Musk Ox Horn and Damascus Fighter

That musk ox horn is just gorgeous, as is the knife, John. :thumbup:

Doug
 
"Beauty Knows No Pain."-----motto of the Kilgore Rangerettes

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John
 
My wife comes from the Arcitc and as a result I have had good exposure to Musk Ox horn (as well as picking up a couple of heads while I was there). While I have not put it on a knife yet I have done other projects with the crown as seen here and have not had a problem with movement, even if I have not oiled the pieces regularly. Maybe it is because it came from a desert to a dry climate that I have seen little movement.

I love the damascus quality to the skull portion of the horn, and the creamy (albeit plain) colors of the horn proper, and look forward to when I am good enough to honor the animal by putting it on a knife I have made- to me it is the perfect compliment to a great random damascus pattern.
 
Very nice, sir!:thumbup: it is good to hear that the Musk Ox horn is usable when treated properly because it is some of the most gorgeous animal parts handle material there is. Unfortunately, it tend to be priced accordingly for substantial blocks. More reason for me to learn how to do frame handles, I guess.;)
 
The depth of the material is surreal. Reminds me of candy cellulose, but it's real.

Here's wishing MANY long years of admiration.

Coop
 
Wow! That is a cool looking handle. I hope it works out good and I would like to hear about it in a year.

That is one of the coolest looking handle materials I've seen. Great job Mr. White!!!

First class knife.
 
It's a beautiful knife John. I had a sheephorn handled bowie for several years and it never moved, and sheephorn is known to move some. As mentioned previously, if it has sat for some time it may be more stable. Don't know till you try it. The owner will be pleased.
Bob
 
John White said:
... If I have to eat these scales, at least there should be some food value in horn....

John
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Not sure about food value, but it might be a good, powerful aphrodisiac ... :)

I think it looks fantastic as a knife scale material!

Mark
 
Absolutely beautiful knife, and a jewel of a handle material! If you live in Florida and leave it in an uncooled room, or in Arizona and don't like air conditioning, well ...

I've never had a handle material go environmentally ape-poop on me, I believe because I'm careful to never allow extremes in temperature or humidity in my home. It's a habit I picked up playing vintage bass guitars and being careful to keep a neutral environment to prevent the necks from bowing or twisting. Never had a problem with those, either. OTOH, obviously people have these types of problems with controlling environment and therefore I'd guess there may be resale problems with knives using handle materials with a reputation for instability.
 
I feel fortunate that I don't particularly like the look of Musk Ox horn, thus I'm not enticed to take a chance on this handle material which has a reputation for instability. Having said that, some seen to have good luck with it. As it's been about 6 months, I wonder how this handle has fared?
 
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John
I recently purchased a large piece from Mark also and did a hidden tang bowie out of it.First time working with it also.Before I built it I stabilized it in Paleo-Bond and put it in my vacuum chamber pulling about 9 lbs for 30 min. I let it dry and watched it real close for a couple of weeks measuring to see if there was any shrinkage and none was observed.Finished the knife and sold it so I hope I don"t get a email with the words we don"t want to hear.Anyway that is a beautiful knife you have put together one piece to be very proud of. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Kevin,

I'm happy to report that I received a call in the past week or so from the purchaser of this little Musk-Ox handled knife. He called, by the way, to order another knife, so I had a feeling things had gone well with the handle material on this one, but, of course I asked how it was doing.

He said the Ox horn was doing fine, with no apparent change at all. As I pointed out in the earlier posts, I, like many other makers, allow for minor changes by "bull-nosing" joining surfaces and other techniques.

If we're going to use natural materials like ivory, wood, stag, and horn, we have to understand that natural materials will "breathe" and move small amounts, and allow for that in our building methods. We also have to understand there may be occasional problems, and be willing to stand behind our work.

To refuse to employ the beauty of natural handle materials out of fear of problems or lack of necessary techniques would rob me of much of the joy I get from making knives, and from the joy of hearing back from a very satisfied customer as in this case.

John
 
I'm glad to hear of the continued success of the horn scales. It makes an exceptionally beautiful handle. I too am a huge fan of natural materials. I haven't used horn of any type for many years for a couple of reasons. One being the inherent instability but the other being that my olfactory senses rebelled.;) Most handle materials have a strong odor but horn seems to be the most offensive to me (especially sheep). I've not tried the muskox and hopefully it is much kinder this way.

Beautiful work, John. Looking forward to see what you bring to Little Rock.
 
John White said:
Kevin,

I'm happy to report that I received a call in the past week or so from the purchaser of this little Musk-Ox handled knife. He called, by the way, to order another knife, so I had a feeling things had gone well with the handle material on this one, but, of course I asked how it was doing.

He said the Ox horn was doing fine, with no apparent change at all. As I pointed out in the earlier posts, I, like many other makers, allow for minor changes by "bull-nosing" joining surfaces and other techniques.

If we're going to use natural materials like ivory, wood, stag, and horn, we have to understand that natural materials will "breathe" and move small amounts, and allow for that in our building methods. We also have to understand there may be occasional problems, and be willing to stand behind our work.

To refuse to employ the beauty of natural handle materials out of fear of problems or lack of necessary techniques would rob me of much of the joy I get from making knives, and from the joy of hearing back from a very satisfied customer as in this case.

John
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Know what you are saying John as practically all knives I purchase have either ivory or stag handles. I'm not sure custom knives could hold my interest without these beautiful natural materials.

Thanks for reporting on the knife as we so often hear the "somethings gone wrong" stories, however hardly ever hear the many "everythings fine" stories.
 
John, a beautiful knife.
I'll probably never own a knife handled in such material, but was happy to hear your customer pleased and your guarantee was very reassuring I'm sure. Heck, it was to me and I don't even own one of your knives, yet. :-)
My Best,
Dozier (not bob)
 
Reviving an old thread. Agreed, beautiful knife and a beautiful material. Does stabilizing solve the movement issues? Does it effect the natural beauty of the horn?
 
This is second hand info so bear that in mind.
There is a certain knife maker who uses musk ox on a lot of kitchen knives.
My understanding is that he uses multiple applications of thin CA glue when finishing to prevent movement.
 
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