Handle Dying

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kvolle

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Jan 24, 2008
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I am making a Santuko chef's knife for my daughter for here graduation from culinary school. She wants the handle to be maple burl and blue.:eek:
I know you can buy stabilized/dyed handles but I do my own stabilizing and get the burl from my woods so it's free! My question is do I dye the wood first and then stabilize or add the dye to the resin? The peice she wants is very figured and I do not have another peice as good as this one so I only have one chance to get it right. Can any of you give me advice on how to pull this off? I have several types of premium wood dye but thought I read some time ago that you could use feiblings leather dye in the resin to dye wood handles.
 
Die the wood first. dying the resin will make it look like it's painted.
buy some rit dye powder, dissolve it in rubbing alcohol, 1 small bottle of alcohol per package. The salts won't dissolve so you need to filter the mixture in a coffee filter.
Then you have an alcohol-based dye. The alcohol acts as a solvent that will drive the dye into the wood fibers, then evaporate. You can then finish the wood with BLO or an oil based finish.
 
Attila, can it be stabilized after the dying process or is the wood fibers going to be to packed with the dye to absorb the resin? I want to make sure this is stabilized and that the resin gets completely into the wood to protect it. She will not abuse the knife but moisture is always present in a kitchen and I do not want any warping or checking. I also want this to be as maintenance free as possible so she doesn't have to worry about constanly refinishing the handle. The (what I would consider) plastisized wood, would be food safe as well.
If it helps; The handle piece is completely dry so it will absorb resin very quickly. I am sure the alcohol based dye mixure will not induce moisture so it should stay in a position that will accept the resin I am assuming.
Last question; where do I get the dye? I have seen old packets of it in flee markets but never in stores. Not that i have ever intentionally looked for it.
 
As it's a gift for your daughter, I'd buy a really nice piece that's already dyed. You'll be out 20-40 bucks, but you'll know exactly what you've got.

Sorry, didn't see the bit about her already picking a piece. I'd send it out in that case, if time allows.
 
kvolle said:
Attila, can it be stabilized after the dying process or is the wood fibers going to be to packed with the dye to absorb the resin? I want to make sure this is stabilized and that the resin gets completely into the wood to protect it. She will not abuse the knife but moisture is always present in a kitchen and I do not want any warping or checking. I also want this to be as maintenance free as possible so she doesn't have to worry about constanly refinishing the handle. The (what I would consider) plastisized wood, would be food safe as well.
If it helps; The handle piece is completely dry so it will absorb resin very quickly. I am sure the alcohol based dye mixure will not induce moisture so it should stay in a position that will accept the resin I am assuming.
Last question; where do I get the dye? I have seen old packets of it in flee markets but never in stores. Not that i have ever intentionally looked for it.
Click to expand...

By resin I assume you mean 2 part epoxy?
Alcohol is the vector that drives the dye inside the wood pores. Once evaporated and dry, the wood pores are coated with dry dye and can still absorb moisture including resin. On oil-based stain would be different. The gloss and color tone will be much deeper this way than by staining the resin.
I don't believe dried rit dye is soluble in resin. If you value this piece you are probably better off testing this procedure on a piece of scrap wood.

Jo Ann fabric has the rit dye.
 
I don't know what some folks call stabilizing, but the process is a bit more than complex than applying a two-pat resin. Very few home stabilizers do more than coat the wood with some sort of resin or acrylic. What method are you using?

As for the dyes, get a dye made for wood. Ritt is a water based dye...you don't want that. Use a good grade alcohol based wood dye from Woodcraft or other woodworking source. Dye does not fill the pores like paint, it stains the fibers. Also, use the right type of alcohol to mix it. Properly done, the color can penetrate right through the wood.

The best solution for a perfect job on your piece of wood, in the color desired , is to send it to WSSI and have them dye it and properly stabilize it. This is what most of the professional makers do.
Make sure it is fully dry first....below 10% moisture content ( 7% is even better).

Realize that, even with stabilized wood, there will be the ability to contain food residue and bacteria. The stabilizing will help prevent warp by stopping the ability of the fibers to absorb moisture, but the pores and channels will mainly still be there.Capillary action will still allow things to wick up into the wood. Burl woods are the worst offenders for this, as they are full of small ( and not so small) voids by nature. Stabilizing will not fill voids.That needs to be done in the finishing steps.

For food use, the surface should be fully sealed after shaping and before final sanding. There are several ways to do this. You can apply a CA finish , which takes a lot of time, but fully seals the entire surface. Bruce Bump's tutorial on CA finishes is great.
Alternately, you can apply a sealing oil, like walnut oil ( which is food grade), allow it to dry partially, sand it into the surface, let dry, and repeat until all pores are filled.This takes time,too. Other food grade finishes can be used as a sanding sealer,too. Waterlox is one of these. Whatever you use, apply it, let it set for a while, sand it in ,wipe it off, let it dry, sand any build up off the surface, dry....repeat. This will slowly seal every pore and scratch, leaving a smooth and solid surface. The final sanding should be to at least 1000 grit,2500 is even better, followed by a buff with a soft cloth by hand. Such a finish can be easily restored with a few strokes of the fine grit paper if it gets too dull.

As with all fine quality wood knife handles, it should be rinsed when used and wiped off. Then hand washed as soon as practical and dried well. This will maintain the handle long into the future. Soaking in the sink and/or putting in dishwashers will ruin almost any wooden handle.
 
Thanks for the info Stacy. No I do not just coat the surface of the handle. I use a pressure vat and have never had a problem with it. I did not use the rit dye. I tried it on a small piece that was cut off of the slab and it had less than desirable results. I went down to our local Hard wood dealer and purchased a very nice alcohol based wood dye and it went straight through the 2nd scrap peice. I dyed the handle on Tuesday and stabilized it Wednesday. Very nice! I am sealing it with CA glue and yes it takes an extremely long time but well worth the effort. I only have one daughter and she'll only have one graduation. I should be complete tonight or tomorrow night at the latest. I also thought about using butcher block oil but the guy at the hard wood store said it would eventually break down over time and repeated applications would be needed so I opted for the CA. Hope this addresses all of your observations and questions.
 
Good deal...you seem to have all the bases covered. Glad you went with the proper dye type. I am sure she will treasure the knife a long time. Be sure to take some good photos.

In many cultures, kitchen knives are considered family heirlooms, and passed on for generations. The smiths consider this and make sure they are well made and use quality materials. These knives are treated well, and maintained in sharp condition.
In the modern western world, knives are a throw-away item...mostly because the materials and workmanship are not meant to last more than a few years. Many knives never survive long enough to get re-sharpened.
And then, some knives are used dull as can be for years without ever getting re-sharpened, because people don't sharpen their knives themselves and the "Knife Grinder" doesn't come around with his bike/truck anymore.
 
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