Jigged bone scale conditioning

D

Davemcclellan

Joined
Jun 17, 2021
Messages
6
Hey all, I recently picked up an old Utica “Boy Scout” sheath knife from the 50s/60s with the jigged cow bone scales. The knife is a killer design, but also a mass produced cheapy. I thought it would be a great candidate to try the “mineral oil soak” as it has a bit of play in one scale near the second rivet. 18 hours in….and the soak has made no difference whatsoever. Is it worth it to soak another day??? It’s a cool lil knife with great history and I love it regardless. Just looking for feedback. I’m not going to try and further compress the rivets because I’d rather have a little jiggle than crack the handle. There was no movement when it arrived from Oregon. I’m in the southern high desert so I took that into consideration as well.
Thanks all!!
 
I'm no expert, but wouldn't you only run into problems with the soak if the scales somehow absorbed enough to swell beyond their original size? I would think that even at full saturation the scales wouldn't end up bigger than the were when they were installed. Unless you think it's going to hurt something, I don't see why leaving it in longer would be a bad idea.
 
It's unlikely that most bone covers will soak up much anyway. Bone is known for it's tendency to resist dying (coloring) past a certain point, for the same reason.

In general, bone needs very little in terms of filling/soaking or coating/covering to protect it. It's generally very stable dimensionally, meaning it doesn't tend to shrink, swell or warp much, unlike wood, stag or horn covers. It can be polished nicely, using polishing pastes as used for metals, like Flitz, etc. If it's looking kind of dull, it can even be sanded with some high-grit wet/dry sandpaper - something at/above 1000-grit would handle that. THEN, after sanding, polish with some Flitz or similar product.

If the scale is a bit loose and allowing some movement around the pin, maybe a little bit of epoxy underneath it would be best, to anchor it down. Some CA (cyanoacrylate) glue, a.k.a., superglue, might hold it. But depending on the surfaces and how clean (or not) they are, it may not hold as firmly over time.

I lived in humid central Texas for 20 years and accumulated most of my knives while there. I then moved back to my home in New Mexico, where it's much, much drier. I've since had some issues with stag and wood covers drying out and warping or cracking. But my bone-handled knives haven't been fazed at all, by the move to a drier climate.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
It's unlikely that most bone covers will soak up much anyway. Bone is known for it's tendency to resist dying (coloring) past a certain point, for the same reason.

In general, bone needs very little in terms of filling/soaking or coating/covering to protect it. It's generally very stable dimensionally, meaning it doesn't tend to shrink, swell or warp much, unlike wood, stag or horn covers. It can be polished nicely, using polishing pastes as used for metals, like Flitz, etc. If it's looking kind of dull, it can even be sanded with some high-grit wet/dry sandpaper - something at/above 1000-grit would handle that. THEN, after sanding, polish with some Flitz or similar product.

If the scale is a bit loose and allowing some movement around the pin, maybe a little bit of epoxy underneath it would be best, to anchor it down. Some CA (cyanoacrylate) glue, a.k.a., superglue, might hold it. But depending on the surfaces and how clean (or not) they are, it may not hold as firmly over time.

I lived in humid central Texas for 20 years and accumulated most of my knives while there. I then moved back to my home in New Mexico, where it's much, much drier. I've since had some issues with stag and wood covers drying out and warping or cracking. But my bone-handled knives haven't been fazed at all, by the move to a drier climate.
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Thank you!!!I really appreciate the info. It seems that one pin hole was drilled slightly larger. If it becomes a constant annoyance I’ll probably apply a small amount of epoxy. The oil soak did give it a nice luster, but I highly doubt another full day of soaking would have made any difference. Thanks again!
 
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