that is all utensils, divided drawers by room has the kitchen layouts.
Kids and safety
A drawer puts knives below counter height, which is also where a small child reaches, so plan the lock with the drawer. A lock or childproof latch is the cabinet’s job: it mounts to the cabinet or the drawer front, not to the drawer box, and we do not sell them. Inside the drawer, fixed dividers keep blades from sliding forward when the drawer closes, and soft close undermount runners such as Blum TANDEM plus BLUMOTION 563H from our undermount slides shop stop the drawer gently instead of slamming it. Put the knife drawer high in the bank of drawers and leave the low ones for pans.
What to pick in the configurator
Here is the five bay knife drawer for an 18 in cabinet on Blum TANDEM runners, field by field, exactly as the configurator prints each choice. Fields not listed stay on their defaults.
| Field | Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Width (Inches) | 16″ Dovetail Drawer Box | 16 1/2 in opening minus 13/32 in (10 mm, often written 3/8 in) |
| Width Fraction | 1/8″ | Adds the 1/8 in |
| Height (Inches) | 3″ Inches (H) | 4″ Inches (H) if utensils share the drawer |
| Lateral dividers (side to side) | 0 lateral dividers | Knives lie front to back |
| Axial dividers (front to back) | 4 axial dividers | Five bays about 2 25/32 in wide |
| Divider style | Fixed in dados | Or Removable in dados (slide out) for cleaning |
| Divider thickness | 1/4″ thick dividers (our standard) | 1/2″ thick dividers for a heavier wall |
| Divider height | Standard (1/8″ below box top) | Taller is safer for knives |
| Divider spacing | Equal spacing | Custom spacing (describe it below) for the mixed drawer |
| Notching | Notched & Drilled For Undermount Slides | Leave it on None for side mount slides and set the depth under Custom Depth (Inches) |
| Slide Brand/Model | Blum TANDEM plus BLUMOTION 563 | We match the notch and drilling to it |
| Depth Selection | 21” Inches (D) | 19 3/4 in inside for the longest knife |
| Clips | Blum T51.1901 Clips | Installed; also sold in our clips and brackets shop |
| Select Your Wood Type | Baltic Birch (Our Standard) | (Select) Hard Maple if the open drawer is on show |
The live 3D preview draws the five bays at your exact size and the spec line under it states five compartments and their size, so you can check a bay against your widest handle before you order. A red warning holds Add to cart if the divider count drops to zero, since a plain box is our custom drawer box.
Have your numbers? Build your knife drawer and watch the price and the drawing update with each pick; it is the same dovetailed box we sell on Amazon, built to order in our Las Vegas shop with a lifetime warranty on the wood box. Not sure what your cabinet takes? Send us a photo and your measurements and we work out the box and the bays with you.
Knife drawer questions
Is a knife drawer safe?
It is as safe as the cabinet it sits in. Dividers keep blades from sliding into each other or into a reaching hand, and with the edges all laid the same way a hand from the front meets handles and spines. A lock or childproof latch mounts to the cabinet or the drawer front, not to the box, and is the one part we do not supply.
How wide should a knife drawer bay be?
2 to 3 in for one chef’s, bread or carving knife, and about 1 1/4 in per paring or steak knife when several share a bay. Size the bay to the widest blade plus about 1/2 in. Four front to back dividers in a 16 1/8 in wide box give five bays about 2 25/32 in wide.
How long should a knife drawer be?
At least 16 in of clear length inside for chef’s and bread knives, which run about 13 to 15 in overall. A 21 in deep box with 5/8 in front and back has 19 3/4 in inside, and an 18 in box has 16 3/4 in. Paring and steak knives, at about 7 to 9 in, fit a 10 in bay.
Are wood or plastic dividers better for knives?
Wood. Our dividers are 1/4 in Baltic Birch plywood set in 1/4 in deep dados, so the edge of a knife rests against wood and the divider cannot shift when the drawer closes. A plastic insert floats in the drawer, can bow over time and leaves a rim of wasted space around it.
Can the dividers be removed to clean the drawer?
Yes, if you choose removable dividers in the configurator: they lift straight up and out of their dados and go back in the same slots. Wipe them clean; wood dividers do not go in a dishwasher. Fixed dividers are glued in and the drawer is cleaned in place.
Can I add a bay for a sharpening steel?
Yes. A 10 in honing steel is about 15 in overall with its handle, so give it a bay about 2 in wide and the same 16 in or more of length as a chef’s knife. Add one more front to back divider for the bay, or use custom spacing to make it narrower than the knife bays.
Magnetic strip or knife drawer?
A magnetic strip keeps knives in view and off the counter, but it hangs blades at eye level, and a blade dragged sideways off the magnet can dull its edge. A divided drawer lays each knife flat on wood, out of sight and out of reach behind a closed front. Many kitchens use both: everyday knives on the strip, the full set in the drawer.
Related reading
- Kitchen drawer divider sizes: bay sizes for flatware, utensils, spices, foil and more.
- How much does a custom divided drawer cost? Every price, with worked totals.
- Standard size divided drawers: eight widths and seven layouts with no fractions to enter.
- Deep drawer dividers: tall dividers for pots, lids and plates on edge.
- Undermount drawer slide guide: the slide deduction and clips for a notched box.
Every blade in its own bay
Enter your box size and the number of bays, and we build the dividers into a dovetailed Baltic Birch or Hard Maple (Select Grade) box in our Las Vegas shop, cut to the 1/32 inch, with free retail shipping and a lifetime warranty on the wood box. Want bays of different widths or a layout the configurator cannot draw? Describe it on the instant quote.