Wusthof 9-Slot Beechwood Knife Block

The Wusthof 9 slot knife block is of beechwood, a softer European hardwood. It takes up about 4"x9" of counter space, with maybe an inch of overhang in the front. Its slots are as follows, from top to bottom:

wide slot for a chef's knife of up to 10" (25cm) blade length

square hole for a sharpening steel of up to 10" (25cm) length

two slots for narrower knives of up to 8.5" (22cm) length, such as a carving knife and a bread knife

moderately wide slot for a knife of up to 8" (20cm) length; this slot is not wide enough for a full size chef's knife, but did fit my 5.5" (14cm) mini chef's knife, and would also fit a boning knife

narrow slot, 8" (20cm) long; however, this slot will not fit most 8" knives and seems designed for the Wusthof 6" (16cm) "sandwich" knife

two small slots, 7" (18cm) deep; these are too narrow for the sandwich knife, and seem designed for the paring knife and the utility knife

short slot for kitchen shears; I don't know exactly how long this is because it doesn't go all the way through, but it works fine for my Wusthof kitchen shears

I used this block for over a decade, at which point it was replaced because I finally accumulated more Wusthof knives than would fit in this block. After all those years it was slightly dingy because I'd never washed it, and had developed a slight crack on one side that did not affect its utility (and which I only noticed when I pulled it out to measure the slot lengths for this review). It's a good basic knife block for a typical kitchen.

This knife block shouldn't have Wustof's name on it because the difference between the quality of this product and the quality of their knives (which are outstanding) is huge. Besides looking cheap, once it is loaded up, it wants to tip forward quite easily. That's not something you want to have happen when you've got a very sharp knife in your hand. If you flinch, start, jump, or whatever you could hurt yourself. I'm going to re-position the feet on the bottom to see if that will help. If not, I'll have to add additional support. Disappointing.

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This is a decent storage block. However, based on 10 years experience working with wood I can say that this is not made of beechwood. It's some type of tropical wood. Beechwood is a classic choice for European storage blocks, butcher blocks etc and has a more redish appearance and distinctive grain (for example, see the pictures of the larger Wustoff blocks). This product gets the job done, but the description is incorrect.

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I wanted to get a "compact" knife block for the Wusthof knives that I purchased and thought that this would fill the bill because I only have a few knives. As one review said, it probably would not be very stable if it was filled with knives.

Well the first thing that I noticed was it missing one of the rubber feet on the bottom and would tip over easily so I returned it hesitatingly to Amazon for a replacement.

I say hesitatingly because the quality of the wood and workmanship is not up to the Wusthof knives that it's supposed to hold. It's made with "slapped together" veneers and it is not even sanded smooth on all sides. I haven't decided if I'll keep the replacement if it's of similar poor quality.

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I like this okay, but the quality is lacking after a few months, the wood cracked. It still works, but not worth the money.

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