Musk Ox Horn and Damascus Fighter

John White

John White

Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
2,142
This is the first time for me to use Musk Ox horn for handle material. This fighter is the companion to the Mammoth handled one posted last week.

The blade is a similar 4-bar, Turkish Twist over Explosion, with Stainless fittings, and a 4-piece, file-worked frame.

The Ox horn worked easily, and sanded out (6000 grit) beautifully. It does try to move with humidity, so the domed pins, in addition to internal pins and epoxy.

I'd be interested in other collectors' thoughts on Musk Ox as a material...

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John
 
I like it.

Alain D'Saulners had a knife with the rough "bark" being used at the Blade. First time I's seen that. I talked to Mark Knapp and he stated that it's hard to get due to the tightness of the curve in the horn.
 
John I think the knife is beautiful. I do not know anything about Musk Ox but think it looks fantastic.

Very nice, Jon
 
Muskox horn is like Paris Hilton - beautiful, but highly unstable. I've had it on two knives and won't have it again. Shrinkage on one was really bad. The other was worse.

It looks great on this knife - in fact, the whole knife looks great. I hope the owner has better luck than I did.

Roger
 
RogerP said:
Muskox horn is like Paris Hilton - beautiful, but highly unstable. I've had it on two knives and won't have it again. Shrinkage on one was really bad. The other was worse.

It looks great on this knife - in fact, the whole knife looks great. I hope the owner has better luck than I did.

Roger
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That's bad news, Roger. The owner specified the handle material, and I'm game to try. I rounded over the mating surfaces, next to the spacers and frame, and pinned, back-drilled and epoxied the scales. We'll see how it turns out.

If I have to eat these scales, at least there should be some food value in horn....

John
 
I used to collect D'Holders quite a while ago and he loved the stuff. But from all reports I got from those who actually owned some of the pieces, the stuff just does not work out well, just as Roger describes above. My own experience with it, personally, was the same.

I wouldn't own it for nothin'.

Best,

Bob Betzner

EDIT: And it's a shame, because it's hard to beat how beautiful the material is.
 
Wow! and absolutely gorgeous knife and the scales are over the top. It's going to be on its way to me soon for some leather and based on the comments about movement I guess I will not be surprised if the handles get here a half a day ahead of the knife;). Just kidding there, of course. I will say if any maker can nail down the material it will be John White!

Paul
 
John, I believe that is the most beautiful horn handled knife I've ever seen. Great job!

Hopefully, the new owner will have some controlled environment to store it so it won't "run away."
 
Beautiful work! I know it must make your heart sink when hearing comments, as stated above, about the handle material.
 
I have used musk ox on a few slipjoints and ...straight form the horses mouth..Mark Knapp...you must let it dry just like wood....or longer. I let mine dry for over a year, they have been on the knife now for about a year...and still flush everywhere. Soooo...who knows?
 
Beautiful knife and I love musk ox horn. I used to own a Slobodian Persian Fighter with musk ox. I love the stuff, so much depth in it.

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That horn had cured for about 20 years I was told, and I have a stable climate and house environment, so I had no trouble what so ever.

Marcel
 
Mike Q.,

Naah, the old heart don't sink, (tho' it may gasp a little.) I consulted with Mark Knapp, who supplied the scales. He had this one "dry" set left, and gave some advice about procedure.

I use natural materials almost exclusively, ivory,wood, stag, and a lot of sheep horn in the past. All natural material will move, and in extreme environments can fail.

In this case, I've taken the maximum steps, short of storing the scales myself for a number of years. The handle is really beautiful, and time will tell if the methods I've used stand up. I stand behind my work, and don't make an exception for natural material's tendencies. I feel better that way, and so, I hope, do my collectors.

Its certainly interesting to hear folks' experiences with Ox horn. I'll be sure to let you guys know how this works out, in say, a year?

John
 
Hey John - I hope I didn't come across like a wet blanket - but you asked for collectors' thoughts and unfortunately, my experiences haven't been good.

It sounds like you got the material from a good source and did everything possible to mitigate against future movement, so I am hopeful those factors will operate in favor of a stable handle over the long term.

No doubt that it is beautiful material in general and that yours is a particularly nice example.

Roger
 
John,

That is a great looking knife. I don't know much about Musk Ox bone, but it sure looks good.

Jim
 
Beautiful knife John.
If it were going to be problematic it will show up right away.
I love muskox and have had great luck although mine was a couple years old and I sent it to be stabilized. Absolutely no movement now several years later. I did buy some from Mark lately and have it clamped together to keep it from warping while it dries. Dont really know how long that takes but I'm still sending it off someday to WSSI.
 
John, what a great job. Like you, I love the natural materials, but as we are all aware, animals have minds of there own even after they are dead. "It is the nature of the beast" so to speak. That's the reason no large scale manufacturers use these materials anymore. Also like you, I stand behind my work, I have a lifetime warranty on my knives, and have well over fifty of them out with musk ox horn on them. Now the good news, I very rarely ever get them back. Way less than 1%. As many people that visit this site know, we (us knife makers) go to great lengths to keep problems to a minimum and we think it is all worth it, as this knife shows. We do not know what the conditions are like (humidity, and temp.) where that knife is going to live but fear not my friend, you did everything right. By the way, to everyone that may have concerns, the worst thing you can do to a knife with natural materials in the handle (aside from putting it in the dish washer) is send it to a new home in a zip lock bag, don't do that. Anyway nice job John
 
John White said:
Mike Q.,

Naah, the old heart don't sink, (tho' it may gasp a little.) I consulted with Mark Knapp, who supplied the scales. He had this one "dry" set left, and gave some advice about procedure.

I use natural materials almost exclusively, ivory,wood, stag, and a lot of sheep horn in the past. All natural material will move, and in extreme environments can fail.

In this case, I've taken the maximum steps, short of storing the scales myself for a number of years. The handle is really beautiful, and time will tell if the methods I've used stand up. I stand behind my work, and don't make an exception for natural material's tendencies. I feel better that way, and so, I hope, do my collectors.


Its certainly interesting to hear folks' experiences with Ox horn. I'll be sure to let you guys know how this works out, in say, a year?

John
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Those first couple comments had me worried, but as the thread progressed it got more positive. I've done things in the past and had a maker with far more knowledge tell me "your gonna see that knife again". When I built that knife I built it to the best of my knowledge. Learning something new everyday is what I love about this forum as well as knifemaking in general.

It's beautiful material on a beautiful knife.
 
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