Case deep canyon chestnut mini copperhead bone dye enhancement

[Doug Add]

Okay, so the process is on. The knife is simmering in the dye on the stovetop as I type.

Here are the before pictures.

Updates to follow.

 

[Railsplitter]

Doug, I think it looks pretty good in its current state. Can't wait to see the enhanced version!:thumbup:

 

[Doug Add]

Too much dark brown RIT in the first attempt. I am starting again, this time with only sunshine orange dye.

But I may have passed a point of no return on having orange as the base color.

 

[Flying Guillotine]

Be sure to check progress regularly. Maybe keep a mug of clean hot water for a quick rinse on hand? (hello microwave)

Good luck!

 

[Doug Add]

Be sure to check progress regularly. Maybe keep a mug of clean hot water for a quick rinse on hand? (hello microwave)

Good luck!

Good idea, got some heating up right now.

 

[Finedges]

Very interested to see results. Case should have that canyon bone darker and a little more burnt to start with. Best of luck!

 

[Will Power]

Interested in all of this as I didn't even realize CASE had released such a knife.

Don't mind the original colour but I always applaud experimentation.

Does this 'cooking' (thinks of Rachel Rae...) alter the action of the knife??

Thanks, Will

 

[Doug Add]

Will, the action seems just fine. It was a bit stiff in the joints after the initial flush, but a short soak in mineral oil then some working of the blades open and close, and it is just like new.

Off to shoot some after pictures now.

 

[Doug Add]

Okay, picture taking was a bit frustrating because I don't have the same light. My before shots were taken at a different time of day than I am working with now. Nonetheless, I have tried to capture a fair comparison.

I just realized that I oriented the knife differently for the bottom shot, so the thicker bone of the pen blade side is on the right in the before shot and on the left in the after shot. Sorry about that.

The wharncliffe blade side was a bit darker than the pen blade side to begin with, and that remains the case after the dye job.

Wharncliffe side before:

Wharncliffe side after:

Pen side before:

Pen side after:

Bottom before:

Bottom after:

 

[SubSpace]

What color dye did you use? I want to try this with mine!

 

[sitflyer]

Looks good :thumbup:

 

[Railsplitter]

Nice improvement, Doug. It looks great!

 

[Doug Add]

My thanks to Flying Guillotine and jamesbeat for their instruction and encouragement on the process.

SubSpace, I used liquid RIT dye: Sunshine Orange and Dark Brown.

For my first attempt (which was too brown for what I wanted) I used 3 tablespoons of the Sunshine Orange and 1 tablespoon of the Dark Brown in about 2 cups of water. After 10 minutes in that dye mix I decided to start over. I rinsed the knife and began the whole process again, this time with 3 tablespoons of Sunshine Orange alone.

_______________

Edited to say what I should have initially. The second dye, with just the orange, I let go on for about half an hour. I checked it periodically, following FG's advice by dipping it in similarly heated clear water. Once I realized the color was not going to change much more, I turned off the heat and began the cooling process.

 

[Finedges]

Wow. Outstanding results! That's how Case shoulda done it. Great job.

 

[Flying Guillotine]

Good going! Glad you could fix it up how you like it :thumbup:

 

[rockgolfer]

I have the same copperhead. Great job, think I will do the same.

 

[meako]

definitely better looking.
The "black" saddlehorn I did a couple of weeks ago has been in my bumbag eversince and there is no sign of any fading or dye job breaking down in any way.
I had a mild panic attack two days ago though. I was sculpting with FIMO with my kids and must have got some in the pivot. The clip blade started actoing VERY sluggish.
No amount of oiling & poking with a toothpick would get it snapping again. I finally resorted to a soak in the clean washing up water. Dryed ,oiled and all good.NO effect on black dye from the hot water either.

 

[Mack]

That is looking great. It's a wonderful knife and making it look that good is huge bonus. You won't want to put it down.

 

[Doug Add]

That is looking great. It's a wonderful knife and making it look that good is huge bonus. You won't want to put it down.

Thanks, and you are right. I'm sure there will be a struggle tomorrow between this one and the Queen Dan Burke half whittler which has not yet seen pocket time since I got it a couple weeks ago.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Hey Doug, mate...you are a brave man!...I thought it looked pretty good before-But now it looks even better!!!...well done my friend, and thanks for taking us through this.