Ways to Stain Antler or Bone?

[tippit]

Looking for ideas/ways to stain antler or bone for knife handles.

[Marcruger]

A lot of folks use leather dyes for deep color.  I have heard that the Fiebings is not color fast over time on bone or horn.  For lighter coloration try soaking it in a heavy concentration of tea.  Shoe polish at the end can add color and protection.  I hope this helps.  BTW, I am NO expert!   God Bless,   Marc

[Hungry Horse]

Feibing's leather dye will fade from sun exposure. Lincoln's on the other hand doesn't. For the darker brown colors I like the Lincoln medium brown, applied with a dauber, and then immediately wiped with a wet rag, and rubbed until the color is what you want. This works well on antler, but will penintrate too fast on the more porous bone. On bone I use an oil base golden oak wood stain to get that old bone yellowish brown.

  Hungry Horse

[tippit]

Hungry Horse,
Thanks...I'll give that a try.  Your name sounds like my Wyoming Mustang Annie's behavior

[msellers]

Thinking it might be worth a try for a more period correct dye. McClellan saddles were dyed using vinegar and iron filings to make them black. It might work on bone, would be a cool experiment anyways.

[thecapgunkid]

Msellers..."McClellan saddles were dyed using vinegar and iron filings to make them black. It might work on bone, would be a cool experiment anyways".

Be careful about using it on bone.  The discoloration is based on the tanning process of leather.  Bone is too dense.

When I was taught to dye this way my master shoemaker pointed out that the ring of black left around the nail hole was the result of the iron, not the vinegar and vinegar was only a penetration and spreading agent.  It works best on cowhide, he told me, and is spotty on other leathers.  We didn't get into bone because we weren't making corsettes.

Hungry Horse has some good ideas, and dye will work but you gotta..."read"...the bone to find out where the porous parts are.  That's where the dye will go in deep.   I found that putting it on well before the final polishing and then giving it a session on my brush wheel or some steel wool will get a good effect.  Polishing the bone, or coating it with something like Permalyn  will also help restrain the sun's effect of bleaching.

Never thought about why...

Capgun

[Tim Crosby]

 Plain Apple Cider vinegar will stain them, it takes awhile. I soak the piece in a jar, maybe a month to get a good color. I use Fibings Saddle Tan, oil based, it will fade some but looks like natural ware, at least to me.

 Tim

These Two are Fibings:





 This was done with Vinegar, after it was soaked it was pressed to straighten it.

[davec2]

I made this knife a while back and made the grip out of hippopotamus ivory.  It was fairly white when I was shaping the grip.  I soaked it in a little warm water and a couple of tea bags for a day.  This is how it came out........

[thecapgunkid]

Yes to vinegar if you want to wait a month. It'll stain anything in a month.  Whether vinegar or Fiebings, the question is how dense the bone is for it to remain.

[Tim Crosby]

 Elegant Dave.

  Tim

[tippit]

davec2,
Beautiful knife!  I think I'm trying to stain too dark with tea.  Plus having a hard time learning the shapes of the early knives.  These were done in black tea and some with flat black spray paint on the end of the handles while they were still wet.  Then immediately wiped off...

[Mark Elliott]

Aqua fortis (iron nitrate) will give give you a light brown tint when applied and heated.   

[FDR]

you could also try a solution of potassium permanganate. Taxidermy sites have the details.

http://goneoutdoors.com/use-potassium-permanganate-stain-antlers-5790365.html

Fred

[Marcruger]

Hi Tippit,

Try some of this glaze in lieu of the black spray paint.  I think you'll be able to control it much better, and you can build up coats to "sneak up" on the color you want.  Wipe it on, wipe it right off.  Keep doing this every 15 minutes until you see what you like.  Ron Hess put me onto this, and I used it on the band on the horn I just finished.  You might want to try some leather dye first, and then add the glaze to add the dark areas.  The color of this is "Moose" #740166.  It is available at Lowe's. 

Best wishes, and God Bless,   Marc

[Black Hand]

Beware of soaking bone or antler in vinegar for long. Vinegar will dissolve/extract the minerals (much like vinegar will remove hard water scale) and soften the piece.

[WadePatton]

Beware of soaking bone or antler in vinegar for long. Vinegar will dissolve/extract the minerals (much like vinegar will remove hard water scale) and soften the piece.

This reminds me of the "trick" we learned as kids eating in the fried-chicken-eating South, like this: Find the wishbone in the scraps (grownups got the "choice" pieces-kids mostly ate legs and wings). Then we'd soak the wishbone in vinegar until it got "bendy".  Then present the wishbone and get someone to "make a wish" and pull it.  Too bendy.  Wouldn't break.  Ha ha, joke played.

But no one told us how it worked-not that we would have cared.

[Tim Crosby]

Beware of soaking bone or antler in vinegar for long. Vinegar will dissolve/extract the minerals (much like vinegar will remove hard water scale) and soften the piece.

 Never had it dissolve but it only gets soaked for a month or so. I will try a good sized piece and see what happens.

  Thanks, Tim

[arthur]

Ive use potassium promagnate

[pathfinder]

Potassium Permanganate. AKA,Purple crystals.  Great bone and antler dye. I think Dixie sells a mixed version called "Old Bones".

[hanshi]

I soaked pieces of crookedy antler in vinegar for a few weeks with the intention of straightening them for powder measures.  It worked but they also turned a dark brown.

[Shovelbuck]

I either use Fiebings leather die, then coat with Tru-Oil or I burn the bone lightly with a torch, then Tru-oil. Haven't had any fading problems with the fiebings.
First two are Fiebings, last one is burnt.

[Daniel]

Soak in a strong dye bath of walnuts hulls while it's hot. Then rub in a natural oil.

[webradbury]

I got very nice results today using brown Rit dye and a few tea bags.



 The first photo is inside light. Second is in sunlight. Simmered for about 15 minutes

[Pukka Bundook]

I like your colours, Webradbury!

[Nick Bachtel]

That Rit dyed antlers look great! I will have to try that. I use Rit dye to dye my fly lines. Funny!

Nick