Anyone tried replicating Case's dark red from the 70's ?

[Hickory n steel]

Here are a couple pictures I've borrowed off the Internet



My Case 08 from 2018

And a stock photo for the dark red cheetah cub I have on pre-order.

My 08 and this cheetah cub are both good representative examples of what their current dark red bone looks like when it's dyed well.
It's bad , but their dark red was much darker back in the 60's -70's and richer so I'd like to try and replicate it if I can.

So has anybody tried to replicate this before ?
I don't even know what color of RIT I'd use to darken it.
Would I use a similar red and just soak it to get the color darker or would I want to dye over it with a different color ?
Whenever I want to make fake blood for Halloween I mix a tiny bit of black or blue food coloring with a lot of red to get the color I want, but I don't think that's going to work with dying bone.
The 2026 vault knife isn't being released for awhile so I've got plenty of time to get this figured out before I receive the knife.

I'm open to all suggestions from anybody with more experience using RIT dye on knives than I do, I did a couple last year and that's it.

 

[screened porch]

RIT is too complicated for me. I'd try leather dye, if I weren't going to leave it alone.

 

[black mamba]

I always thought of the old Case redbone as being a brownish red, so I would try a little brown with it.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I always thought of the old Case redbone as being a brownish red, so I would try a little brown with it.

That might do, but I'll have to figure out which brown to use.
I used the RIT brown I have left over ( regular brown and chocolate brown proved to be the same thing ) on a rifle stock and this is what I got

So I'm wondering if I may need something darker, but I have yet to try mixing it with Red.

 

[jmh33]

In the early 90 I toured the factory and was told that one of the reasons the dye was changed because kerosene was 1 of the chemicals used. The EPA outlawed their process.
John

 

[waynorth]

Red dye no.3 has evidence of a carcinogenic nature. It has been banned on and off for years!!

 

[Hickory n steel]

Red dye no.3 has evidence of a carcinogenic nature. I has been banned on and off for years!!

I'm sure it does.
Now does this mean that there is no available red dye that on it's own can replicate the color.
I guess if it were some kind of proprietary color that really mattered to Case they could have had some kind of suitable substitute dye formulated for them.


I really don't think it should be hard at all for me to replicate their old dark red, or at least achieve something that's satisfactory to my eye anyways.
Just darkening it up some would go a long way and make a massive difference, I just need to figure out what color of dye to use.

 

[Hickory n steel]

If picking an existing formula that I think might to the job when accounting for the factory dyed color I think these 2 options of RIT all purpose might be good contenders.

Berry red.

Berry — Rit Dye

Color for your clothing, décor, crafts & more. Thousands of colors to choose from. Non-toxic. Made in the USA for over 100 years.

www.ritdye.com

Or passport red

Passport Red — Rit Dye

Color for your clothing, décor, crafts & more. Thousands of colors to choose from. Non-toxic. Made in the USA for over 100 years.

www.ritdye.com

I'm not sure what kind of color combination effect I can really get with any color I dye over the original.
I don't know if say a very dark brown over the original color would come out looking like I had combined the 2 colors together.

 

[Modoc ED]

Travman might help you out. He and his BIL have experience and good results with their dying method. They've gotten good results dying the covers of the 2024 BF knives.

 

[Travman]

This thread might have some good examples and some advice on dyeing knives.

Thread 'Custom Dyed GEC’s by Nathan & Travis'

Aug 31, 2023

I’m so happy with the dye job on these two GEC’s. I have always loved deep red dyed bone on a pocket knife. However, many red bone GEC’s tend to lean towards pink. I have tried dyeing knives in the past, but was always discouraged by the corrosive action of dyes like RIT. These two knives were dyed by my Bro-in-law. He uses an industrial lacquer based dye that is non-corrosive and does an excellent job of penetrating deeply and not leaching out. I’m excited because I have often turned down red GEC’s because of the white to pink edges around the bolsters. We should be able to fix that issue...

• Travman
• Replies: 249
• Forum: Traditional Folders and Fixed Blades

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[Hickory n steel]

This thread might have some good examples and some advice on dyeing knives.

Thread 'Custom Dyed GEC’s by Nathan & Travis'

Aug 31, 2023

I’m so happy with the dye job on these two GEC’s. I have always loved deep red dyed bone on a pocket knife. However, many red bone GEC’s tend to lean towards pink. I have tried dyeing knives in the past, but was always discouraged by the corrosive action of dyes like RIT. These two knives were dyed by my Bro-in-law. He uses an industrial lacquer based dye that is non-corrosive and does an excellent job of penetrating deeply and not leaching out. I’m excited because I have often turned down red GEC’s because of the white to pink edges around the bolsters. We should be able to fix that issue...

• Travman
• Replies: 249
• Forum: Traditional Folders and Fixed Blades

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Thanks for linking this and for sharing the info and doing the work in the 1st place.
I read through a bunch but never saw the name of the Dye used mentioned anywhere, did you ever reveal the brand of dye being used ?

 

[waynorth]

Some Case Redbone to compare!!!

 

[Hickory n steel]

Thanks for all of these examples.

 

[jmh33]

Some Case Redbone to compare!!!
View attachment 3071662View attachment 3071663View attachment 3071664View attachment 3071665View attachment 3071666View attachment 3071667View attachment 3071668View attachment 3071669View attachment 3071670View attachment 3071671

Show off!!
Just teasing!!
John

 

[knarfeng]

Red dye no.3 has evidence of a carcinogenic nature. I has been banned on and off for years!!

I'm not sure that it was Dye #3, but will defer to your knowledge. (However, it was my understanding that Case had their own dye formula, which they could no longer make due to toxicity of the ingredients.)

To my knowledge none of the manufacturer's have matched it as a production process. Some of our members have tweaked the modern red knives to get something closer to the old color.
Here's a couple of threads from past discussions over the years. Unfortunately, a lot of the photos are gone.

Thread 'Case Red Bone'

Jan 14, 2011

Hi All,

I did some searching around for pictures of Case Red Bone and found a few pictures of some seriously sweet oldies. I looked at stock photos of the currently available line but the stock photos never seem to do the handles justice. What's the story with the new line compared with the old? Anybody care to share some pics of Case Red Bone?

Thanks in advance. :thumbup::thumbup:

• jazub
• Replies: 38
• Forum: Traditional Folders and Fixed Blades

Thread 'Case "Dark Red" Bone'

Feb 9, 2016

I just got this one in the mail today, and I'm pretty sure it's going back tomorrow. I like everything about this knife... except the color. I'm amazed that Case calls this "Dark Red Bone." I mean, maybe it's sort of dark(ish) there in the center, but towards the bolsters I'd say it's closer to pink.

No pink on the opposite side, at least, but it's not "dark red" either. I'd call it...

• btb01
• Replies: 55
• Forum: Traditional Folders and Fixed Blades

Thread 'Something I've been "dyeing" to show'

Nov 5, 2015

Scored this amber bone large stockman for a song off of ebuy-well slightly less than new price-hey its not a bargain if you don't need it right?
Even with the pathetic exchange rate it wasn't a bad score.:thumbup:
The amber bone was OK but I had the bug to go dyeing so I turned it cherry.
A cherry now it is IMO.

• meako
• Replies: 28
• Forum: Traditional Folders and Fixed Blades

Matching a dye color is "challenging". I speak from professional experience of many years ago.

 

[waynorth]

When I asked Bill to make HJ3 (equal end) when he was still at Queen, I asked him to make a "Bradford Red" to resemble the old Case Redbone!!
Here are some results:

 

[knarfeng]

When I asked Bill to make HJ3 (equal end) when he was still at Queen, I asked him to make a "Bradford Red" to resemble the old Case Redbone!!
Here are some results:View attachment 3071707View attachment 3071708

That's the closest I've seen. Did it ever go into standard production?

 

[Hickory n steel]

Matching a dye color is "challenging". I speak from professional experience of many years ago.

Yeah I never expected to perfectly match it, really I just want it evenly/ thoroughly dyed a darker deeper shade of red than they come from the factory.

 

[meako]

I reckon even if the dye was made from breast milk the label would bear a toxicity warning nowdays.

 

[waynorth]

That's the closest I've seen. Did it ever go into standard production?

Just my SFO!! None that I recall since that HJ in late 2005!!
Bill left Queen in 2006, and I went over with him in his "new" business!!