Lets talk GEC!

jlester76 said:
Me either so I cheated and went to Google... "made from vegetable-based oils and waxes applied to rawhide, or other animal hides for the purpose of making a soft, supple finish." I guess it makes sense that natural vegetable based products could be less harmful than other harsh chemicals that might be used in the tanning process.
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The big difference is that vegetable-tanned leather uses tannins to tan the hide as opposed to the chromium salts used in chrome-tanned leather, another common method.

Salts are corrosive, tannins aren't.

Doesn't have much to do with "vegetables" as the majority of the tannins used for tanning leather originate from the bark of oak, chestnut, and hemlock trees. Not so tasty.

On the other hand - onions, a vegetable, seem to corrode the hell out of carbon steel...

Doesn't have much to do with their "naturalness" either. There's nothing unnatural about chromium or salts. They're about as natural as you get.
 
birdsbeaks said:
The big difference is that vegetable-tanned leather uses tannins to tan the hide as opposed to the chromium salts used in chrome-tanned leather, another common method.

Salts are corrosive, tannins aren't.

Doesn't have much to do with "vegetables" as the majority of the tannins used for tanning leather originate from the bark of oak, chestnut, and hemlock trees. Not so tasty.

On the other hand - onions, a vegetable, seem to corrode the hell out of carbon steel...

Doesn't have much to do with their "naturalness" either. There's nothing unnatural about chromium or salts. They're about as natural as you get.
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yes, exactly!

Vegetable tanning uses tannins from oak bark, mimosa or fruits, for example. Mineral tanning mainly uses chromium salts or aluminum salts.
The leather, which has now been tanned and pressed, goes through a few final steps. So it is split (if it is too thick), nicely colored and greased. When dyeing in the barrel, soluble dyes bind firmly to the leather structure and thus penetrate the leather completely.
 
birdsbeaks said:
...originate from the bark of oak, chestnut, and hemlock trees. Not so tasty.
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Thank you for the clarification, the use of salts being corrosive makes perfect sense.

A little off subject but I have to know. Have you actually tasted the bark of oak, chestnut and/or hemlock trees? If not how can I possibly take you serious? 🤣
 
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jlester76 said:
Thank you for the clarification, the use of salts being corrosive makes perfect sense.

A little off subject but I have to know. Have you actually tasted the bark of oak, chestnut and/or hemlock trees? If not how can I possibly take you serious? 🤣
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I've tasted oak bark - and if you send some chestnut, I'll give it a nibble.

As for hemlock - I heard Socrates didn't like it too much. 🤣
 
Way back when I did a lot with coins, there were these pvc based clear plastic looking flips that came out. A bunch of collectors stored their coins in them and a few years later, lots of tarnish resulted. Happened to silver and to copper based coins. Not sure about nickel as I didn't collect them. Looks the same as the verdigris described. I make sure to re wrap any knives that have the baggie into the wax paper just to be safe.
 
dovidola said:
I know it's more a general than a GEC issue, but could somebody explain how to use the Hydrogen Peroxide method of removing verdigris from stag? I've bought a bottle of the stuff (3% concentration) and some Sodium Bicarbonate (which I believe you're supposed to mix it with?), but unsure exactly what to do next.
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I don't claim to be a chemist but I'd be very wary of this- it might well adversely impact on the stag too (or other scales) and promote pitting.
 
I wonder how the guard is fixed in place from the handle side? Can't be it just leaning on scales hence pressing on them every now and then when used and eventually leading to chips and craks, if we talk about bone. Is it actually welded to the blade?
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Alex.Y. said:
I wonder how the guard is fixed in place from the handle side? Can't be it just leaning on scales hence pressing on them every now and then when used and eventually leading to chips and craks, if we talk about bone. Is it actually welded to the blade?
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Seems like it's definitely welded or at least glued to some extent since the guards are all staying in place. Or maybe they're friction fit with the tang being slightly too wide and the guard is hammered in place. Hard to say but, judging by my various H10 models, including one of the Frontier Bone versions, they're impressively well put together, however they're doing it. I've made a couple similar models myself and it took a lot of back and forth checking and filing, checking and filing to get the fitment and alignment just right.
 
jmgruber said:
This would be a great partner to the forum knife!
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Aiming for the H10 myself. Due to the complicated local knife laws, bigger versions would basically be illegal, because of the guard. But that's okay, because I want to replace my small modern fixed blade which I use in small outdoor tasks with something traditional, and H10 fits just perfectly.
 
Alex.Y. said:
Aiming for the H10 myself. Due to the complicated local knife laws, bigger versions would basically be illegal, because of the guard. But that's okay, because I want to replace my small modern fixed blade which I use in small outdoor tasks with something traditional, and H10 fits just perfectly.
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I think all the Frontier Bone H10s already dropped. I got mine a couple weeks ago. I'm absolutely with you though, I LOVE the H10s. It has become my favorite general purpose carry-around fixed blade model.
 
Heathenhymnal said:
I think all the Frontier Bone H10s already dropped. I got mine a couple weeks ago. I'm absolutely with you though, I LOVE the H10s. It has become my favorite general purpose carry-around fixed blade model.
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What oil do you use on the blade, if any? And how long it stays before you feel a need to put some more on?
 
jlester76 said:
Me either so I cheated and went to Google... "made from vegetable-based oils and waxes applied to rawhide, or other animal hides for the purpose of making a soft, supple finish." I guess it makes sense that natural vegetable based products could be less harmful than other harsh chemicals that might be used in the tanning process.
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Except for habaneros.
 
Alex.Y. said:
What oil do you use on the blade, if any? And how long it stays before you feel a need to put some more on?
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I still see a number of H10s available at listed retailers for reasonable scratch.

Not who you were asking but my H10 and H30, though not ideal for the task due to the guard, see fairly frequent use in the kitchen. I just rinse them off and wipe them down after use and apply a light coat of the same mineral oil that I use on wood cutting boards.
 
Alex.Y. said:
What oil do you use on the blade, if any? And how long it stays before you feel a need to put some more on?
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I don't really oil my users, I just let them patina, except after a good full cleaning or if they get soaked when camping, then I give them a rub down with mineral oil or Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner. But for the 1 safe queen I have I just give it a thin wipe down of Renaissance Wax. If you're wanting to keep a user nice though, mineral oil or Howard's Butcher Block work well. Mineral oil you will have to apply more frequently because it doesn't have the beeswax to hold it in place a bit longer.

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birdsbeaks said:
I still see a number of H10s available at listed retailers for reasonable scratch.

Not who you were asking but my H10 and H30, though not ideal for the task due to the guard, see fairly frequent use in the kitchen. I just rinse them off and wipe them down after use and apply a light coat of the same mineral oil that I use on wood cutting boards.
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Same here and that's actually one of my favorite things about these. They're great for most general camp tasks but also surprisingly adept at camp cooking and food prep too. One of my last camp outings my H10 made some tent pegs and carved some food skewers and a spatula as well as filleted some fish and de-veined and butterflied some shrimp... oh and cut up all my veg and herbs no problem.
 
Heathenhymnal said:
Same here and that's actually one of my favorite things about these. They're great for most general camp tasks but also surprisingly adept at camp cooking and food prep too. One of my last camp outings my H10 made some tent pegs and carved some food skewers and a spatula as well as filleted some fish and de-veined and butterflied some shrimp... oh and cut up all my veg and herbs no problem.
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I've actually wondered if it would be considered sacrilege to modify the guard in order to achieve a flatter presentation to a cutting board...

I'm planning on picking up an H40 in the Daybreak Camo when they start appearing - maybe I'll consider it again.
 
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