Jigged Bone Experiment

T.Knotts

T.Knotts

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May 14, 2010
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Thought I would take a shot at jigging and dying some bone. Finished this Sodbuster with some dyed and jigged scales and used African Blackwood as the bolsters. My plan was to use only bone but i didn't have a set long enough (waiting for the short bone jokes.)

I need to do a little more experimenting with the dying part but overall I'm happy with it.

whats your thoughts?

slipjoint table.jpg slipjoint folded.jpg
 
I like it! The dye seems to have taken very differently in the grooves vs the smooth. Is that intended? I really like to wood bolsters on this pattern. Very nice.
 
That looks great Tim. That jigging looks awesome!!
 
Thanks!
The dye didn't hold as well as I hoped on the high spots after final sand/polish. Part of the process now is to figure how to get the dye to penetrate deeper. I have a few more processes that I'm going to try out and see which gives the best results.
 
Very nice! I love me some sodbusters.

Just a thought but, if the bone has any oil or waxes that might stop it from absorbing the dye, a quick cleaning or soak in a solvent like Naptha or lacquer thinner might help.
 
That's a great looking knife! I like the color you got out of the bone, and the Blackwood really is a nice accent!
 
Nice looking knife, the jigged bone looks good, have you tried potassium permanganate to dye any bone?
 
thanks all.

I let the bone set in an alcohol based leather dye overnight. I think (1) I should have waited longer and (2) i should have finished the handle as close as possible BEFORE dying. I dyed a whole slab after jigging and that was .135 thick and took it down to .120 so I lost a lot there. I was thinking that it would be a consistent dye all the way through but...I was wrong. I then tried to it again by wiping on the leather dye but that didn't penetrate at all. I have a piece that I soaked in mineral oil for 2 days and it was nice and translucent then put it in some potassium permanganate for 2 days and it came out looking promising. I read that if you put it back in oil after the dye that it can help deepen too, so, its sitting in a mineral oil bath again, we'll see how it turns out. Im open to any pointers, I don't have much more hair to pull out LOL.
 
Thanks Scott. I must have been typing when you posted. Im going to let this batch set another day in mineral oil and grind it down to see how it comes out. Next step is a pre soak in denatured alcohol maybe?
 
I love it. I love seeing knives and thinking "was that built yesterday or yesteryear?"
That could easily pass for one made by a 19th century master cutler.
 
Thanks. I had the blade a nice 1500grit finish but I thought a patina would fit better. I was happy the way the etch came out.

As for the master Cutler thanks but I feel more like the guy that sweeps up after the apprentice lol.

On a side note....every time I hit the return button on my phone it posts my reply so I have to go back in and edit to finish a post. Strange.
 
Thanks Scott. Im going to carry her around a while to see how the dye holds up.
 
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