care for morther of pearl?

[s.c.]

i have a WH MOP spearpoint and its a beautiful knife. question is, how do i care for the MOP handle? any specific products or special considerations?

 

[Gollnick]

One of the great things about MOP is that you really don't need to do anything for it.

It doesn't dry out. It doesn't shrink. It doesn't discolor easily. It's great.

It can crack and shatter, but that will be caused either by handling or by improper mounting.

Keep in out of direct sun light -- and by that I mean don't display it on a window sill where the sun beats down on it all day every day, and it'll be beautiful for your great grand kids.

 

[MadAxeMan]

I like it. I have one knife with MOP scales and thats a Puma 4 Star. Beautiful little knife. I'm considering ordering a custom Buck 110 with MOP scales and BG-42 steel.

 

[bell]

Duh - - what IS mother of pearl?

 

[ZENGHOST]

Originally posted by bell
Duh - - what IS mother of pearl?

Found this definition: \Moth"er-of-pearl`\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
The hard pearly internal layer of several kinds of shells,
esp. of pearl oysters, river mussels, and the abalone shells;
nacre. See {Pearl}.

Here's some examples of MOP.

And here's my favorite MOP knife:

 

[bell]

Mahalo Zenghost. Those are some good lookin Balis.

 

[s.c.]

so, i don't need to do anything to the MOP? no wax or anything like that?

zenghost, what are the knife laws for blade length in HI? i'll be going there for vacation over christmas and deciding which blade to bring.

 

[Jason Cutter]

I have several really old, good condition English made slip joints and multiblade "pen-knives" with MOP handles. Some have silver bolsters, some don't. All are pinned / rivetted in the old fashioned way. They are all still in really great condition, and these are also on the ones where the blades look like they have taken a beating. I was told that MOP is much, much tougher and more user-friendly than they look. Seems like it might be true.

I suspect old age or prolonged use might take the shine off but I'm discovered that there's not a lot that good ole Carnauba wax can't achieve ... Jason.

 

[ZENGHOST]

bell--thanks, but Charles Marlowe deserves the credit on that one. He makes a helluva knife.

s.c.--no, I don't think it's necessary to coat the MOP with anything. At least I don't. But you may want to follow Jason's advice of wax when the finish dulls a bit. I've sent you email on the Hawaii Knife Law stuff.

Jason's quite right about the durability of MOP. I have an LCC with MOP scales and I was worried about the scales cracking, but I've dropped it a few times now and they've never cracked or chipped (not yet, anyway). The MOP seems to take more a licking than I originally had thought.