Dave, I would check your collection of knives against the block you are looking at. For us, the block you posted would not work because it fits only one chef's knife and the slot for the sharpening steel looks too small to hold a commercial steel. We use an off brand block that allows us to double stack paring knives collected in my garde manger days into one slot. I'm not a big fan of tilted blocks because they take up more counter space and will not accomodate our collection of longer knives. Your needs undoubtedly differ from ours and only you can decide if your major knives will fit. Have you tried taking your knives to a store to see if they fit?...Jackie

Hi Jackie,
The block should hold 3 chef's knives, which is what I have, in the top 3 knife slots. The longest knife I have is 10" long. I switched to the swivel model because it will be on an island, this way no walking around to get a knife. It's the only block I see with that many slots, so I may just go ahead and take a shot at it. Worse case I can make some modifications, widen up a slot a little if necessary. I will stop by a kitchen store and compare Henckel sizes to the wusthof knife sizes and see if they are in the ballpark. The swivel block looks pretty good, link below. What block did you go with?
Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Wusthof swivel knife block

Dave, Our block is either a no name or forgotten one, nearly fifteen years old, which holds fewer knives, consigning some rarely used blades, such as the third chefs knife and the flexible boner for fish to a drawer. We have a 24X24 chop block, so I mounted the knife block via a wooden arm attached to the bottom of both blocks. We own a couple of slicers with longer blades raising my question on the length of the tilted blocks. We also got our steel from a restaurant supply shop since these tend to wear out. A big one runs about $15, but will not fit in most blocks. Ours only works because of the way our block sits suspended. Something you may consider if your Henkels have the rubbery handles like my 4****, the handles are a little bigger than the comparable Wusthoff. I'm sure any of the blocks you've cited will be fine, and become second nature in a matter of months if not weeks. I wouldn't worry too much if all of your blades don't fit, as long as the most frequently used do. As you can tell, I love talking about this stuff and good luck searching...Jackie

I am facing the same dilemma - 4 star collection and want a high capacity block. Did you get the wusthof and did it work?

FWIW, you shouldn't use a block, not very sanitary.

Yes, I agree with Dereck. From what I've learned, knife blocks can harbor bacteria and food bits inside the slots, making them a breeding ground for salmonella, ecoli, etc.

I haven't purchased the Wusthof block yet, but plan on getting it.

Dereckbc, gardengrl,
I'm not sure of how so much bacteria could get in the block?
If your knives are put away clean where would it come from? I would think bacteria would have a tough time surviving in the block because it is made of wood and moisture would be absorbed and the slots would always dry out. Without moisture bacteria would have a hard time to grow. Besides, blocks are the most common way people have been storing knives for a long time :).