scales

shank · Post by **shank** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 4:33 pm

i have a dark wood handle mikov kit is there any way i can dye the scales to change the colour.

Post by **Bill DeShivs** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:15 am

You can dye them darker, or bleach them to lighten them.
Or, you can use them as a pattern, and make new ones.
Bill

shank · Post by **shank** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 6:57 am

how do you bleach them just with house hold bleach or is there a certain one and do you dilute it with water .

Post by **Bill DeShivs** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:10 am

I've never bleached any.
Anyone else?
Bill

butch · Post by **butch** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 5:10 pm

Shank,I bleached some camle bone for a leverletto kit I'm planning to buy.
I used house hold bleach full strength and one came out snowy white while the other had some yelowish brown tint to it,very nice.
House hold bleach should work for hard wood also but I dont recomend letting the wood soak the way I did the bone.If you apply a light coating full stregnth it should work fine.

Post by **tr4252** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 8:13 pm

I've tried bleaching too, with Clorox.

I had an old Lightning sailboat, which had some stains in the wood, and used bleach to even the color of the rudder; it removed the stains, but left the surface of the wood (phillipine mahogony) very soft and porous. I had to sand off the surface wood before I could refinish is.

I made some bone scales a while ago, and used some bleach to remove a few stains I'd put into the bone from my working it improperly. That turned out OK

Tom

mrbigg · Post by **mrbigg** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 8:42 pm

i'm sure if you head to your local lumber/woodwork shoppe they'll have something that will work...i can send you some maple - it's pretty darn light coloured

JAGMAN · Post by **JAGMAN** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 4:27 am

A company called 'Woodcote' sell a bleaching product for lightening wood that works great and does not open up the grain or damage the wood, it is a 2 part product you mix together to activate, it is like water and it will irritate your skin, as it dries it self neutralises and you are good to go.
I have bleached a rifle stock recently and it was almost white after 2 applications.
Im not sure if it would tarnish the metal if you plan on leaving the knife complete to bleach it though, it seems to be acidic with the way it felt on the skin, a good product none the less.
Jagman