Dyed some handles today

[Ratbert]

They look awesome to me. I don't see how the results could be any better than yours.

Thanks!

Look great, Ratbert! Did you tape off the bolsters and such or just go for it?

I did tape the blade, the bolster, the backsprings and front of the liners with painter’s masking tape. The knives were in the hot liquid long enough that the tape did soak through and there was some tarnish on the springs. I polished it out with Simichrome.

Nice job !

Thank you!

Ratbert I used a combination of Cherry Red and Brown RIT dye on my Jigged Amber Bone Case Beer Trapper. It took close to an hour simmering on the stove to get to the final color desired, but it came out fantastic!

Maybe Case uses denser bone than GEC sources? I’ve heard that camel bone supposedly takes a long time to absorb dye. Have we seen pics of your Case? I’ll have to look back at the posts...or would you mind posting again here?

Those came out great!

Thanks, I appreciate that.

Nicely done! They look great! Maybe someday I will give it a try.....

It was a fun learning experience...find some covers you’re sort of “meh” about and try it. I’m already thinking about dyeing my Mustard 56 a deeper yellow. I think others have done this (maybe Travman ?) as the Mustard does look a little anemic.

 

[Ratbert]

It is back on Page 1 now, but here is the link to the original post.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/re-dying-my-77-elderberry-barlow.1574574/

 

[Wurrwulf]

Here it is in various lighting:

 

[Icky Thump]

They came out great! Nice call on the color/shade(s).

I thought I posted in this thread, then realized there are two of these threads..posted an 81 in the other.

This is a 74 Stallion Green Spring Bone that I dyed w/ blk Rit to calm down the Day Glow hilighter yellow. WIP pics being held hostage by Photobucket at present.

 

[singin50]

You guys have got me thinkin now! Is it possible to dye synthetic handles?

 

[Icky Thump]

You guys have got me thinkin now! Is it possible to dye synthetic handles?

Most definitely. I know Rit makes a dye specific for synthetics... Rit+ or Rit/more..? Something like that. There are other brands that offer a synthetic specific. Stumbled on some vids of people dying those discs for.. disc golf..? Frisbee's, basically ..seemed to work like a charm.

I've dyed G-10, no problem..all of the micartas are easy...G-11 was the only material I had trouble w/..I don't think I used the synthetic dye on that, though..just the standard powdered Rit...just bounced off, no matter what I did..

 

[Ratbert]

Here it is in various lighting:

That looks fantastic! A nice, rich tone.

They came out great! Nice call on the color/shade(s).

I thought I posted in this thread, then realized there are two of these threads..posted an 81 in the other.

This is a 74 Stallion Green Spring Bone that I dyed w/ blk Rit to calm down the Day Glow hilighter yellow. WIP pics being held hostage by Photobucket at present.

That turned out very nice! I never would have thought to use black just to tone down the yellow.

 

[glennbad]

I love what you did, Rat! Have you tested the color-fastness of the dye? Any idea how deep it penetrates? I have had this desire to try to match Case's redbone dye-ing, but just haven't found the time to sit down and play with my chemistry set.

Nice work!

 

[Travman]

Here is the before and after of my RIT dye job. I used coco brown.

In the sunlight...

In overcast lighting...

 

[Ratbert]

I love what you did, Rat! Have you tested the color-fastness of the dye? Any idea how deep it penetrates? I have had this desire to try to match Case's redbone dye-ing, but just haven't found the time to sit down and play with my chemistry set.

Nice work!

Thanks! After a day, I can still see some faint red if I polish the covers with a cotton cloth. So, it’s not exactly color-fast. I also doubt that it actually penetrated that much down into the bone.
What do you think I can do to “seal” it? A paste wax, like Ren Wax?

 

[Ratbert]

Here is the before and after of my RIT dye job. I used coco brown.View attachment 953935

In the sunlight...View attachment 953939

In overcast lighting...View attachment 953940

Sweet! You turned that into a beautiful knife!
Didn’t you also dye your Mustard #56 a darker color?

 

[Camillus]

That hydrogen peroxide you used will take off all the original colour if you leave it for long enough. This is a useful way of completely changing a knife’s colour if you want that effect.

 

[Travman]

Sweet! You turned that into a beautiful knife!
Didn’t you also dye your Mustard #56 a darker color?

Yes, I did dye the Mustard #56 a little darker to lessen the yellow color. That was done a little less professionally. I simply rubbed black walnut husks over the bone and let the dark liquid soak in for several minutes. I used walnuts where the husk had turned from green to black. BTW, those same walnuts are great for instant patina on 1095 blades.

This wasn’t really a dye job like what we are talking about in this thread. Under certain light the lighter sections just looked too yellow for me. Now that has been toned down a bit.

Before:


After the walnut husks:

 

[SV-97]

Looking great, congrats on the nice job

 

[Ratbert]

That hydrogen peroxide you used will take off all the original colour if you leave it for long enough. This is a useful way of completely changing a knife’s colour if you want that effect.

I didn’t leave it on too long, just sort of washed it to clean off any oil. I did drip some of the leather dye on my wife’s Corian countertop and freaked. Only the hydrogen peroxide worked to get the stains out (thank goodness!)

Yes, I did dye the Mustard #56 a little darker to lessen the yellow color. That was done a little less professionally. I simply rubbed black walnut husks over the bone and let the dark liquid soak in for several minutes. I used walnuts where the husk had turned from green to black. BTW, those same walnuts are great for instant patina on 1095 blades.

This wasn’t really a dye job like what we are talking about in this thread. Under certain light the lighter sections just looked too yellow for me. Now that has been toned down a bit.

Before:
View attachment 954586

After the walnut husks: View attachment 954588

I like the walnut idea and the effect. I remember as a kid getting that stuff on my hands and it seemed impossible to clean off! Even Lava soap (Remember that? “Cleans with pumice!”) didn’t work. The stains just had to eventually wear off.

Looking great, congrats on the nice job

Thank you!

 

[deltaboy]

Good job!

 

[Ramrodmb]

I did a 56 too. No before shots though.

 

[singin50]

I did add a bit of darker color to my new Goldenrod Jig #44 this past week. I don't have a before shot, but never really liked the lighter yellow color at the bolsters, so I mixed up and added some Potassium Permanganate. When you mix it up in water, it looks very dark purple and in fact applies that way too! It can be scary if you've never used it before, but once it dries it becomes a lighter brown shade. I applied this with a Qtip, so you can really control the amount of color enhancement you want, as you go.

 

[Ramrodmb]

I did add a bit of darker color to my new Goldenrod Jig #44 this past week. I don't have a before shot, but never really liked the lighter yellow color at the bolsters, so I mixed up and added some Potassium Permanganate. When you mix it up in water, it looks very dark purple and in fact applies that way too! It can be scary if you've never used it before, but once it dries it becomes a lighter brown shade. I applied this with a Qtip, so you can really control the amount of color enhancement you want, as you go.

Nice job, Perry! I forgot to mention that I used PP on my 56 too.

 

[5K Qs]

Dynamite dye jobs on that pair in the original post, Ratbert !
I also enjoyed seeing some of the other examples that others posted here, too. Some of the ones I ooohed over were by Ramrodmb , Wurrwulf , and Travman .
So many projects involving pocket knives that I'd like to try: leather work, dying handles, reprofiling blades, sharpening techniques, whittling projects, photography-related skills, etc. !!

- GT