- Joined
- Jan 1, 2016
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- 1,342
A couple of years ago I picked up a GEC #14 Boy’s Knife in Rotten Banana Bone. As most will remember, the single blade version had little to no “rotten”, but rather were mostly just bright yellow.
I tried at that time to spot-dye some bruising effects on the bone, but was unhappy with the results.
I also have a GEC #18 Coyote in Sangria Jigged Bone that was a little too orange for me in places.
I decided today to use some red dye and completely change the color of the Boy’s Knife, while darkening the orange hues to red on the Coyote.
I taped up the blade, bolsters and backsprings with painter’s tape, then cleaned the bone with Hydrogen Peroxide.
I used Scarlet Rit Dye (about 1/5 of the bottle) in 1 & 1/2 cups of water and added a drop of dishwashing detergent, heating it up in the microwave in a heavy glass Pyrex measuring cup.
Using the tines of a fork, I held the blade upright while resting the knife in the dye. I tried to keep only the handles in the solution.
After 4 minutes, I removed it and swabbed on some Oxblood Fiebing’s Leather Dye, letting it rest for a moment. I repeated this process 3 times for the #14, then rinsed the knife under warm water. I removed the tape, doused it liberally with rubbing alcohol and blew it dry with compressed air. It then went into a mineral oil bath for about an hour.
The Coyote only received 2 rounds of dye and 1 swabbing with the Fiebing’s, as I only wanted it a little darker.
Here are the results.
(no filters or editing on either photo, just straight shots from my iPhone 6S Plus. The difference in lighting in the two shots is just the change in light coming through my kitchen window from the time I started until the end)
Overall I am very happy with the outcome. Because the painter’s tape soaked through eventually, there was a little tarnish on some of the backspring and the front of the liners, but a polishing with Simichrome took care of that.
Many thanks to
Ramrodmb
as it was his fantastic dye job on an Elderberry GEC #77 that led me to try this. I also followed his basic instructions with only a few tweaks.
I tried at that time to spot-dye some bruising effects on the bone, but was unhappy with the results.
I also have a GEC #18 Coyote in Sangria Jigged Bone that was a little too orange for me in places.
I decided today to use some red dye and completely change the color of the Boy’s Knife, while darkening the orange hues to red on the Coyote.
I taped up the blade, bolsters and backsprings with painter’s tape, then cleaned the bone with Hydrogen Peroxide.
I used Scarlet Rit Dye (about 1/5 of the bottle) in 1 & 1/2 cups of water and added a drop of dishwashing detergent, heating it up in the microwave in a heavy glass Pyrex measuring cup.
Using the tines of a fork, I held the blade upright while resting the knife in the dye. I tried to keep only the handles in the solution.
After 4 minutes, I removed it and swabbed on some Oxblood Fiebing’s Leather Dye, letting it rest for a moment. I repeated this process 3 times for the #14, then rinsed the knife under warm water. I removed the tape, doused it liberally with rubbing alcohol and blew it dry with compressed air. It then went into a mineral oil bath for about an hour.
The Coyote only received 2 rounds of dye and 1 swabbing with the Fiebing’s, as I only wanted it a little darker.
Here are the results.
(no filters or editing on either photo, just straight shots from my iPhone 6S Plus. The difference in lighting in the two shots is just the change in light coming through my kitchen window from the time I started until the end)
Overall I am very happy with the outcome. Because the painter’s tape soaked through eventually, there was a little tarnish on some of the backspring and the front of the liners, but a polishing with Simichrome took care of that.
Many thanks to
Ramrodmb
as it was his fantastic dye job on an Elderberry GEC #77 that led me to try this. I also followed his basic instructions with only a few tweaks.
. Good work
