- Joined
- Jan 17, 2016
- Messages
- 661
I would like to start by saying thank you to Bob Andrews. As I mentioned in the #14 boys knife thread he went out of his way to provide a SFO that when originally released was extremely limited and the result of an accident. Re creating an accident especially when related to dyeing and finishing bone is an extremely variable process and I hope he continues to work with GEC on future runs to bring more of these to the market.
I was 100% happy with the smooth RBB I received right out of the tube. It was not as rotten as the few pictures that float around the forum but in no way was the knife just plain yellow either. I have no prior experience modding traditionals and had never attempted to modify bovine scales before this endeavor. That being said the RBB was one of a very few variations in color that I felt comfortable attempting to modify as the combination of color and pattern would be far more forgiving then most.
I started with baseline information which I found here on the forum in a few older threads that lead to a tutorial called " Dyeing Bone: A Tutorial-".
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/868446-Dyeing-Bone-A-Tutorial
It had a lot of solid info but was designed to completely dye scales from one color to another not just sections of the scale. There were going to be some challenges but I decided to give it a shot.
The original method used RIT clothing dye and the general instructions are to dilute concentrated liquid dye with water and a few drops of dish soap on the stovetop. Once the solution is brought to a simmer the knife is dropped in and left for fifteen or more minutes. Heat being one of the most essential elements in allowing the bone to absorb dye. This would be the major challenge as I was not planning on changing the color of the entire scale.
Here's a picture of the various liquids used in the process.
I started with chocolate brown RIT dye which is a darker brown not to be confused with coco brown which is lighter. I mixed some dye( about a two second pour) a half cup of water and two drops of dish soap and brought it to a simmer. While this was heating up I put on gloves and wiped down the scales with rubbing alcohol to de grease them. I placed the cleaned knife on a few paper towels and readied some q-tips. Once the solution was simmering I used the q-tip to apply some drops of dye to the bone.
This is where the process becomes time consuming. I started out with 5 minutes of contact time and then wiped and checked the progress. I stepped this up until I landed on 15-20 minute intervals during which I would add more drops of simmering dye to try and keep them from drying. Heat is what lead to success in the tutorial and I knew that this would take some time since single drops cool rapidly.
I repeated this process with the chocolate brown until there were some noticeable bruises. At this point I cleaned the knife with soap and warm water and then gave it a fifteen minute bath in food grade mineral oil. After the bath I let the oil drain for about 30 minutes and wiped the knife down. This is where I will give you my lesson learned on this portion of the process. Don't give your knife the oil bath until you are completely satisfied with the new color. This was trial and error for me and adding more dye after an oil bath is possible but a lot more challenging as the bone soaks it up.
Another note on the oil bath is that while some parts of the bone don't take well to dye the scale as a whole will really take up the oil. These oil treatments will make the original color ( yellow in this case) darker and more translucent. This gave me a good understanding of both smooth oiled bone and smooth ivory bone. If you want the color darker give consecutive baths but let the bone sit and fully Take in the oil first.
The biggest challenge I had was with the bare end on the pile side of the scales. As you can see on the original scales this portion was white. I had assumed this was due to finishing but quickly learned this was not the case.
This section of the bone was extremely stubborn and all but refused to take dye evenly. After the initial chocolate brown dye treatment I was left with white bone and small black streaks only present in the small creases of the bone in this section. It was the only portion I wasn't really satisfied with. I decided to work backwards and this is where the Amarillo yellow dye came into play. I used repeated coats of yellow to help dye the remaining white in hopes that I would then be able to add more brown bruising over the top. Here it is before adding more bruising.
Finally I took the lighter coco brown and applied it to all the newly enhanced bruises. I repeated applications until the spots had more depth. Once I felt good about it I gave the knife another rinse and oil bath. After letting it drain and set in I applied beeswax to the covers and buffed multiple coats with a Dremel and cotton buffing wheel attachment. After the beeswax I repeated the same process with an all natural neutral weatherproof dressing I use on my boots when they get beat up. This also is essentially beeswax and carnauba wax it's just more pliable. In the end it was a great learning experience and I had a lot of fun. After four versions of dyeing bone I put a satin finish on the bolster, cleaned up and stropped the edge and cut some lemons from the tree to start the patina. Always a good time to bond with a new knife.
Here is the knife right out of the tube-
Mid way through the process-
The final product-
Here's a few in direct sunlight
I was 100% happy with the smooth RBB I received right out of the tube. It was not as rotten as the few pictures that float around the forum but in no way was the knife just plain yellow either. I have no prior experience modding traditionals and had never attempted to modify bovine scales before this endeavor. That being said the RBB was one of a very few variations in color that I felt comfortable attempting to modify as the combination of color and pattern would be far more forgiving then most.
I started with baseline information which I found here on the forum in a few older threads that lead to a tutorial called " Dyeing Bone: A Tutorial-".
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/868446-Dyeing-Bone-A-Tutorial
It had a lot of solid info but was designed to completely dye scales from one color to another not just sections of the scale. There were going to be some challenges but I decided to give it a shot.
The original method used RIT clothing dye and the general instructions are to dilute concentrated liquid dye with water and a few drops of dish soap on the stovetop. Once the solution is brought to a simmer the knife is dropped in and left for fifteen or more minutes. Heat being one of the most essential elements in allowing the bone to absorb dye. This would be the major challenge as I was not planning on changing the color of the entire scale.
Here's a picture of the various liquids used in the process.
I started with chocolate brown RIT dye which is a darker brown not to be confused with coco brown which is lighter. I mixed some dye( about a two second pour) a half cup of water and two drops of dish soap and brought it to a simmer. While this was heating up I put on gloves and wiped down the scales with rubbing alcohol to de grease them. I placed the cleaned knife on a few paper towels and readied some q-tips. Once the solution was simmering I used the q-tip to apply some drops of dye to the bone.
This is where the process becomes time consuming. I started out with 5 minutes of contact time and then wiped and checked the progress. I stepped this up until I landed on 15-20 minute intervals during which I would add more drops of simmering dye to try and keep them from drying. Heat is what lead to success in the tutorial and I knew that this would take some time since single drops cool rapidly.
I repeated this process with the chocolate brown until there were some noticeable bruises. At this point I cleaned the knife with soap and warm water and then gave it a fifteen minute bath in food grade mineral oil. After the bath I let the oil drain for about 30 minutes and wiped the knife down. This is where I will give you my lesson learned on this portion of the process. Don't give your knife the oil bath until you are completely satisfied with the new color. This was trial and error for me and adding more dye after an oil bath is possible but a lot more challenging as the bone soaks it up.
Another note on the oil bath is that while some parts of the bone don't take well to dye the scale as a whole will really take up the oil. These oil treatments will make the original color ( yellow in this case) darker and more translucent. This gave me a good understanding of both smooth oiled bone and smooth ivory bone. If you want the color darker give consecutive baths but let the bone sit and fully Take in the oil first.
The biggest challenge I had was with the bare end on the pile side of the scales. As you can see on the original scales this portion was white. I had assumed this was due to finishing but quickly learned this was not the case.
This section of the bone was extremely stubborn and all but refused to take dye evenly. After the initial chocolate brown dye treatment I was left with white bone and small black streaks only present in the small creases of the bone in this section. It was the only portion I wasn't really satisfied with. I decided to work backwards and this is where the Amarillo yellow dye came into play. I used repeated coats of yellow to help dye the remaining white in hopes that I would then be able to add more brown bruising over the top. Here it is before adding more bruising.
Finally I took the lighter coco brown and applied it to all the newly enhanced bruises. I repeated applications until the spots had more depth. Once I felt good about it I gave the knife another rinse and oil bath. After letting it drain and set in I applied beeswax to the covers and buffed multiple coats with a Dremel and cotton buffing wheel attachment. After the beeswax I repeated the same process with an all natural neutral weatherproof dressing I use on my boots when they get beat up. This also is essentially beeswax and carnauba wax it's just more pliable. In the end it was a great learning experience and I had a lot of fun. After four versions of dyeing bone I put a satin finish on the bolster, cleaned up and stropped the edge and cut some lemons from the tree to start the patina. Always a good time to bond with a new knife.
Here is the knife right out of the tube-
Mid way through the process-
The final product-
Here's a few in direct sunlight
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