All About Pocket Knives

Has anyone on the forum ever tried staining deer/elk antler? And, if so, what did you use? Up to this point, all I've done is either toast it with a propane torch or buff it, which if using a buffing wheel with the coarse grit compound, will impart a grayish tint to it.

So....I guess what I'm asking is....say if a guy wanted to impart "golden oak" color to a nice piece of stag/elk scale, how would he go about achieving such a thing?

I'm wondering if leather dye might do the trick. It comes in various colors. Also, how about Rit dye?

Thanks in advance for any advice on the subject.

Dewman

I have dyed bone using Rit dye, but I haven't tried antler yet. It is on my list of things to do.
I did the bone by boiling it in the dye for about 45 minutes. I don't know how antler will hold up to that. I would suggest using small pieces that aren't good for scales, so you don't ruin a good set of scales.

If you try it, please let us know how it works.

Dale

Hi Dewman,

Definitely not an expert, but I've played with it for a long time.

I'm sure you're talking about the "bark" of the antler, not the second-cut stuff... so we're only trying to color the surface, not penetration ?

I've never had any success with Rit, sorry. I have used leather dye, in the "grooves", to darken it - it seems to stain pretty well. Applied with a toothpick, just to color the grooves. It will buff off, tho' - so I don't try to color the whole antler with it.

To obtain the golden color of sambar, I got fairly close with Minwax wood stain, in the "Dark Oak" color. (It lightens, after it dries). I'm talking about the smooth surfaces, after the antler has already been shaped, and polished. I applied this to the entire handle, after the leather dye in the grooves. Again, it won't penetrate very much, so buff lightly.

For me, it's still a crap-shoot, but the above has been fairly successful. For some reason, I always got better success with mule-deer than whitetail. Of course, I have zero mule-deer right now.

That's just my experience, I hope someone else can give us a "sure-fire" formula ?

Take Care,
JR

I have not experimented with antler.......yet. But when I do I will be using the wood dyes that K & G sells. The brown dye that they sell is a little light the red and blue seems a bit dark. I used some myrtle that I got for free and then some denser wood, birds eye maple that seems to have dyed clear through a half inch of wood after 3 weeks. I was going to use a strong vacuum to help the dye penetrate, but was missing 1 small part. So, I improvised and just boiled the dye and wood in a quart mason jar and used the small amount vacuum that canning creates and it seems to have worked well. I will stabilize the wood and have a large supply of material for dark blue, red, and black spacers for use on hidden tang knives.

NOW FOR ANTLERS:

Many folks do use leather dyes to color antler. Pretty common in fact. Of course I just have to try something different. I don't know what colors of leather dye they use, but I've even heard of shoe polish being used, let stain for a few days and buff off so no color will get on your hands after handling it.

The dye from K & G is mixed at a rate of 1 oz (29.5 cc per oz) per gallon, so I have been using 7.5cc to a quart, with good results on wood.

I am going to try to dye antler using these same dyes, the brown seems a bit light so I may add .5 to 1cc of Red dye to the brown dye to get a better color.

I came across some bleached Camel bone that I will experiment on first and although somewhat different the experience with wood and bone should be helpful with antler. I will be working to get the same color all the way through when I work with the bone and antler.

So, I'm just experimenting, but taking a somewhat different track than most.

Good luck, I will let you know if the experiments area success or not.

Hopefully by then I will have a system that can pull 28 inches of merury into a cannister set up using my compressor. That is strong enough for refrigeration work.

Might try a little aniline dye or tannic acid I have heard that works quite well but I dont know where to get it . I do know that Coke works real well on ivory for that ageing effect. Learned that at a gun show when a guy spilled some on my dislpay and I didnt get it all cleaned off. Good luck
Bopuppy

Bopuppy wrote:Might try a little aniline dye or tannic acid I have heard that works quite well but I dont know where to get it . I do know that Coke works real well on ivory for that ageing effect. Learned that at a gun show when a guy spilled some on my dislpay and I didnt get it all cleaned off. Good luck
Bopuppy

Aniline dyes are quite toxic(and flammable;I believe it was an early component of rocket fuel) so I would be really careful about putting this stuff around an open flame.Tannic acid is a main ingredient of tea so that is fairly easy to obtain.You might even try using coffee grounds.

Thanks, knife7knute
I didnt realize that analine dye was toxic or I would never have suggested it . My only association with it was in talking with my brother who is a gunsmith who said he had used it on gunstocks, powderhorns and stag horn. He is usually pretty knowledgable about the products that he uses but Ill let him anyhow. I never had the need for changeing the color of stag when I was in the Knife business but I always used sambar and never had a request. I never considered using whitetail or elk due to its lack of density and poor polishing qualitys. I guess things may have changed since I have retired from the trade and taken up less strenous and more profitable work.
Bopuppy

Walnut hulls, especially Black Walnut, is a great source of tannic acid.

If you've ever hulled them by hand, you couldn't wash it off for a week.

I used to boil new steel traps with hulls, to give them a brown, and somewhat rust resistant finish.

You might try making a stew of the outer hulls, and after it cools, soaking the stag in it for a yellow/brown color.

Fran

I've also heard of walnut hulls being used. For the Camel Bone that Alabama Damascus sells they age it outdoors and then soak for 3 days in sunlight using Fiebing's Professional Leather Dye. Well, I do know that one is alcohol based, not water.

Woodcrafters Supply sells concentrate that can be mixed with alcohol. Dries super fast.
Also any of the leather dyes from Tandy.
Also, potassium permanganate.

brucegodlesky wrote:Woodcrafters Supply sells concentrate that can be mixed with alcohol. Dries super fast.
Also any of the leather dyes from Tandy.
Also, potassium permanganate.

A big two thumbs up for the Tandy's Leather Dye. Super stuff....and it comes in a zillion colors. It works especially well if the antler has "bumps" or some high ridges than will be filed or worked down AFTER the staining has been done....or at least that has been my limited experience with the process. And bear in mind, I'm an EXTREME novice at all this stuff!

I have used the minwax dark oak also on bleached antlers. I am going to try the Tandy Leather dye. For the fellow that only used Sambar Stag, Where did you get most of it? I would like to get my hands on some. Thanks, Fred
That was BoPuppy that my question is directed to with regard to the Sambar Stag.

i took a regular wood stain to a bleached out horn and it came out looking natural antler brown. I would assume the more or darker the stain the darker it would make the horn. Then if you if you spray a clear poly or paint over it you get the gloss look.

leather dye works great. there was a wood and reed dye made by jaquard (spelling ?) that also work very well .It came in a powdered form and you mixed it with hot water and a dash of vinegar. they discontinued it,but if you come across any pick it up.
Used it several times for dying bone and was very happy with it.
This is a piece of deer antler that was old and completely white. Tandy leather dye worked great on it.