All About Pocket Knives

That's what I'm calling it atleast.

My best friends father passed a while back, and on a trip to the house that he inherited I found a pair of old knives. I decided to take both and fix them up to give to my friend and his brother, the surviving sons. Each knife will get a makeover, a new sheath, and a display stand.

This bone was pretty sickly looking. Faded, cracked and ugly. I cleaned it with a dremel and wire brush, alcohol and toothpicks to clean out around the guard and under the broken pieces of bone. I used a bupane torch to toast the scales a bit, then I used orange rit dye on a qtip like a pit brush and sauced up the scales 5 or 6 times, one coat every 15 or 20 minutes. I have to clean up the glue that I stabilized the cracks with yet, but I was so pleased with the dye I thought I'd share.

I know your buddy will be very happy with your results. Looks great!

I hate to be a curmudgeon, but torching the bone is not the way to color it. It causes cracks (as you found out) and it looks-burned.
Potassium permanganate or leather dye is the preferred method of dyeing.

Bill DeShivs wrote: ↑Sun Jun 22, 2025 7:14 pm I hate to be a curmudgeon, but torching the bone is not the way to color it. It causes cracks (as you found out) and it looks-burned.
Potassium permanganate or leather dye is the preferred method of dyeing.

No worries dude it's all good, I appreciate the input. The cracks were actually already there, just more visible with the color change. I have read a few posts lately about folks pondering using various around the home type dyes for knife projects. Rit is one that is common and commonly mentioned, and I like to use what I've got on hand if I can. I figured worst case scenario it doesn't work and Im at square one. Can't speak to its longevity yet, but it hasn't bled out on my sweaty mitts yet.

I like the burnt look. Like the cheese on the outer edges of a deep dish pizza; caramelized for extra flavor
But as I was doing it I was pretty sure a soldering iron would work better.

That treatment gives the bone a nice warmth. Your friend should be pleased!

“Toasted Cheezer Worm Groove Bone” sounds like something you’d shout in a fever dream, but man... it fits. Torch, dye, and pizza metaphors? That’s knife modding at its finest.

Kudos on the color match you achieved!
The color is a good match to an old Kutmaster I have like the knife you posted.
I have used Rit to dye bone, but prefer potassium permanganate or alcohol based leather dye. To me they seem to get greater depth of color.