Can plain ol' stag be treated to become gold stag?

[Cinco0219]

I've heard of torching stag to get the nice brown highlights you see in some knives. Is there a method used to produce the rich, through the slab, golden color you see in gold stag?

[knowtracks]

Cinco, When you say "golden stag" I'm guessing that you are talking about Sambar Stag from India. Which is "toasted" to help even out the color from the outside to the inside of the antler. (I would be very interested in just how that is done exactly)
Plain `ol stag is probably (I'm guessing again) European stag which is a different antler altogether.
Apples & oranges, don't you know.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[Cinco0219]

I was primarily thinking of Sambar but Axis antlers are also very solid with little pith. I'd also like to be able to put a little color in Axis. I've tried potassium permanganate on Axis which looks good but has little penetration. Ditto chewing tobacco, green tea, and coffee.
It could just be that the mineral content of the diet or age of some stags determines their antler color.

[Hukk]

I do know that some sellers of Sambar stag do dye their antler and/or send it out to obtain a better color such as amber for instance. They can also be stabilized by many methods.

[knifeswapper]

I have heard people say light brown leather dye works fairly well. But putting a low heat torch to it has the best outcome.

[Cinco0219]

Thanks, I'll try both.

[Gr8Scout]

About the 'torched look'. I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that to make it easy to find the dropped antlers, the locals set a fire to burn off the low laying vegatation. Hence, the stag antlers get the torched look.
Phil

[Hukk]

About the 'torched look'. I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that to make it easy to find the dropped antlers, the locals set a fire to burn off the low laying vegatation. Hence, the stag antlers get the torched look.
Phil

I heard that story also for the Sambar Stag. They banned the practice because the Bengal Tiger shares the same habitat. Since the Bengal Tiger is an endangered species, made sense to me why they banned the practice. That's the story I heard.

[knifeswapper]

I do believe the part about burning grasslands to make finding the shed antlers easier, but don't expect it has anything to do with the torching. As the smooth buffed down areas are the main places they torch to blend in with the texture; but once it is buffed down to meet the bolsters you are way below any surface area that would still have surface burn.

[Gr8Scout]

knifeswapper, your theory has merit. But I am a student of BRLevine, who rails frequently about how modern stag handled knives are nothing like the the oldies but goodies.. how they are done. And he is right, there is a difference. Modern users of stag do grind down the ends of the stag sections they use for handles, where, if you examine fine old stag handled knives, you'll see the great texture of the stag extends from bolster (if there are bolsters-- if not from end of knife to end) to bolster. So an older, finely done stag handle may show the original burn evidence the entire length of the handle, while a modern one must be artificially torched to get the same effect.

I think there are modern makers (that is custom and factory production) who do not know what at least some of us think is true; how 'torched stag' originated as described in above posts. Nor do they really study old, wonderfully done stag handles with the textured stag running end to end. They see other relatively modern stag handles and just copy how they are made, a monkey-see, monkey-do type thing.

Or, of course, I dont know what I am talking about here. Interesting thread.

Phil

ps.. check out the great stag handle on this new production Col. Coon. This is what I consider old style, really quality stag. A nice flat large section has been used, so no cheating (grinding down the ends-- then torching) needed to be done. And the stag is not 'fat' either. A very nice textured handle for a good grip, yet still would be comfortable in the pocket.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 4710#24710

[Cinco0219]

I found a company on the net called "Mother of Pearl Company" that dyes stag to look amber. They produce a very good looking amber Sambar stag scale.
I also checked several knife galleries displaying amber stag handled knives and notice on several that the amber color does not completely penetrate the scale. The grooves in the bark seem very dark, nearly black which may be an effect of the dying process. Great looking stag none the less.
I checked several sites on dying natural materials and found that most man made dyes are toxic. MSDS sheets should be carefull followed. Thanks

[Hukk]

You'll find a lot of stag rolls, tapers, etc that have been amber dyed. Some will even look 100% black, but the color comes through with a bit of grinding or buffing.