Working w/ dyed bone scales

[Toejammer]

Just curious what methods you guys use when working with dyed bone scales. Specifically what amount of material you remove, and if it's from the top or bottom (liner side) in order to get to the desired color ?

I've noticed that my last two knives have really big honking scales on them, and the proportion doesn't look right to me. Also, I'm settling on a boxy shape, when I'd like a more rounded contour. This all started when I began using jigged bone and bones with a design (barbwire). I wanted to get to the amber color of the barbwire, but wasn't sure how far I'd have to go to get it and not lose the design. On my green jigged bone knife, I wound up going too deep on the bolster edges, and wound up with white outlines instead of the rich green color.

With jigged bone, do you remove material from the back, to get your desired depth, so as not to lose the jigging topside ?

Do you guys work the bone BEFORE you slab it onto the liners, or do you do it all afterwards ?

Is there a method of polishing you use that will get the lighter color to come out, without taking off material ? The barbwire design on my last knife would look great if I could get down to the amber, and leave the design darker. But these scales come dyed so dark sometimes, you never know how far you have to go to reach the color theyr'e supposed to be.

I know, alot of questions, but this is driving me nutz !!

[orvet]

Mike, a lot of it is experimentation, trial & error. I try and let the shape of the knife tell me how to shape the bone. Some knives need radiused bone and some need flat bone. I also let the bone tell me now much to remove sometimes. There is a point at which certain slabs look best and you learn that by working with more & more bone.

Sometimes I will thin the bone on the back, depending on how thick I want the handles.
The different colors of bone are sometimes very different to work with. Some change the color a lot and some change very little.
Generally, and there are exceptions, but in general the darker the bone the more the color changes. I started with black bone and took it down a ways and ended up with deep maroon handles.

You have to learn to read the bone as you work it to get the best color and look.

[Toejammer]

I didn't even think about the radiused bone, I've been using flat pieces on round bolsters. No wonder they look funky. Got to stop shopping in the bargain bin......

Some of these handles come dyed so dark that if I threw them out on the table, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Your right about letting the bone dictate your actions, cause now that I think of it, the green bone scales should have been thinned from the backside. Then I wouldn't have ground into the white on the top.

Fortunately I have a crapload of TL-29's, so I'll just keep working at it !

Thanks !

[orvet]

One way to remove some of the color & better tell the actual color of the dye used on a slab is to wipe the bone with a cloth wet with rubbing alcohol. That will remove come of the excess dye on the surface of the slab and maybe keep some of it off you’re your fingers.
I find the 97% alcohol (or more) works better than the standard 70% rubbing alcohol.

[Toejammer]

One way to remove some of the color & better tell the actual color of the dye used on a slab is to wipe the bone with a cloth wet with rubbing alcohol. That will remove come of the excess dye on the surface of the slab and maybe keep some of it off you’re your fingers.
I find the 97% alcohol (or more) works better than the standard 70% rubbing alcohol.

I like this idea ! My damn fingers have been dyed dark red for two days now.....

[orvet]

Actually I use the jellied alcohol sanitizer on my hands. It seems to work best on skin because it doesn’t evaporate as fast. A 8 oz bottle of alcohol hand sanitizer from the Dollar Tree stores usually lasts me a month or more just for cleaning my hands.

[Toejammer]

Actually I use the jellied alcohol sanitizer on my hands. It seems to work best on skin because it doesn’t evaporate as fast. A 8 oz bottle of alcohol hand sanitizer from the Dollar Tree stores usually lasts me a month or more just for cleaning my hands.

[muskrat man]

I remove most of the material from the back until the jigging is almost flush with the bolsters, then attach it to the liners and haft the ends and round all the edges. You can use flat slabs on knives, nothing wrong with it at all, you just need to round the edges if you want a smoother profile.