- Joined
- Jun 9, 2010
- Messages
- 4,333
When it first came out of the tube, I could only think of "A Christmas Story" and the pink bunny suit (pink nightmare).
Let's just say I wasn't real fond of the neon pink scales! I wanted to try to die the bone to more of an elderberry color. Or any other color, really.
One of the drawbacks to dying scales on a knife is that the metal parts tend to take on some patina during the process. It is not a big problem as long as you can be quick about it, so it doesn't have too long to develop. I still like to avoid it as much as possible, so I tape off all the metal with masking tape. Just a strip down each side of each blade, one around the bolster and then I cut a strip as wide as the liners and back springs and run it all the way around them. (that thin strip did come off about halfway through, which still helped limit exposure to 7 min instead of 15min). Next time I will run the thin strip first, then lock it down with the piece around the bolster.
sorry for the crappy pics
Ok, prepped and ready to start. Since this was Camel bone, I thought it could use a little help to open up the grain or basically degloss the top layer of bone. I sprayed the bone with easy off oven cleaner. Just a thin spritz. I held and watched it for about a minute, then wiped off and looked for any change. None. I sprayed another thin layer on both sides and let it sit for about 3 minutes. At that point I could see neon pink being drawn out of the original scales by the oven cleaner. I rinsed the knife thoroughly under hot water and could just barely notice a few pores in the bone were visable now. Perfect.
While the prep work was going on, I had mixed up about 1/3 packet of Scarlet red #5 Rit die in a coffee cup with hot water. Also added were one teaspoon of vineager and one drop of Dawn dish soap. I warmed this up to just below boiling in the microwave.
Now, I put the knife (still warmed up from the hot water rinse) into the cup of die, which just covers the bone.
After about 4 minutes, I remove the knife and lay it on the plate while I warm the cup back up in the microwave. I still want it to be darker, so repeat the 4 minutes in the die, then remove and inspect while warming the cup up again. While it is on the plate this time, I sprinkle some dry die powder (purple) in just a few spots/splotches while I wait for the cup to warm in the microwave. Back in for 4 more minutes, then out on the plate again with another light sprinkle of the purple dry powder. (next time I want to try a burnt umber or black in addition to the purple dry powder)
At this point, I run under a little hot water and give it a wipe. It looks pretty good and I want to be careful NOT to overdo it, so I call it good and start to rinse it off. I feel like rinsing in cold water kind of 'sets' the die, but I don't want to go from hot water in the cup right to cold water to rinse. So, slowly go from warm to a cold rinse.
Immediately, I remove the tape, go to the compressor and flush with wd-40 and compressed air. I use toothpicks to 'scrub' the inside of the blade well. Since the thin piece of tape came off halfway through, I did have some discoloring on the back spring, but a few passes on a piece of scotchbrite fixed that up. I put the scotchbrite down flat on the table and move the knife across it. It is easier to stay parallel and straight when sanding that way. The rest of the metal (blades & bolsters) were completely protected by the tape. The only thing I did to the bone was polish it a little the same way as the scotchbrite only with just a soft rag, then applied a thin coat of mineral oil.
So, here is the outcome. I went from not liking it at all, to not being able to stop looking at it!! Hopefully, I didn't drone on too long with all that and hope it helps someone else take the plunge on fixing up something they don't like. If you do try it yourself, please post a pic here!
Let's just say I wasn't real fond of the neon pink scales! I wanted to try to die the bone to more of an elderberry color. Or any other color, really.
One of the drawbacks to dying scales on a knife is that the metal parts tend to take on some patina during the process. It is not a big problem as long as you can be quick about it, so it doesn't have too long to develop. I still like to avoid it as much as possible, so I tape off all the metal with masking tape. Just a strip down each side of each blade, one around the bolster and then I cut a strip as wide as the liners and back springs and run it all the way around them. (that thin strip did come off about halfway through, which still helped limit exposure to 7 min instead of 15min). Next time I will run the thin strip first, then lock it down with the piece around the bolster.
sorry for the crappy pics
Ok, prepped and ready to start. Since this was Camel bone, I thought it could use a little help to open up the grain or basically degloss the top layer of bone. I sprayed the bone with easy off oven cleaner. Just a thin spritz. I held and watched it for about a minute, then wiped off and looked for any change. None. I sprayed another thin layer on both sides and let it sit for about 3 minutes. At that point I could see neon pink being drawn out of the original scales by the oven cleaner. I rinsed the knife thoroughly under hot water and could just barely notice a few pores in the bone were visable now. Perfect.
While the prep work was going on, I had mixed up about 1/3 packet of Scarlet red #5 Rit die in a coffee cup with hot water. Also added were one teaspoon of vineager and one drop of Dawn dish soap. I warmed this up to just below boiling in the microwave.
Now, I put the knife (still warmed up from the hot water rinse) into the cup of die, which just covers the bone.
After about 4 minutes, I remove the knife and lay it on the plate while I warm the cup back up in the microwave. I still want it to be darker, so repeat the 4 minutes in the die, then remove and inspect while warming the cup up again. While it is on the plate this time, I sprinkle some dry die powder (purple) in just a few spots/splotches while I wait for the cup to warm in the microwave. Back in for 4 more minutes, then out on the plate again with another light sprinkle of the purple dry powder. (next time I want to try a burnt umber or black in addition to the purple dry powder)
At this point, I run under a little hot water and give it a wipe. It looks pretty good and I want to be careful NOT to overdo it, so I call it good and start to rinse it off. I feel like rinsing in cold water kind of 'sets' the die, but I don't want to go from hot water in the cup right to cold water to rinse. So, slowly go from warm to a cold rinse.
Immediately, I remove the tape, go to the compressor and flush with wd-40 and compressed air. I use toothpicks to 'scrub' the inside of the blade well. Since the thin piece of tape came off halfway through, I did have some discoloring on the back spring, but a few passes on a piece of scotchbrite fixed that up. I put the scotchbrite down flat on the table and move the knife across it. It is easier to stay parallel and straight when sanding that way. The rest of the metal (blades & bolsters) were completely protected by the tape. The only thing I did to the bone was polish it a little the same way as the scotchbrite only with just a soft rag, then applied a thin coat of mineral oil.
So, here is the outcome. I went from not liking it at all, to not being able to stop looking at it!! Hopefully, I didn't drone on too long with all that and hope it helps someone else take the plunge on fixing up something they don't like. If you do try it yourself, please post a pic here!
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