Schrade Staglon...derlin plastic handle

S

SleepingBear

Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Messages
273
I have a number of knives with this molded "like stag" handle on some of my Schrades, and many have the color fading out of them, for some reason or another, and some are worse than others. Of course, I noticed every handle seems different...but does anyone know how to restore this? to any degree? is there something that will put some color back into these handles?
 
Glad to see ya here, SleepingBear. Staglon is a great material, but I have noticed some fading on some knives handled with it. Most recently in an old hardware display, that faced the doorway, hence for many years the sun was hitting it full on.

Easy fix, but ridiculous for me to suggest, is to let the other side of the knife sit in the sun for years. Sorry, that was just to obvious to not mention. I do have a Staglon to practice on, perhaps I will try bleach. This would at least make the knife sides match.

But you wanna restore the colors... I know that bone is still died with potassium permagante tablets, mixed in water. It is then wiped off at different stages of drying to get the desired shade. Then buffed. I don't know if the manmade Staglon (Delrin, I guess is the base product) would respond as porous bone would. Perhaps worth a try.

Any of you other guys have better answers?

Phil
 
Plastics tend to "outgas", that is the essential volitile compounds evaporate from the surface. Maybe what you are seeing is a "chalking" appearance. If this is the case, the color is still there under this dry, slightly more porus surface. I had one like that, not Staglon, but Delrin, and it responded very well to burnishing. I suppose you could use a plastic, bone, or soft metal tool to do it, but I just used the back of my thumbnail. The idea is to re-compress the surface, not scrape to remove material. Maybe it will work on the Staglon. You can also try replacing the outgassed material with son-of-a-gun or Armourall like you would use on a car dash. I've never tried it on the knife handles, but it does restore color on a car seat or dash somewhat.
 
Thanx Bro...the fix was a lot easier than I would have expected. I started burnishing...and ....DOE !! WHooHooo !! :D
 
Glad it worked for you on the Staglon! Did you just use the thumbnail, or find a soft tool? I know a hard tool would leave marks...flattened spots. That's why I used my thumbnail on the Delrin 165OT. I work construction, so mine a a bit tougher than some. Again, glad to help!

Codger Blank and Thumbmeister :D
 
I'm feelin' a marketing opportunity here......

Hmmmmmmmn, what goes with "Magic Thumb".....?

Bill
Experienced agent for all new ideas.
 
I wouldn't have thunk it was a matter of fondling it. These are knives I've collected, and have not been handling...like my daily choices. I started to rub the handle in one small area using my thumb, and concentrating on that spot and started seeing results...and better results the more I kept rubbing. I do have oily skin, and can replentish oil with my hair. Because of this...I've rarely needed gloves to work with my hands through years of construction work as well...even in stone masonry. I have quite a few large handled Staglons...mostly LB8's..171UH..165UH..499UH,,etc...
I am grinnin' from ear to ear from this fix...mostly..because I'll now devote special affection and give special attendtion to each of these beauties. I doubt I'll bother trying any other methods to do this job...because I really like the idea of this labor of love. I did have to concentrate on a small area..so this will require some effort, but I'm thrilled to know it works...and I won't mind the ........task at hand. :D
 
I always knew handling these knives was good for the both of us.
Now I can always say I'm "in-gassing" the handles. :rolleyes:

Sounds like a good one to me.
TTYL
Larry
 
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