All About Pocket Knives

I*XL Barlow Restoration

Well, at least I remembered to get a semi before picture with this knife.

#1 – As you can see I ground down the end of the handle because it was delaminating, or so it appeared. I wanted to be sure I got a solid hit on the springs and frame when I cut the pins.
#2 – The inside, not as rusty as many of the steel I*XLs but still needs some work.
#3 – I remember to take one more working shot, I have the outside liners cleaned up and at the lower left you can see one of the pieces of stag that I thinned out for the handle.
and

That was all of the Work in Progress pictures although I am doing a Buck 302 and I am trying to document it step-by-step.

I put this knife back together once and the pen blade was pretty lifeless. I took it back apart to see if I could get more life in it by cleaning up the round end but it really did help. Not having an extra pen blade I modified the Barlow into a single blade, which I would prefer to carry anyway.
I put it back together, dyed stag and buffed it but was not happy with the color. I spent the next 2 or 3 days applying numerous coats of dye in order to achieve a richer color. I did get a deeper, and I think richer color. I am satisfied with this color for this one knife, but I am looking for a deeper, richer color that I can replicate with relative ease. I’m not there yet with this dye color.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

The knife is currently in my store, more pictures available there. In the quest to do the perfect rehandle, the color of the stag is very important, IMHO, and the stag available nowadays is a far cry from what was once available.

I would love to have feedback specifically on the color; what you like about it and/or don’t like about it and any suggestions.
Thank you in advance!

Looks great!!! Assuming the pictures are accurately reflecting the color, I personally, really like the color and look of the stag. I have an IXL barlow...that one day needs rehandled...I'm sure my version won't be as pretty

WOW.....amazing bud!!

Dale,

I love the color. I can't imagine it being better.

Color looks great. Are you using alcohol dye, is is that a trade secret? I have tried servers different methods of dying, and ways come back to something like Feibings.

The spun pins look great as well.

Looks really good Dale, I too like the color of the stag. I see you changed your makers etch?

Dale looks better than it did new.

Looks like a winner to me Dale. My only comment (not a criticism, just my personal preference) is that I like the stag to be a little thinner. That can sometimes be easier said than done, depending on the stag. Regardless, love the stag, and the change to a single blade!

Sweet looking knife!!!

Super work there. I love the color of your stag.

Tom

I like the color of the stag , makes it look old. Nice looking knife.

That is one good lookin' Barlow!

First of all I would like to thank everyone who commented, I appreciate the feedback! Apparently the color looks better than it does to my eye. I think the color is pretty true to life, it looks better in person that it does in the pictures.
If you’re just looking at this, please feel free to comment, the more feedback I get on the knife the better it is for me. I think always trying to improve is a good thing.

Tony_Wood wrote:Color looks great. Are you using alcohol dye, is is that a trade secret? I have tried servers different methods of dying, and ways come back to something like Feibings.

The spun pins look great as well.

No secret Tony.
I use PP, potassium permanganate mixed with water. I glue the stag to the handle, haft the stag to fit the bolsters and the liners, drill the pinholes, sand and polish the stag. I don’t like to put stag on the buffer when it has nickel silver or brass pins installed because it will leave black marks from the rouge on the stag. After I have the stag pretty much as smooth as I want, I buff it with No Scratch Pink. Then I use 600 grit 3M polishing paper to remove some of the wax from the No Scratch Pink compound to remove wax that may be in the compound that would prevent the PP from penetrating the stag. Even if I don’t use the No Scratch Paint I find it is still necessary to wipe the stag down with 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove any residue that would prevent the absorption of the PP and also it does help to remove any dirt on the stag.

I have a bottle that has about 4 ounces of water and about a tablespoon of potassium permanganate dissolved in it. I add water or PP from time to time as needed. Normally I apply the PP with a long Q-tip and allow it to soak in. This is great for a light color to the stag, but it’s not adequate for the darker color I was looking for. I had used this technique the first time on this Barlow but it was far lighter than I wanted.
So I shifted gears…
I dug to the bottom of the jar with a long handled Q-tip and coated the stag (especially the lighter areas) with some of the undissolved PP crystals. The thick slurry stayed on pretty well but it was not a solid coding of PP crystals, (it’s a pretty wet slurry).
I actually did several coats allowing them to dry, wiping them down with a soft cloth and examining the result to see if it was the color I wanted. I kept repeating that process over to three days until I was happy with the color.
When I was happy with the color, I wiped it down with the soft cloth, buffed the stag lightly with No Scratch Paint compound, (trying to avoid the pins), wiped the compound off and then buffed the stag handle with carnauba wax.
The last step was wiping the entire knife down, (the handles & blades) with Walker Wax to help remove any traces of compound, and to shine and protect the knife.

I'm glad you like the spun pins.

313 Mike wrote:Looks really good Dale, I too like the color of the stag. I see you changed your makers etch?

I have two stencils I use with my Electrochem Etch machine. The name stencil was the first one I used in the logo stencil came a few years later. The difficulty with a logo stencil is that it’s much taller and it won’t fit very well on a blade that is not really wide. It would have fit this blade but there would not have been much margin on either side of the logo. After a couple of sharpenings the edge would’ve been in the logo itself.

glennbad wrote:Looks like a winner to me Dale. My only comment (not a criticism, just my personal preference) is that I like the stag to be a little thinner. That can sometimes be easier said than done, depending on the stag. Regardless, love the stag, and the change to a single blade!

Sweet looking knife!!!

Thank you Glenn!
I appreciate your personal preferences on the stag and they share them. That is why I thinned it down quite a bit, probably at least a ¼” but the contour of the stag left it quite a bit thinner at the upper edge of the pile side handle. If I would’ve gone down too much more there would not have been much stag covering the liner in that spot. Definitely one of those cases where it is easier said than done, as you so aptly pointed out.


Thank you for all the comments in the feedback!
I look forward to hearing from more of you…

I'm with everyone else, great color!!

Looks great to me Dale! I’m not a Barlow man, but I’d tote that one!

Looks Good Dale Looks Like Genuine Stag To Me . P.S. Only Way I Ever got a Polished Bone Look was Using a Industrial Micro bristle Stainless Steel Brush and Auto Motive Pre-Paint wax and Tar Remover .The Polish is Actually on the Stag ,If You Use paper you"ll fill in end grain , making Staining a Hassle ( Lol) Then Hit it With the PP And Buff , If I had Some Stag I would Pictorial the Process , But there it is in B&W For ya .K.C. https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kleencut61

Dale great job! Love the stag! Quality my friend that’s what I see.

Thanks guys come I appreciate the feedback.

Ed, I'm glad to see you're posting. How's the ankle? Have you been able to get back out in the shop yet? Thanks for the feedback.

Good golly..... That is a BEAUTIFUL restoration Dale!
Totally amazing work as usual!

Mike

orvet wrote:Thanks guys come I appreciate the feedback.

Ed, I'm glad to see you're posting. How's the ankle? Have you been able to get back out in the shop yet? Thanks for the feedback.

The ankle is getting better. I am still in a boot for another 6 weeks. As for the shop I got out to it for about a hour and a half. Hopefully I will be able to get out there for longer periods since I can put some weight on my ankle now. I will keep you informed as I am able to try to get back in the swing of things. Thanks for asking my friend, Ed.

Landersknives wrote:

orvet wrote:Thanks guys come I appreciate the feedback.

Ed, I'm glad to see you're posting. How's the ankle? Have you been able to get back out in the shop yet? Thanks for the feedback.

The ankle is getting better. I am still in a boot for another 6 weeks. As for the shop I got out to it for about a hour and a half. Hopefully I will be able to get out there for longer periods since I can put some weight on my ankle now. I will keep you informed as I am able to try to get back in the swing of things. Thanks for asking my friend, Ed.

Great news Ed. Glad the Lord made us so we would heal.