All About Pocket Knives

I have been reading the posts you guys have been making over the past months where you have used Culpepper bone to rehandle various pocket knives. I decided to try some Culpepper bone, so I ordered an assortment of colors and sizes to have on hand for the next few projects. I got the first one done and I have to say it is a huge disappointment. The knife is a Camillus 23 jack, and the bone slabs I got from Culpepper were very close to exact size in royal blue. The thickness was perfect, the width was perfect at the center and the length was about 3/32" long to allow squaring the ends to fit between the bolsters. So I really removed only a very small amount of material, and all the hafting was done by hand with a sanding block, and the polishing by hand with a cloth and Flitz polish. The slabs both looked identical before installation, but the problem is the dyeing process was very uneven, with the front slab being the bad one. Just by chance the pile side looks perfect, the color is a very uniform blue. But the mark side has some bare white bone showing along the bottom edge below the rocker pin. Just the small amount I removed to round the edges over took all the dye off. I know, I know, bone is a natural material and can vary in color and texture. But still to me this was unexpected and disappointing. I was just wondering if any of you fellows have had anything like this happen with Culpepper bone? The pile side looks perfect. The mark side, not so much.

Yes, it’s happened to me a couple of times.
Personally I don’t really view it as a negative, to me it’s just one of the characteristics of bone. Some of the pieces takes the dye deeper than other pieces. It’s especially noticeable on the thinner slabs like the ones you’re working with. But it can occur on thicker slabs as well.
I don’t mind a few streaks of white occasionally but I can see how it might be an issue if you were looking for a solid blue handle.
I’ve had pretty good success with Culpepper bone even when using their over-runs or seconds.
Im not sure if the dye issues are more common with one color or another, Id have to go through my knives to see which ones had that issue (I do know that I’ve seen that occur in blue previously and it was on a slab about the size of the one you’re working with and on a Barlow knife).
Jeff

Here’s the blue one I did;

OC, I'm not the craftsman you are, nor do I have that eye for perfection that you have but for me that is a great looking job. It must be inherent in the bone as Jeffinn got the same shading. Sorry for your disappointment, but for my old eyes it looks awfully knice. Certainly nothing wrong with the work.

The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that bone is a natural product and not consistent in density like a plastic would be.
Bone often varies in density. The density affects the way the bone absorbs the dye. Harder, denser bone will not absorb as much dye as the less dense bone, which makes the less dense bone much darker in color. I have noticed this in my own dye experiments.

For some reason, blue is the one color that I have QC issues with from Culpepper. It doesn't seem to dye as thoroughly, and "whites out" quite easily.

I think you will find most of the other colors will be better performers.

glennbad wrote:For some reason, blue is the one color that I have QC issues with from Culpepper. It doesn't seem to dye as thoroughly, and "whites out" quite easily.

I think you will find most of the other colors will be better performers.

That’s been my experience as well.

The artist is usually the most critical of his own work. I see some flaws in my own work that most people never notice.
I personally think it adds character and beauty to this
knife!
(But you can try brushing it with a blue Sharpie. It won't be perfect, but it might make you feel better!)

Reverand wrote:The artist is usually the most critical of his own work. I see some flaws in my own work that most people never notice.
I personally think it adds character and beauty to this
knife!
(But you can try brushing it with a blue Sharpie. It won't be perfect, but it might make you feel better!)

Agreed!
I notice every little flaw on the knives that I work on. The little things that drive me crazy aren’t really noticed by anyone else.