Camel bone scales

Jesse Smith

Jesse Smith

Joined
Dec 2, 2013
Messages
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16252354_1068104983317154_7856206461076466283_o.jpg


This is camel bone. How is this look achieved? Is natural bone not plain white, how does one get all the color contrast rather than dying it a solid color?

I did some searching but the threads were all talking about dying a solid color.
 
Multiple dying with different soak times and sanding between dyes. Stabilize when desired depth is achieved.
 
I'll second what Stacy said, with the emphasis on Soak Time. I have died and stabilized a good bit of Camel bone scales and that particular scale your pic is of I have achieved frequently when dying with a light brown die and a fairly short soak time. I also have achieved that look (undesired) when attempting a yellow color die and a longer soak time. If you want a deep color, I have found camel bone to take an keep a die color well with long soak times, I actually did some in a dark brown, and customers couldn't tell the difference between the dark brown camel bone and XXX Walnut I had on the same knife pattern.

Good luck!
 
Thank you for the responses. For post dying stabilization, is that something I should be sending to the pros for, like stabilizing wood blocks. Or can bone be done easily by oneself?
 
Jesse, I do a lot of stabilizing myself---in my other passion--Pen Making---I stabilized a lot of pen blanks--and also knife scales--I highly recommend the vacuum pump stabilizing systems sold by many including the guru who sales the stabilizing solution 'Cactus Juice' Curtis O'Seebeck check out some of his YouTube vids and you'll see how simple it is. https://www.turntex.com/ My favorite pen stuff vendor is Exotic Blanks--Ed is a great person, and answers his phone personally and will help you however he can. This is the system I got from Ed and have used a bunch: https://www.exoticblanks.com/Wood-S...dium-Chamber-System-Excludes-Vacuum-Pump.html this one from the Bay looks like a great deal and includes a vacuum pump: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Gallon-St...213609?hash=item4896985f69:g:ieQAAOSwA3dYWZMI As you can see on Turn Tex website you can dye silmultaneously with stabilibzing and this does a nice job IMO. Cactus Juice seems expensive but it does a really good job IME. If your a buy the best you can kind of guy, I found higher end vacuum pumps--they can be bought here: https://www.nationaltoolwarehouse.com/8-CFM-VacuMaster-Pump-P129025.aspx

Good luck to you.
 
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