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Stag "Coloring"

Buckaholic

Buckaholic

Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
4,352
So, in a MESSY Moment...I took a 110 BG-42 Elk that I got yesterday and decided to wet-form it to my JB Woods horizontal sheath. The sheath is dyed borwn/red.
I ended up with a RED Elk scaled 110.
Tossed it in a bleach/water mix and the red was gone. BUT, so was some of the darker character of the elk stag as seen in the BEFORE pic below.

What is used to darken up the scales to show it "barky"?
I ask, cuz as you can see in the pic, there is a vertical line running near the rear bolster that was dark brown but is now almost invisible. I am guessing the elk didn't run into a sign post to make that mark. It seems to have occurred in the mfg process.

So, if the line ended up with some "stain" in it, what can I use to restore the "natural" bark look???

Thanks for the replies...

BEFORE:
161460321-L-1.jpg


AFTER:
161742752-L-2.jpg
 
Don't know Goose... but I feel your pain. At least the knife is still in one piece ;)

Cool knife by the way... dark scales or light.
 
Hi Goose,

I have no idea if buck add's some color to their stag????? Good question...maybe Joe can provide an answer. The horns or antlers on a deer or elk are a bony protrusion; when they are starting to grow they are covered with skin and have blood under that skin and nerves that make them very sensitive. The animals don't like to bump them into trees and such in the early growth period. As the growth period comes to an end the blood stops flowing under the skin and it starts to itch and the animals rub them on trees and brush; this strips the skin (some call it velvet off) off. I have seen some deer with their freshly stripped antlers that were blood red from the blood that was under the velvet and have seen some that were freshly stripped that were almost white. All deer and Elk rub on trees and brush (asserting dominance in an area or practice for later fighting) and get some color on those antlers form that process. The vegetation they rub on will determine how dark or light their antlers are. Enough of my rambling.....go rub your knife on all of your neighbors trees and bush's, stamp your foot at them aggressively and then go pay MRS. Goose a visit ;). It works for the big Bucks...so it may work for a goose :).

jb4570
 
Use a quality antler stain,used in taxidermy for coloring antlers,then just use some fine steel wool to achieve the results you are looking for.
 
I should have taken a pic of the gizmo when this happned but I was in a hurry to salvage what I had done. Didn't want the booger have the color "set".

Thanks all...
So, if I understand this correctly; wipe it down with black shoe polish, mineral oil, antler stain, then hit it with some steel wool? ;)
 
a lot of people use old english stain..i do on my antler knives..use whatever tint you want it looks old and rustic..
 
Evil Eye Earl said:
I think you have ruined it....cover it up with some Magenta fingernail (high gloss) polish or any other
color you will use that day....on your nails, that way you will be color matched.:D
Click to expand...
And be sure to post lots of photos once you're done. Inquiring minds want to see!! :eek: :eek: :D :D
 
Hey Brother Goose... can we see the other side? It look O.K. to me.:thumbup:
Love the FG.on that one.Really sets the knife off.:thumbup:
Hawkeye
 
The answer to your problem is simple...let's rephrase the problem, shall we??? (Take notes; there will be a pop quiz later)... :grumpy:

Your stag 110 no longer looks "natural" because you bleached it (to get the red dye out)...so, you have two options:

(1) Un-bleach it
(2) Run through the woods bleaching every buck you see so that your bleached 110 will look "natural"...

Now, as we have seen in the posts above, option #1 is way too hard...

Have fun romping through the woods!!! :D

(Pop quiz: Who was the president of the US in 1781??? Hint...It was not Washington...he was busy fighting the Revolution...and wasn't inaugurated Pres until 1789...)
 
chickentrax said:
The answer to your problem is simple...let's rephrase the problem, shall we??? (Take notes; there will be a pop quiz later)... :grumpy:

Your stag 110 no longer looks "natural" because you bleached it (to get the red dye out)...so, you have two options:

(1) Un-bleach it
(2) Run through the woods bleaching every buck you see so that your bleached 110 will look "natural"...

Now, as we have seen in the posts above, option #1 is way too hard...

Have fun romping through the woods!!! :D

(Pop quiz: Who was the president of the US in 1781??? Hint...It was not Washington...he was busy fighting the Revolution...and wasn't inaugurated Pres until 1789...)
Click to expand...

Professor Trax...
Your steps towards my mini-dillema are noteworthy, yet incorrect.
Below is Goose's "Butterfly Effect"...it was not the bleaching. That was the second step.

The first step was my trying to wet-form the knife in a dyed leather sheath. That lead to step two, bleaching.
Step two progressed to step three...Old English (drying as I type).
I am thinking step four will be a trip to the Muskrat Rehabilitation Center for Bucks.
So, I would have to romp through the woods with pink dye.

I wish I took pics!!! It looked like one of those Case PINK boned pocket knives. It was a Buck only Liberace could love. More pink than red.
Now that I think about it, it was funny.

The one thing I was thinking that would have happened anyway; first ride in the rain and the elk would've stained from the sheath. After the staining, I'm gonna finish it with some clear coat.

Sorry Jeff, didn't take pics of the other side. :(
 
Hey Goose, we dont do anything to the elk in regards to staining. We recieve the antlers whole. We cut them to size, install them on the knives, blend them to the bolsters and them buff. We do see many lines on the antler we get in. Those lines are from the viscious fights the bulls have with each other and with the vegetation where they live.
I even saw a piece of antler once that had a bullet hole in it!
I've never heard of any of the remedies mentioned above but they sound like they should work. If that antler can soak up the red dye from a leather sheath, it should be able to soak up the dye in Old English or red finger nail polish. :rolleyes:
If none of that works, send it on in and we will find some now handles for it. That option is out there too.
Take care,
 
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