What dye do you use?

[sharpstick]

Just wondering what kind of dye do you use to color stag or bone handle scales these beautiful colors of red. Is it a complicated process to do?

 

[Mike Hull]

A lot of stag is colored with potassium permanganate.
http://www.pondrx.com/shop/details....=3&PHPSESSID=dd0c65306c8a511abe5055901c7e39be


As for the bone? I'm not really sure, but hope someone who knows will jump in here.

And no, it's not that hard.

 

[Wild Rose]

Since it's always on hand I use leather dye of varying shades depending on the look I want for both antler and bone. I let it soak in the dye when possible for a day or two - other wise I just slop it on several times over a day or two. After it's dry I wipe clean with a rag lightly dampened with alcohol. Then I seal with Watco Danish Oil.
If you get too much dye or the color doesn't look right just buff or rub it off with 4/0 steel wool.
On stabilized stag the only thing that I know that works fairly well is PP as suggested by Mike.

PP will also work on bone but on the other hand Bruce Evans recommends using Rit dye for it.