How to liberate a set of knives stuck in butcher block?

At Linens N Things liquidation sale my wife bought a display set of fancy knives for cheap. Problem is, only the handles are exposed from the butcher block rack, and they won’t budge. Since the knives were on display, wife thinks they are affixed somehow to the rack for safety. I don’t know if they’re even real knives. Butcher block appears to be pretty sturdy. Any ideas how to get the Knives freed up?

I bet the store glued the knives in for safety and to prevent theft from the display.

You could try to exchange that for one that isn’t glued in – even if they said "all sales final", that’s not exactly what you had in mind.

If there are no more of those knives, you may have to chop the block apart to get them out. Hopefully whatever adhesive they used will be easy to remove from the blades. Most epoxies will soften somewhat when heated, and then you can try scraping it off. Don’t overheat the knives though, as it can discolor and soften the metal and it won’t hold its edge as well.

2 Responses

  1. HyperDog Says:

    I bet the store glued the knives in for safety and to prevent theft from the display.

    You could try to exchange that for one that isn’t glued in – even if they said "all sales final", that’s not exactly what you had in mind.

    If there are no more of those knives, you may have to chop the block apart to get them out. Hopefully whatever adhesive they used will be easy to remove from the blades. Most epoxies will soften somewhat when heated, and then you can try scraping it off. Don’t overheat the knives though, as it can discolor and soften the metal and it won’t hold its edge as well.
    References :

  2. fuzzykjun Says:

    if it was a display then the knives have no blades,, it was for display only so why waste the metal on blades!!
    References :

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