Magnetic knife Racks?

[Russ Filtz]

I know the exposed metal kind can be damaging to blades, but is there any harm to the metallurgy from getting magnetized over time resting on the rack? I thought I read something on that decades ago, but a quick Google found nothing related.

Found some neat wooden racks with the magnets embedded (protects the knife from metal contact). Could be a nice DIY project. Just have to buy some decent rare earth mags and epoxy them in a routed slot in a piece of wood.

[Lee Schierer]

The main problem I see with magnetic knife racks is that the metal shavings when you sharpen the knives are also magnetic and tend to stick to the blade. While magnetic racks may be neat, I think the conventional wood block types are less trouble.

[Ken Whitney]

Russ,

I use magnetic racks for my lathe tools. The lighter ones hang by themselves, and the handle of the heavier (and longer) ones rest on a shelf below the magnetic bar (purchased at Ikea).

I've not noticed any significant problem with filings sticking to the tools during sharpening, but perhaps the tools becoming magnetized increases over time.

I wonder if anyone has used a commercial de-magnifier to address this problem?

Ken