Custom Dyed GEC’s by Nathan & Travis

With some indoor fluorescent lighting.
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An informative and informed thread, very useful thanks.

This is an exciting development, the only dye I've used is tea bath plus a pinch of salt. Results on Stag have been very good- takes some nerve. On bone it's been quite successful too but I've only attempted it on CASE knives. Corrosion & warping are the man concerns, but with CASE knives you have a stainless backspring and this is good because that's where trouble can gain a hold. I tape the blades even on stainless, a bit tedious & a sticky mess afterwards but vital. I don't ever immerse the knife into boiling liquid and let it boil, I think that's going to guarantee warping maybe cracking, the knife goes in around 90c when the tea has 'stewed' and remains on top of tea bags.

But this new development sounds really promising, even getting tempted to change my GEC14 SFO which is Ivory Bone, must have turned my head :eek::D .

Anyway here's a couple of recent CASE projects, not bad.

Originally a vile watery pink 'Salmon ' colour but wanted it not red but darker.

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Two 'improved red' CASE knives. Not as dark as Travman's but still a lot better and Jigged Bone

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Hey, Travman Travman ! What an awesome discovery and what lovely knives!
I'm thinking I surely remember you posting about dying bone a deeper brown color using a certain kind of neatsfoot oil, but I can't locate the post in a search. If that was you, can you mention that again, please?
 
Travman said:
Here is our next knife we are going to dye. It is a perfect example of what is not quite red enough for my tastes. Note the pink edges where the slabs meet the bolsters. That has to go.

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That phenomenon seems to happen a lot on GEC knives — any idea why? I’ve always been curious.
 
JW225 said:
That phenomenon seems to happen a lot on GEC knives — any idea why? I’ve always been curious.
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The slabs are cut somewhat oversize, and are sanded down when the knife is hafted/covers are fitted. That particular area gets a lot of attention from the belt sander to make certain the transitions between cover and bolster are very smooth on top and bottom. The dye is not usually through the entire slab. If it is a bit too thin, the sanding will wear through all of it and the bone will show white. If it’s almost too thin, it will show pink.

The only way to fix this would be to fit thinner slabs, use a different dye process that penetrates deeper, or institute a second dyeing after hafting. All of which would add notably to the cost.
 
GaiusJulius said:
The slabs are cut somewhat oversize, and are sanded down when the knife is hafted/covers are fitted. That particular area gets a lot of attention from the belt sander to make certain the transitions between cover and bolster are very smooth on top and bottom. The dye is not usually through the entire slab. If it is a bit too thin, the sanding will wear through all of it and the bone will show white. If it’s almost too thin, it will show pink.

The only way to fix this would be to fit thinner slabs, use a different dye process that penetrates deeper, or institute a second dyeing after hafting. All of which would add notably to the cost.
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A very good synopsis of the process. One other option would be to soak the bone in the dye for a longer period of time allowing more time for the dye to sink in deeper to the bone. The drawback to this idea would be that more dye would absorb and overall the bone would be darker.
 
GaiusJulius said:
The slabs are cut somewhat oversize, and are sanded down when the knife is hafted/covers are fitted. That particular area gets a lot of attention from the belt sander to make certain the transitions between cover and bolster are very smooth on top and bottom. The dye is not usually through the entire slab. If it is a bit too thin, the sanding will wear through all of it and the bone will show white. If it’s almost too thin, it will show pink.

The only way to fix this would be to fit thinner slabs, use a different dye process that penetrates deeper, or institute a second dyeing after hafting. All of which would add notably to the cost.
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Thanks for that explanation — much appreciated.
 
LastRodeo said:
This guy developed verdigris around the pins. Travman Travman Is this a good candidate for a dye job?
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First I would try soaking it in mineral oil for a few weeks. That green color might just leach out. A 16 fluid ounce jar of food grade mineral oil only costs about $2.00 from my local hardware store. But, yes, that one would be a good candidate for a dye job. The dark red would cover that green up so that you would never notice it.
 
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