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

[Hickory n steel]

With the last couple of Case knives I dyed I didn't get any warping, nor did I get much corrosion on the CS blades because I thought taped them up.
I got a few little minor spots but they were users that are now covered in patina so it just added to their character.

A few more candidates are
Maybe heavy Scarlet ?

Heavy Scarlet — 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 Roma Tomato

Roma Tomato — 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

That passport red looks the best to me, but I'm suspecting that it may be a bit too close to whatever dye Case uses at the factory so I'm thinking it would be best to mix in another color to darken it up some.

 

[Travman]

This one came from the factory as an unsatisfactory lighter red with light pink edges. I couldn’t stand looking at it so I added dark red many times and used a hairdryer to give it just enough heat for the dye to absorb into the bone.

I have been using Angelis Leather Dyes for the past two years. I use lacquer thinner to dilute the dye if I’m going to submerge a knife into the liquid. https://angelusdirect.com/collections/angelus-dye-1

BTW, the clean up of the knife is hard work. It isn’t easy getting all the dye out of the areas of the knife, especially if the knife had been submerged in the liquid. After physically removing as much dye as possible with paper towels, I then wash the entire knife with soap and water. This is where it gets tricky, because if you use super hot water, it will instantly patina the blades. So you want to use slightly warm water, but not super hot. If the knife is a user and you’re not worried about putting a little patina on a new satin blade, then it doesn’t matter. I will then completely dry the knife with compressed air. Then I spray the whole thing down with Basistol oil or WD-40. Then after a few minutes, I clean the whole thing again with paper towels. Then I wrap the knife in clean paper towels with a rubber band around the whole package. Then I carry it in my pocket and the action of carrying it around and the heat of my body helps displace any extra oil or dye and that will reach out onto the wrap of the paper towels.

Now, if the knife is still leaking out any dye then I have to do the whole washing, drying, and oiling process again. If after all this, the knife color did not turn out the way it was supposed to, then we start all over and work even harder and longer with even more heat to get the dye to absorb. Many of the knives I have dyed and shown off are the result of several weeks or months of working on them. A few of the knives have been very easy and only took one attempt. The easy ones tend to be white bone knives that came from the factory as white bone knives.

 

[SharpBits]

I suspect that the secret ingredient to Case red was the mineral cinnabar. Cinnabar contains mercury and is, according to Wikipedia, “the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury.”

Cinnabar was used for centuries as a dye component.

 

[sceva]

The old case red was great as was the old Robeson reds.

Boker came close

 

[5K Qs]

I've never tried dying bone covers, so I have no advice for the OP.

I'm not even very good at distinguishing among various shades of a given color, but I can sometimes compare color well enough to decide whether I like one better than another. I'm an admitted Rough Rider addict (not even trying to recover), so I'll give you examples of a couple of red RRs.
Here's a a stockman with a shade of red I don't really care for. To me, it seems similar to the current shade of Case red that Hickory n steel wants to change.

Here's another red RR stockman whose color I really like. To me, it looks somewhat similar to the older version of Case red that Hickory n steel wants to replicate (but this RR is still not dark enough to match the old Case red).

FWIW, here are some older Case knives I have that I think might be the Case redbone people fondly recall. (But I've heard of Case "pretty bone" and am not sure I can tell the difference between that and the iconic redbone.)

- GT

 

[Hickory n steel]

(But I've heard of Case "pretty bone" and am not sure I can tell the difference between that and the iconic redbone.)

That's a term I haven't heard in probably 15 years, but I remember hearing it a lot at one time.

 

[lambertiana]

I suspect that the secret ingredient to Case red was the mineral cinnabar. Cinnabar contains mercury and is, according to Wikipedia, “the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury.”

Cinnabar was used for centuries as a dye component.

Cinnabar was used as a pigment, and is only able to cover a surface. Dyes can be absorbed into the material.

 

[SharpBits]

Cinnabar was used as a pigment, and is only able to cover a surface. Dyes can be absorbed into the material.

Some say it was used by ancient cultures to dye fabrics. Not sure why it would not work for bone? (Link removed by me)

 

[lambertiana]

Some say it was used by ancient cultures to dye fabrics. Not sure why it would not work for bone? https://arcaneinvention.com/dyes-derived-from-cinnabar-and-mercury-compounds/

I can’t use that link because it tries to launch malware. But other sources say that while cinnabar has been used for fabric, it works poorly because it isn’t absorbed very well. That would be the primary reason it would be a poor choice for bone. To get the rich deep color it has to penetrate and bind. While cinnabar has a long history of use for coloring many things, including bones and teeth in ancient burials, it is a surface treatment.

 

[SharpBits]

I can’t use that link because it tries to launch malware. But other sources say that while cinnabar has been used for fabric, it works poorly because it isn’t absorbed very well. That would be the primary reason it would be a poor choice for bone. To get the rich deep color it has to penetrate and bind. While cinnabar has a long history of use for coloring many things, including bones and teeth in ancient burials, it is a surface treatment.

Thanks for the info. I’ll delete that link. I use a tablet that is immune to Windows malware, so I never see the junk that’s out there.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I just realized that many of these colors don't actually exist and are formulas you can create.
The only existing RIT color offering that I like and think would work is Canyon red.

Canyon All-Puprose Liquid Dye: Rit Dye Online Store

Deliver vibrant color to almost any type of fabric or fabric blend, including cotton, linen, silk, wool, rayon, ramie or nylon. This dye can even color wood, wicker, paper and cork Perfect for rejuvenating faded clothing, changing the color of apparel, shoes or accessories, coordinating home...

store.ritdye.com

It does look pretty good though and over the factory color just might come out fairly well.

 

[meako]

Ever since the dyeing days of 2024...Ive found Angelus leather dye easier and nicer to use than RIT.....that cherry red large stockman turned out well with RIT though.

 

[Travman]

I would personally never use RIT dye again. From personal experience, it always ends up causing too much corrosion and pitting into the carbon steel knives. The stronger it is concentrated the more this happens. you can try certain tricks like not completely submerging the knife and only dying the knife from the top. You can try taping off the blades when you submerge the knife, however, this is not a perfect solution and of course you’re introducing pitting and corrosion into the blade well.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I would personally never use RIT dye again. From personal experience, it always ends up causing too much corrosion and pitting into the carbon steel knives. The stronger it is concentrated the more this happens. you can try certain tricks like not completely submerging the knife and only dying the knife from the top. You can try taping off the blades when you submerge the knife, however, this is not a perfect solution and of course you’re introducing pitting and corrosion into the blade well.

So that means the only safe method is using leather dye which is a nightmare to clean up ?
Have you tried mineral spirits or acetone for cleanup?
What about tightly packing the blade well with plastic wrap or maybe play dough or something to keep as much of it out as possible?
I'd try the leather dye if there's a way that clean up can be simplified, but if it's going to be a nightmare then I'm not sure.

I didn't personally have any significant issues with the Case knives I RIT dyed before since the back springs are SS, but the cheetah cub is a lock back and I don't know what their lockbar springs are made of.

 

[SteveC]

So that means the only safe method is using leather dye which is a nightmare to clean up ?
Have you tried mineral spirits or acetone for cleanup?
What about tightly packing the blade well with plastic wrap or maybe play dough or something to keep as much of it out as possible?
I'd try the leather dye if there's a way that clean up can be simplified, but if it's going to be a nightmare then I'm not sure.

I didn't personally have any significant issues with the Case knives I RIT dyed before since the back springs are SS, but the cheetah cub is a lock back and I don't know what their lockbar springs are made of.

I used Rubbing alcohol to clean up when I used leather dye. I did not submerge the knife, I applied with q-tips only on the heated bone.

 

[meako]

"Prevention is better than cure."
Quotation from Obadiah Porchinington 1685- 1811.. Porchenberg industrialist and founder of the vast
Porchenberg Knife Dyeing Works. Known for clinging to outmoded methods then claiming credit for modernisation.Reputedly the man Charles Dickens based Ebeneezer Scrooge on. Workers at the dye works would frequently be covered in dye and their wages docked accordingly for pilfering. This lead to the workforce consisting mainly of young children whose diminutive size prevented too much dye being pilfered . In one instance a large burly fellow named Tubby McWhirter literally worked an entire year for no pay. Rumour has it that Obadiah Porchingtons Perfect Pastries and Puddings situated next door was partially responsible for Tubbys dilemma..he was employed by Obadiah as a volunteer pudding taster.
In1810 Obadiah fell foul of the Porchenberg Society for the Prevention of Exploitation of Dwarves and Midgets...his attempt to employ them and pay childs wages based on height lead to a violent uprising whereby he was dyed a sickly grey* colour in his own vats.The corpse dismembered and fed to Old Chomper the 200 year old 37ft long Estuarine Crocodile at Porchenberg Zoological Gardens...who is still alive today on display. ....feeding time daily 2pm...Grey Clothing Not Permitted since 1986 when Chompy escaped and ate 12 people who wore grey. He sure has a likin' for the colour grey.


* The colour Sickly Grey (reg tm) is now owned by Case.

This is what happens when I don't get to do a tube label.
And now back to your normal programme.
RIT pitting not too bad ..this is the worst of it and done about 9 yrs ago.
The RIT Cerry Red ended up somewhere between Brick Red and Chestnut Brown

Pleasing result using Angelus Tan eather dye on a 2024 #273....#131 is original colour.

Better pic .

 

[Hickory n steel]

* The colour Sickly Grey (reg tm) is now owned by Case.

I also greatly dislike the color of their pocket worn gray bone, but it has at times been the only way to get a pattern I want in CS.
Gray delrin is less hideous because it's an even solid grey, but still I just don't find it to be a very attractive color choice for knife covers.

Great job dying that one by the way.
On the 1st grey bone I dyed the color I used could never 100% hide the fact that it was originally gray.
Nobody would know if not told, but I can tell.

 

[Hickory n steel]

This is the last knife I used RIT on back at the time.
You can see that there's not much corrosion on the twng, and I'm pretty sure most of that is actually from the peroxide I used unsuccessfully to try bleaching the original color out.
View attachment 3073747

 

[AdamFuzzyballs]

The only caution I will offer is that I have RIT dyed probably 5 Case knives, and the biggest issue I see possible here is that the RIT turns the bone very dull, I hypothesize that it probably is thinner than the solution they use at the factory, therefore it fills in the tiny tiny pores and essentially steals all of the translucence that the bone has from factory.

The other issue I have is I can never seem to blend the new color into the old color- it seems more like a splitch splatch of the two colors instead of mixing to a new shade.

I would suggest the lightish tan color available from RIT, followed by oiling the bone to darken it. If you go darker than the red that is already on it, I think you will just end up with a more vibrant red, not the darkish old color you’re replicating.

I’m hoping you have good luck, because the fire engine red that Case does now so often wears into “not quite red, not quite pink” in my experience.

 

[Oldy]

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!!

Have you ever revisited this topic with bill after starting gec,that would be a color I can get behind as long as it's throughly saturated.