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- Jul 4, 2017
- Messages
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TL;DR: Just picked up this 2014 Case 62032CV small Texas Jack, cleaned it up, re-dyed the covers, scrubbed the blades, forced a new patina, and sharpened it.
Long version: I've been experimenting with re-dying bone covers. I had success with brown dye on an RR081 lockback (produced a very dark "ebony-like" color) so I tried the same dye on my Case 6318 stockman, which resulted in a nice caramel tone. Then I applied a scarlet dye to an RR muskrat -- the strawberry bone covers were not bright or uniform enough for my taste, and that worked very well. I used the same dye on two RR whittlers and that produced a nice burgundy tone. Having been pleased with all those results I wanted to try a blue dye, but didn't have a knife that I wanted to risk it on.
Not too long ago I found a pair of Case small Texas jacks at the local knife shop. Both were 2014 date stamped and had the original box. (Turns out they are litter-mates, both boxes marked 12/15/14!) One was absolutely pristine and shiny, with the brown wrapping paper and Case info sheet. That's the one I bought. The other was pretty grungy with dark patina on the blades and some pitting, and I thought the bolsters appeared to have a little pocket wear (but on further inspection maybe not). There was no brown wrapper or info sheet and it was $10 cheaper. I couldn't tell if it had ever been sharpened. The only obvious wear was on the high point (or low point?) of the backsprings where there was a little scuffing.
I went looking for something to try the blue dye on and thought I'd pick up another RR. I didn't really see anything that appealed to me and then I saw the small Texas Jack again. It was only twice the price of an RR and looked as if it would clean up pretty well, so I bought it. After some scrubbing I dropped it in a hot bath of blue dye for 20 minutes and got some surprising results. At first the knife looked deep purple! However, after some handling it now looks more brown with some blue highlights. It's not what I expected but I do like it (although I'd be reluctant to try the blue dye again, at least on Case bone; RR might give different results).
Of course, the hot dye bath made a mess of the blades, so I scrubbed them with Flitz, stuck them in a potato for a couple of hours, polished with 0000 steel wool, then ran them through a lime and let them sit for about a half hour. After that I sharpened them on my 600 grit and 1200 grit diamond stones.
I think I got a nice "user". This is only my second CV knife and I'm really liking it.
Long version: I've been experimenting with re-dying bone covers. I had success with brown dye on an RR081 lockback (produced a very dark "ebony-like" color) so I tried the same dye on my Case 6318 stockman, which resulted in a nice caramel tone. Then I applied a scarlet dye to an RR muskrat -- the strawberry bone covers were not bright or uniform enough for my taste, and that worked very well. I used the same dye on two RR whittlers and that produced a nice burgundy tone. Having been pleased with all those results I wanted to try a blue dye, but didn't have a knife that I wanted to risk it on.
Not too long ago I found a pair of Case small Texas jacks at the local knife shop. Both were 2014 date stamped and had the original box. (Turns out they are litter-mates, both boxes marked 12/15/14!) One was absolutely pristine and shiny, with the brown wrapping paper and Case info sheet. That's the one I bought. The other was pretty grungy with dark patina on the blades and some pitting, and I thought the bolsters appeared to have a little pocket wear (but on further inspection maybe not). There was no brown wrapper or info sheet and it was $10 cheaper. I couldn't tell if it had ever been sharpened. The only obvious wear was on the high point (or low point?) of the backsprings where there was a little scuffing.
I went looking for something to try the blue dye on and thought I'd pick up another RR. I didn't really see anything that appealed to me and then I saw the small Texas Jack again. It was only twice the price of an RR and looked as if it would clean up pretty well, so I bought it. After some scrubbing I dropped it in a hot bath of blue dye for 20 minutes and got some surprising results. At first the knife looked deep purple! However, after some handling it now looks more brown with some blue highlights. It's not what I expected but I do like it (although I'd be reluctant to try the blue dye again, at least on Case bone; RR might give different results).
Of course, the hot dye bath made a mess of the blades, so I scrubbed them with Flitz, stuck them in a potato for a couple of hours, polished with 0000 steel wool, then ran them through a lime and let them sit for about a half hour. After that I sharpened them on my 600 grit and 1200 grit diamond stones.
I think I got a nice "user". This is only my second CV knife and I'm really liking it.
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