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Well, I'm finally back from spending Christmas with the family, and one of the highlights was a trip to the Warther knife factory and museum. I never would have thought to visit there, but my brother likes to carve so he dragged me along. Man, what an awesome museum. The museum is in Dover Ohio and is a tribute to the carvings of Ernest "Mooney" Warther. The Museum also houses the Warther knife company which is actually just a woodshop of about 2000 sq. ft.

Almost all the carvings in the museum are made from Ebony and Ivory, with a few other domestic woods. He pretty much dedicated himself to carving the history of the steam locomotives. The pics here don't do justice to the detail of the work, but here are a few pics from the museum:



The pic below is from Lincolns funeral train:




This one is solid ivory:



The wood from this carving is one of the few that weren't mostly ebony. It is a wood from Brazil (which I can't remember) that apparently has an oil which comes out while the parts are moving. They have been this way for over 70 years without needing any oiling.


Of course I couldn't leave without buying a couple carving knives. Their knives are all top quality. If you're ever in the area, the museum is one of those hidden gems that you shouldn't pass up.

Cheers!

John

BTW, you guys would have drooled over some of the 100 pound slabs of Ebony and Ivory laying all over the musuem and shop!

Sorta makes you want to break into an old Beatles song, doesn't it. Those
are spectacular pieces of work. Not to put them down in any way, but
would you really call them carved? They look more like they were
machined much like we fabricate guitar parts. Either way, I'm a sucker for
model trains. I think I was five when I first fell in love with them.
Craig

David Warther is the current carver there - fifth generation, by the way. He
does sailing ships:



He's also a source for legal elephant ivory. . .

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

How would you rate the Warther carving knives compared to other's carving knives?

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

That is unbelieveable. Wow.     I have a small bag of ivory that I bought from them a while back. Will make saddles and nuts when I feel I can do it justice.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Great stuff.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

wow!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Unbelievable! Those are really gorgeous trains.