All About Pocket Knives

Hello all , I have a Rough Ryder smoothe white bone slipjoint and want to use food dye to give it a light blue colour to the scales . Is there anyone on here that has used this method before and if so , how effective is it ? Does it need sealing after to prevent any bleeding ? Thanks

Legend wrote: ↑Fri May 30, 2025 5:08 pm Hello all , I have a Rough Ryder smoothe white bone slipjoint and want to use food dye to give it a light blue colour to the scales . Is there anyone on here that has used this method before and if so , how effective is it ? Does it need sealing after to prevent any bleeding ? Thanks

I'm no knife mechanic, but I think they (the knife companies) pretty much pressure cook the dye into the bone (slabs, before assembly). Dye just on the surface would (eventually) rub off in your pocket.

*edited

always thinking outside the box, I wondered if heating the bone would help it accept dye. Then I googled it and Google seems to think so too.
I was thinking of boiling but there are suggestions for heat guns and other - I dunno - just something to think about when you're bored.

Found this ---> viewtopic.php?t=60671&hilit=dye

right here ---> viewforum.php?f=38

did a search for "dye"

Not trying to be argumentative but why food dye? There are possibly better dyes readily available. Rit is one brand that sells many different colors, I think mainly for cloth but it’s probably a “permanent” dye. There are dyes made for leather - see on line or a local shoe repairman. Also most paint stores have stains and dyes in various colors (relatively large quantities although some will provide sample quantities). There are probably other possibilities as well.

Someone here may have experience with food dyes, or if not you may have to be responsible for that research! Let us know what works (or doesn’t).

Ken

Thanks for all your replies Guys . Much appreciated

I knew a good knife mechanic who used an old Crock Pot to dye bone. He would let it boil in the dye for a while, then turn it off and let it cool. Then he repeated the process a number of times. That was before the scales were installed onto the knife, of course.
I tried soaking a complete knife in RIT dye once to darken the bone, and it corroded the steel badly. I would recommend removing the scales from the knife to dye them, then reinstalling them.
Trying the RIT dye on other bone dyed it well, but only on the surface. There was no penetration to speak of, even though I used a vacuum chamber. I did not try boiling them. I want to try that sometime, but with a good leather dye rather than fabric dye. I may be wrong, but I believe that the type of dye makes some difference.
Also, if the bone has been sealed or stabilized then the dye will probably not soak in at all.

So there are a lot of "maybe"s involved. I believe that it can be done, but there will be a lot more involved than just rubbing some dye onto the handles.

Well Guys I have actually tried this method out now on an old piece of white bone that had been used for years for burnishing leather . at first attempt I simply stood the bobe in a container of cold water ans added the mid blue / turquoise food colouring , left it for a while without any result in colour change !
I then decided to lightly sand the piece of bone using very fine grit paper , cleaned it off and then stood it in the container again only with freshly boiled water and food colouring . I left it for about a day and a half , took it out and rinsed it under a cold water tap and dried it off . Surprise , it had turned a very pale translucent blue , quite a nice subtle colour and the good thing was that the grains in the b one could be seed giving it both depth and character !! I gave it a coat of furniture wax finished off with a couple of coats of renaissance wax and a good rub down with a soft cloth which gave it a mid sheen finish . I have held it in my hand for aconsiderable time and there is no colour bleed so great result . Cheap and cheerfull

And no pics?!?!

I had always heard never to boil the dye water, but to keep it just at a simmer...