Musk ox horn Gambler

Mark Knapp

Mark Knapp

Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Messages
4,421
I don't name many knives, I pretty much make "one-offs", but this one just seemed deserving of the name. It has a musk ox horn, derringer shaped handle, ATS34 blade about 2 3/4 inches long, nickle silver guard and overall length of 6 1/4 inches. It is accompanied by a wear-anywhere sheath. The horn color is obtained by heating it in a dry oven to just the point before it burns up, not a task for the nervouse maker, I runt a couple, but I like the effect. Thanks for looking Mark
knives22409004.jpg
 
Mark:
That musk ox horn is absolutely beautiful. I think in the near future, I am going to have to get some to make a knife for myself. Will contact you when ready. Nice knife also.

Marcel
 
That's a nice looking little knife!
 
Man that's nice. I've never seen anything quite like the musk ox, it is absolutely stunning!

The whole package is just perfect.

Is it possible to show more of that sheath?
 
Bigblue17 said:
Man that's nice. I've never seen anything quite like the musk ox, it is absolutely stunning!

The whole package is just perfect.

Is it possible to show more of that sheath?
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Hi Blue, I am sorry, the knife has been shipped to its new home, this is the only shot I have of it, I would be happy to answer any questions though.
Thanks for all the nice comments everybody. Mark
 
Hello Mark,
You have done it again. This is one beautiful small hunting knife. I love what you did with the horn.I hope to see you in Eugene.
Tom
 
Marcel J.B. Morin said:
Mark:
That musk ox horn is absolutely beautiful. I think in the near future, I am going to have to get some to make a knife for myself. Will contact you when ready. Nice knife also.

Marcel
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OK Marcel, I will try to keep some around for you, sometimes it's hard to get, (keep). Thanks for the nice comment. Mark
 
drjaysnet said:
Hello Mark,
You have done it again. This is one beautiful small hunting knife. I love what you did with the horn.I hope to see you in Eugene.
Tom
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Hi Tom, Nice to here from you, I hope to get to Eugene again soon too, I really love that show. Thanks for the nice words. Talk to you again soon Mark
 
Bill Burke said:
Nice knife Mark. I really like the effect of the heat on the handle.
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Thanks Bill, I have been messing around with different things, treating my material really badly, sometimes with desasterous results but once in a while something really cool comes out of it. Something else they used to do in the olden days is ebonize wood by putting it in a canister with different metal filings and water, the chemical change makes things darker or black, so I have been experimenting with stuffing things in canisters with metals and water, it's a lotta fun. Talk to you later Mark
 
What a beautiful and functional knife. The heated Musk ox is really something. I have to try that sometime.
Kevin
 
hey Mark, in the past I have heated sheep horn to the stage of turning brown and foud that it got king of brittle. Did you notice anything like that with the Musk Ox horn? it didn'tshow up until six or so months after I had put the hornon a knife.
 
The last musk ox I had stabilized. It seems to stiffen it up well. If it does get brittle that should help it out.
Dang thats nice Mark!
 
Your making it very very difficult not to buy some of that Musk Ox horn. That s really nice knife.

SDS
 
Bill Burke said:
hey Mark, in the past I have heated sheep horn to the stage of turning brown and foud that it got king of brittle. Did you notice anything like that with the Musk Ox horn? it didn'tshow up until six or so months after I had put the hornon a knife.
Click to expand...

Hi Bill, I have been stuffing all kinds of horn in the oven with both good results and not so good results. I have found that fresher horn with moisture and oils still in the horn reacts very well and results in a very nice, harder material that polishes up better than un-tempered horn. However, very dry horn does not do well, it turns chalky. With any of it there is a very thin window between good color and burned-up material. I sit at the oven with the door cracked and a flash light and watch the color change, as soon as the color is how I want it on a particular piece I pull it out with some tongs. It all happens very fast once the material gets up to color changing temperature. Just a few seconds too long and you've ruined a piece.
 
Mark Knapp said:
Thanks Bill, I have been messing around with different things, treating my material really badly, sometimes with desasterous results but once in a while something really cool comes out of it. Something else they used to do in the olden days is ebonize wood by putting it in a canister with different metal filings and water, the chemical change makes things darker or black, so I have been experimenting with stuffing things in canisters with metals and water, it's a lotta fun. Talk to you later Mark
Click to expand...

Your experiments are bearing interesting fruit.:)

That's a fine knife most anyone would be glad to own.
 
Bruce Bump said:
The last musk ox I had stabilized. It seems to stiffen it up well. If it does get brittle that should help it out.
Dang thats nice Mark!
Click to expand...


Yep, it helps, I think that the hot-cure stabilizing that most are doing now probably "tempers" and hardens the horn material itself as well as filling in all the microscopic voids. It probably goes without saying that materials should not be heat colored after they have been stabilized.

Thanks Bruce and Bill (everyone) for all the nice comments.
 
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