Modded my Junglas, lots-O-pics-n-how-to

czombie said:
yes....I guess it would have made more sense if I just asked.....What exactly does the etchant do..?? lol

thx bud
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Oops! I forgot to explain that better..... PCB etchant is a liquid that has a strong acidic reaction to non-stainles carbon steel. But has little effect on non metals. So, any bit of metal left exposed to the etchant will be eaten away at by the liquid.

The lettering and logos on ESEE knives were created at the factory by removing the paint coating with a laser, revealing the bare metal underneath. The remaining black coating protects the rest of the knife, (minus the edge) from the etchant while letting the etchant do its work on the lettering. Thus after soaking in the etchant for a good while you end up with the deep, almost machine engraved looking letters and skull logo.

Hope that makes sense! :)
 
BryFry said:
Oops! I forgot to explain that better..... PCB etchant is a liquid that has a strong acidic reaction to non-stainles carbon steel. But has little effect on non metals. So, any bit of metal left exposed to the etchant will be eaten away at by the liquid.

The lettering and logos on ESEE knives were created at the factory by removing the paint coating with a laser, revealing the bare metal underneath. The remaining black coating protects the rest of the knife, (minus the edge) from the etchant while letting the etchant do its work on the lettering. Thus after soaking in the etchant for a good while you end up with the deep, almost machine engraved looking letters and skull logo.

Hope that makes sense! :)
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ahhhh...I see now.

Thank you for the very clear explanation...
 
Do you mind explaining how you dyed the handles on the first one?
 
I hope you don't mind me posting some photos in you thread. Your explanation of how you did your mod was so good I decided to give it a try on a RC4.

I only etched it for about 20hrs or so. It looked deep enough to me so I took it out, stripped it then blued it. I think it turned out pretty good. The RC4 had lines on the blade that I guess are from the grinder at the factory. I left them since I thought they looked cool with the blueing. Definitely a rough finish without the coating. After bluing the knife I sanded it a little with 2000 grit auto sandpaper to give it a more used look. It's only a matter of time before it gets that used look on its own but I figured I would help it get started.

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Deoje said:
Do you mind explaining how you dyed the handles on the first one?
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Deoje, your knife looks great! well done!

On my first knife I used Feibings leather dye, mahogany color. The trouble I ran into was that micarta appearently does not absorb color very well. ...Well it looked like it did at first, but I quickly discovered that some of the dye was leaching off of the scales and onto my hand.

But I found out that rubbing the dyed scales down with alcohol and a rag, took off whatever pigments that were not sticking. So I rubbed and cleaned with alcohol and water until there was no more color transfer. Then I coated the scales with several layers of spray on clearcoat just for good measure.

The final color wasn't the exact shade of rich mahogany that I was going for, but it still looks pretty good, and I haven't had any more trouble out of it since. And I have field tested the knife pretty well durring a weekend camping trip. :)


Edit: ...Forgot to mention, I think there have been other threads around here on how to dye micarta. My search-fu is weak, but I think it involves boiling water, and some specific brand of dye...? May have been on the old esee forum though.
 
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Careful spreading those pics around now...RAT is going to see how good these look and start doing it themselves and adding $$ to the cost of the knives!! XD

Great job Deoje, looks awesome!
 
I have scales already dyed brown. My guess is since they dont absorb the color if I file them it will expose the natural color underneath? Maybe it'll make a nice two tone effect.
 
clichtenwalner1 said:
I have scales already dyed brown. My guess is since they dont absorb the color if I file them it will expose the natural color underneath? Maybe it'll make a nice two tone effect.
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Yeah, once you start filing/sanding, you will get down to the lighter color pretty quick I think. Might look pretty cool that way though, and you could always rub some more dye on there to darken it up again. I'd love to see pics if you do it!

Do you know how yours were dyed the fisrt time?
 
We've all been inspired by your creativity.

The Junglas looks like a Busse and the Esee4 looks like a Swamp Rat. Great mods u guys

Deoje can we get some more pics of ur 4?
 
BryFry said:
Yeah, once you start filing/sanding, you will get down to the lighter color pretty quick I think. Might look pretty cool that way though, and you could always rub some more dye on there to darken it up again. I'd love to see pics if you do it!

Do you know how yours were dyed the fisrt time?
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I had someone else dye em before they even knew they were gonna sell them to me :D
 
I really love the file work that you did on your Junglas. Both of those are just badass. That is something I would like to try in the future. I will have to look up how that is done and some different patterns. I just added at small indentation to use with a firesteel.

After looking at these scales I think they need more work. They are sort of thin so there isn't a lot that can be done with them I'm afraid. That being said, I'm going to mess with them some more anyway. Here are a couple more pictures of the RC4 where it stands right now.

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Just finished working on this one today. It's an ESEE 5.
I modded the handle, did some etching, stripped the coating, rounded the spine, custom choil, sanded and gunblue patina'd, and a sharpening.

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You can probably see the large strangely discolored spot both sides of the blade. Not sure, but it seems like a difference in the heat treat may have caused a sort of visible hamon like change in the steel??? Not much I could do about it, but I tried to blend it in at least a little. :eek:
 
Awesome job! Thanks for sharing, it takes a bit of work to do those photos and get'em posted up too!
 
Both those knives are stunners. Great work.
Edit: Make that three knives. I just saw the 5 too.
 
Thanks for the great tutorial. Your file work is spectacular. Never had a desire for this type knife until I saw what you did with it.
 
Amazing work! If you don't mind me asking, how much do you charge for the mods?
 
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