Fresh from the dye pot!

[CoffeeCat2112]

I'm not sure if the salt would really do anything in our case. I've only seen it recommended by RIT when using their dyes. From another website: "The Rit website recommends using salt for more intense color when dyeing fabrics containing cotton, rayon, ramie, or linen, but you will still get decent results without it."

I've also read to use a drop of dish soap to lower surface tension and allow better dye penetration. I don't know if either the salt or the soap makes much of a difference. The first couple knives I did, I tried both; the last batch I just did straight tea and coffee and couldn't tell a difference. Maybe with actual dye, it's different.

 

[jkulysses]

Ok well I'm going to give it a go right now. I'm leaving the salt out as boiling salt on CV steel can't really be a good thing I wouldn't think... If you didn't notice any better results with it then I'm not going to risk it anyway.

 

[Toddwalla]

Good luck! Looking forward to pics. Seeing this thread pop up today inspired me to carry this medium stockman that I dyed from pinkish red to a deep chocolate brown. The picture does not do it as much justice as the beautiful sunny day we had today does, but what are you gonna do?

 

[jkulysses]

Ok here we go I guess I will show the pictures in order like how you would do a tutorial or something. Here are the first few pictures which were taken before anything had been done. The knife is brand new never cut anything I just opened the blades up like twice to see if the walk and talk was good which it was excellent. I also noticed after I took all these pictures and was going over them that it is definitely time to clip my finger nails!

Again I actually could have lived with the shield side as you can see here.


This is the side I hated and I know it would bug me everytime I pulled the little nut out to use it.

 

[jkulysses]

Here is a picture of my little dye pot after I washed the knife down with dawn detergent. I used the 2 tea bags of the black tea you see here in the background plus around 1.5 tablespoons of folgers coffee. I put the knife in and turned the heat up and let it simmer for around 25 minutes or so.



Here is the knife after I pulled it out of the mixture and let it cool for about 5 minutes or so. You guys weren't kidding about it turning the blades black!!



I have to say I wasn't overly impressed when I first pulled it out and took these pictures. It is a better but still has a lot of white blotchy areas and wasn't nearly as dark as I was hoping for.

 

[jkulysses]

I really didn't like how the blade turned out with the black upper half then a completely different look on the lower half so I hit it with some Flitz. I just did a real quick Flitz job literally spending probably 5 minutes on cleaning the blades up and this is how they turned out.

 

[jkulysses]

And here is the final results of the actual bone after I Flitzed the blades I rinsed it off real good with hot water and soap again. Then I dried it off and shook out as much water as I could. Next I doused it real good multiple times with WD40 and worked the blades back and forth to make sure I got it into all the nooks and crannies. Then I took these last few pictures here. Surprisingly I found out that after all this probably a good half an hour or so had passed and the bone had darkened up quite a bit. I would say it is a real deep cranberry red color which I am really liking. It turned out very nice and I can't wait to get some time with this knife in my pocket and get a nice patina going on those blades. I see now why this little knife has such a cult following.







It is now soaking in a mineral oil bath and I might just leave it in there overnight just in case the boiling drys out the bone or something. It couldn't hurt it at least right?

 

[Will Power]

I added only a pinch of salt and this was with stag knives, I think Blaine's right about it only making a difference with actual colour dye.

I've dyed one of those CASE 'Red' aka Pink bone knives with some decent results too, if you want yours darker jkulysses, try this: ensure the bone is cleaned before tea immersion, clean with soap&water then a rub over with alcohol/lighter fuel suchlike to get fingerprint grease off. I didn't boil mine, just boiled the water in a kettle and put FOUR teabags of the strongest type in a small saucepan with enough water to cover the knife about 3cm/1". I let it soak for some hours letting the knife lay on a bed og 2 teabags with two covering it. You can move it around to give more colour as needed. Then wash down dry and a rub of mineral oil or wax. You can of course do it all over again for darker results. If you have ethnic foodshops near you, check for Indian teabags these are strong and liked by people from that sub-continent, Aus/NZ and of course Britain/Ireland where people like very strong dark tea. It's the strength of the tea that gives the darkening and I think Liptons is pretty tame stuff, speaking as a tea-head (no not that kind, really...)

Thanks, Will

 

[glocktenman]

I was thinking that bone looked like a cherry!

Thanks all!

I used RIT Liquid Dye in Cherry Red.

 

[rustyshackelford]

I just use a small pot and put a couple inches of water in it. I usually drop 2 PG Tips bags into it, but any other dark tea would work. As for coffee grounds, I put a couple spoonfuls in. I wash the knife thoroughly and put it in when I start to boil the water so it comes up to temperature slowly (I don't know if it helps to prevent any bone cracking issues or not, but I feel better doing it this way.) I just let the knives sit for 1/2 hour or so at a slow boil, then take them out and let them cool back to room temperature before rinsing them off and oiling them.

I just sold off several Cases in both dark red and amber bone that I had done this to. Let me contact the buyer and see if he can at least take some after pics. It really takes the pink edge off the red bone. It gets rid of that ugly orange in the amber bone and darkens in considerably. This will turn carbon blades very dark, by the way.

Hey I just posted Bwperdue's knives that he dyed up in the classifieds if anyone wants to see pics.

 

[pertinux]

It gets rid of that ugly orange in the amber bone and darkens in considerably.

Oooooh.

The sharp delineation between the darker and lighter areas on my Mini Copperlock has always bothered me, especially with the "ugly orange" streaks. I'd ordered it online before I learned how very different Case knives can look from their "stock" representations. Expecting something more subtle, like this...

... the orange was an especially bad surprise.

~~~~

Son, just home from school yesterday afternoon: Are you making tea?

Me: No, cooking knives.

Son:

~~~~~~


Before:

After:

Variegation intact:

To my eyes, it's a welcome improvement. Ahhhhhh.

Thanks, Blaine!

~ P.

 

[CoffeeCat2112]

Surprisingly I found out that after all this probably a good half an hour or so had passed and the bone had darkened up quite a bit.

I had the same thing happen, as well (most noticeably to the reds), but forgot to mention it.

The sharp delineation between the darker and lighter areas on my Mini Copperlock has always bothered me, especially with the "ugly orange" streaks...the orange was an especially bad surprise.

Variegation intact:

That turned out really nice. Very warm tones and, like you said, lots of nice variegation. :thumbup