Rotten banana bone 4.0

Most instructive and inspiring work, thanks. Your re-dye is very satisfying.

Here's one of the original rottens on a 66 Northfield for reference.

IMG_4087.jpg
 
Odd how the single blade edition had little to no "bruising" on many of the models, while the two-blade looks like it's going in the opposite direction. Maybe Bob can comment...did GEC add additional dying to the second run?
 
Yes I believe GEC did Ratbert.I still have a single blade comming to me and when I was talking to them about how the color of the dieing didn't come out that good. I was told bill was going to try and make the 2 blades darker. It looks like it worked. Now I really wish I hadn't ordered a single blade for the first time ever lol. :eek:
 
Ratbert said:
...you have given me the courage to try to rotten it up a bit. Thanks for the tutorial!
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Well, I found myself with a little time on my hands today and I decided to follow StoneBeard's lead and add some bruising to my #14. (I also want to echo his thanks to Bob Andrews for offering this handle option.)

I pretty much followed StoneBeard's tutorial to the letter, except that I used Rit's Tan color option for the second layer instead of Cocoa. I also only let the dye sit for 10 minutes each time. At first I attempted to use a heat gun at about 12" away to add some heat to the process, but this was totally not needed and I quickly ditched that idea.

Here is the original mark side.



Here it is after the dyeing process.



Here is the pile side pre-dye.



Pile side after.



I think I may have gone a little too far, as pretty much all of the bright yellow is gone, although in sunlight the new version is not quite as dark as the pics show. Overall I am very pleased. This was my first time changing a knife to suit me better and I have to say, it was indeed a lot of fun and it now feels more personal. I am going to sharpen it up on the Sharpmaker and strop and my "new" knife is going to ride in my pocket all week!

Thank you, StoneBeard! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Yes, looks much more authentic.

Question though: doesn't this dyeing lead to discolouration of the carbon blades? When I've done tea dye even with stainless blades I've found darkening, with carbon they're blackened!

Regards, Will
 
Will Power said:
Yes, looks much more authentic.

Question though: doesn't this dyeing lead to discolouration of the carbon blades? When I've done tea dye even with stainless blades I've found darkening, with carbon they're blackened!

Regards, Will
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I wondered about that myself. I made a cardboard sleeve and taped it over the blade and was careful to not get any dye on the blade itself. I would imagine that it would stain the carbon steel.
 
The main thing to be aware of with RIT dye and carbone blades is that is full of salt-which will discoulour and cause the blades to patina -and in extreme cases (no pun intended) like my large case stockman cv-black pitting will occur. It can be cleaned off though and shouldn't cause any long term damage.
Interestingly and I'll get some pics up lkater -I have a banana peel bone 72 which when I originally received was pristine yellow and very bright . A few years later after never having been used it is showing signs of rottenness. Maybe I just didn't notice it in the first place.
 
Nicely done Ratbert:thumbup: I think it came out great and I'm happy that the tutorial worked well for you. As to questions about RIT dye and the blades/ back springs I personally never let the dye get on either when I dyed my scales but this is something to take into consideration if you were to do a submersion "tea" style dye job on 1095.
 
StoneBeard said:
I'm happy that the tutorial worked well for you. As to questions about RIT dye and the blades/ back springs I personally never let the dye get on either when I dyed my scales but this is something to take into consideration if you were to do a submersion "tea" style dye job on 1095.
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I'm not usually one to try to modify things, so your postings was the perfect "nudge" that I needed!
When applying the dye, I used an eye dropper and at one point the Tan dye ran pretty freely over the back springs with no ill effects. I wanted to seal up the blade in painter's tape but didn't have any, so I made the cardboard sleeve. The blue or green tape would have worked great.
 
I recently acquired a Northfield farmer scout with garnet bone covers. I think I'm going to try some cocoa rit dye. Try and damper the garnet down to something similar to old case red bone. Thanks for the tutorial and I will post my results.
 
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