Dyed Some Case Bone

Eli Chaps

Eli Chaps

Joined
Apr 20, 2018
Messages
4,458
So I had aTruSharp Amber Bone Case MiniCopperlock with decidedly mismatched scales. The shield side was a nice orange but the other side was quite anemic.

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I'd tried some tea staining before but it didn't do much at all.

So, after seeing Camillus Camillus , @Signalprick and ogthers modifying their knives, and having time on my hands these days, I decided to see what I could do with this one. Now, I wasn't diving into making new scales but I was game for some less invasive procedures. :)

My concern was, I'd just end up with colored scales that were still dark on one side and light on the other. But, these scales bugged me as is so why not give it a try? And my wife loves red so...

This was my crude work setup:
pPKeEhK.jpg


I went with a darker (Scarlett) red in hopes that would help. The foil pan I rigged up to see how well just soaking the light side would do. Not a whole lot. Here's I'm mopping on the hot dye/water/dishsoap solution onto the light side and letting it dry. I did this a number of times between full soaks.

The shield side turned out nice and actually has a lot of depth in person. It's also brighter than the picture makes it look:

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The pale side is still lighter than the shield side but it is not nearly as obvious as before:

MSrfodd.jpg


I did not use the peroxide bleaching method. I just cleaned with 99% alcohol and went at it. It took several sessions to get the knife to this point and if I do it again I think I'd try the bleach method.

There was some stubborn die spots like along the circular wear lines on the blade tang and the back spacers but some time with a Dremmel and some elbow grease got that pretty well sorted.

Overall I am pleased and the wife loves it and it is now hers to go along with her red Cheetah.

Would I do it again? I think so. I mean I like it much better now than before and it is a user so why not? I might consider using some petroleum jelly on the metal in places to make clean up easier. I was going to this round but couldn't find the jar and well, I'd um had at least one beer and my creative juices were flowing and well, you know...:p

Hope you all are well friends. :thumbsup:
 
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I think that is a great improvement! I will admit to not being a fan of Case Amber Bone at all, I like the darker colors on my knives, especially dark red and dark brown. OH
 
[QUOTE="Eli Chaps, post:

I went with a darker (Scarlett) red in hopes that would help.
7nCUCrU.jpg



The pale side is still lighter than the shield side but it is not nearly as obvious as before:

MSrfodd.jpg

QUOTE]
The mark side turned out great!!:thumbsup: The pile side is OK, but could maybe use a couple more applications??;) Nice knife either way!!
 
Hi Charlie. I put numerous coats on that side, to include straight dye. It got to the point that I don't think it was soaking it up any more and most buff off.

So I stopped there. But this is the reason I think the bleaching approach would likely be better. Start out more even to get more even results.
 
I'm a little OCD, Eli!! Good Job!!
I did some staining yesterday, coincidently!! This HHB was in my pocket, and I had gotten a sample of potassium permanganate!
Thought I'd try it out!!
Before;
HHB sunday 1.jpg

After!! HHB plus ppm 1.jpg
It does what it should on stag!! Quite permanent!!
 
waynorth said:
I'm a little OCD, Eli!! Good Job!!
I did some staining yesterday, coincidently!! This HHB was in my pocket, and I had gotten a sample of potassium permanganate!
Thought I'd try it out!!
Before;
View attachment 1326431

After!! View attachment 1326432
It does what it should on stag!! Quite permanent!!
Click to expand...
Looks good Charlie, much improved. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Just curious, did the stag nearest the bolster not respond to the PP or was it not treated?
BTW, now you've got to update your signature line. ;)
 
Nice knives! Incidently yesterday I tried using H2O2 on a knife I had previously dyed with RIT and it didn’t seem to work. I am going to give it another try - but just a heads up that H2O2 may only work on the factory dye (tbc).
 
Attempting to dye a knife is certainly a big decision. I wouldn’t recommend it if the knife is valuable - better to leave it original and sell or trade it if you don’t like it.

I have dyed maybe ten knives total and most of those were just re-dyeing the knife with its original color because there were patches in the dye.
 
redsparrow said:
Looks good Charlie, much improved. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Just curious, did the stag nearest the bolster not respond to the PP or was it not treated?
BTW, now you've got to update your signature line. ;)
Click to expand...
I tried it on the pile side!:rolleyes: It doesn't look as good on the part that is sanded "white"!!:( I'm going to sand it off that part!!:)
BTW, the knife in my sig is a different one!!:D
 
I would skip bleach and try hydrogen peroxide instead...but go easy as it is still an oxidizer … since you already dyed; however, that would seem like a step backward. Perhaps just lay the one side down in a shallow bath of your dye solution to let it "catch up" in the dying process. Masking is key...I put a little mineral oil on the metal surfaces, wipe off excess and then mask to prevent any unwanted staining. This was a Golden Ale jigged bone before I dyed...no salt, no soap, just dye in hot water...dark green with a splash of black.


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Looks great. Thank You for sharing.

Here's one of my few attempts. Blurple! I ended up just cooking it right in the sauce pan over gas burner. My non semi-high heat trys didn't turn out so great. I'm still not sure if these Colt's are natural bone, or synthetic.

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Nice job Eli Chaps Eli Chaps , it's fun modding stuff :thumbsup:

I dyed a Case Amber Bone Tribal Lock back in December as well as a Case Trapper. I used leather dye both times, which you may be interested in. I think it's easier that the water-based dyes. I had no trouble dealing with overage on metal parts. I described the method in a post here:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/tribal-lock-mod.1700744/
 
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