Thread: What are you working on?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

A black sharpie works too for touch up. Let dry then buff with metal polish or a buffer.

I recently used a sharpie for touch-ups because the hair dye did not dye the CA. But I did not like the color of the sharpie, had a maroon color not the perfect black of the hair dye.
How to prevent that maroon tint? Different brand??

Also, is that leather dye similar to hair dye? It Will also stain skin and clothes. Strange stuff looks brown but dyes black as night.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Not done. Damn!
I found a tiny spot ...snip... Attachment 306259

Beautiful work Jerry! Your scales get better and better.

Lately I've been thinking a bit about selecting specific wood angles for a different look/effect.
What cut angles and grain directions do you guys prefer?
Eg. Straight across from wedge to pivot? 45 degree angle up or down?
Planning ahead when purchasing wood is a lesson learned from a carpenter years back. But the tendency of a wood to bow in one way or another depends heavily on the cut... so its more than just looks.

Originally Posted by MikeT

I recently used a sharpie for touch-ups because the hair dye did not dye the CA. But I did not like the color of the sharpie, had a maroon color not the perfect black of the hair dye.
How to prevent that maroon tint? Different brand??

Also, is that leather dye similar to hair dye? It Will also stain skin and clothes. Strange stuff looks brown but dyes black as night.

"Hair dye didn't stain the CA". Now I've got to play a bit. I've got a piece of bovine leg bone that I've coated 1/2 with some common super glue and I'll wait till tomorrow and see what happens when I apply the Black (it's really black) leather dye to the piece.

Stay tuned.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Not from a makers perspective but just my own eye. I like the look of undyed leather. I like the changes in colour and the appearance of the grain, it all seem to disappear with dying and leaves it with much less character.

The strops I have made and used have been all undyed. I like the looks but they quickly show any water stains and oil marks or soiling. In the long run they show a pretty patina. At least in my mind! There is a definitive draw and looks difference in the middle used portion over the last 5 years or so I have used my main one.

If I made them to sell I would definitively look into dying them to cover imperfections and hide things.

Got a great shave out of the Packwood Got all happy and went to town polishing the pins. Apparently, a bit too much enthusiasm...just went through the peen Nothing catastrophic, just frustrating. I'm going to put it away for now and work on finishing the burnish of my Arkansas stones. I'm pretty sure I won't mess that up and I'll at least have all of my kitchen knives honed up.

Gasman: That finish is looking really nice. Bet it's even better in person.

Cudarunner: The dye/CA test is interesting, looking forward to the results.

Hey Roy!

Outback/Mike has said this a few times. You cant Dye CA. Hope you figure out something good.

And thanks for the props on the scales. I got another coat on them so next week for putting together.

I posted this one last week a little later than this time. I will repost the pics of before so you can compare. I figured I'd do a full cleaning and handwork only on this one. Without removing the pins. I had to rework the stabilizer a little and sand out a little of the hone wear to hide it.

This pic was after I had started on it already so it's not the full beginning.



It's ready for the hones now.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Hey Roy!

Outback/Mike has said this a few times. You cant Dye CA. Hope you figure out something good.

And thanks for the props on the scales. I got another coat on them so next week for putting together.

As my father used to say; Ya don't know till you try ".

Pics tomorrow.

I may buy some black CA at some point.
Getting it all to blend is a challenge. Outback has a good system for that, takes a skilled hand, I screwed up my first attempt.

I've found that if you lightly scuff the sharpie ink with steel wool, it will take that blueish tint out of the equation, and make a better blending of color.