Knock the tops off of the popcorn with some fin grit sandpaper and then play around with some Fiebings leather dye. Light brown works well for me.

Thanks, Joe.

Do you do any finishing after the dye? It seems to me that any buffing compound would just load up in the nooks and crannies. A light dry buff maybe?

Apply a little paste wax with a soft brush and allow it to dry. Then buff it out with a shoe brush.

Heck, I would like to see some sort of pictorial!

Ron

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Thanks, Joe.

Do you do any finishing after the dye? It seems to me that any buffing compound would just load up in the nooks and crannies. A light dry buff maybe?

Bob, as long as you have sanded all of the scratches out and gotten the smooth parts to the level of finish that you need, you shouldn't have to do much after applying the dye. The funny part about Fiebings and just so you know, I mean the spirit based dye, NOT the oil based stuff, is that the solids in the dye adhere to the surface of the stag a bit and if you give it a good rubdown with a cloth after dying it, the stag will actually kinda polish up on its own somewhat. I don't know if the solids have a very slight abrasive effect, but I see a differenve after I buff it up by hand. Just let the stuff dry after you give it that rubdown and then rub it again before you wax. If you don't let it dry long enough and get those solids off the surface, you can get yellow fingers. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//blink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':blink:' /> I usually just do the entire knife including the handle with ren wax when I am done. For "buff" rags, I just box the big box of old t-shirt rags that they sell in the paint department at Home Depot. They work for pretty much any application.

Thanks guys.

Bob

I have used the leather dye to deepen the color quality of Sambar. One of the things that I do is while the dye is still wet and drying, I'll take a Bernzomatic or a prestolite torch set real low and with just the bushy part of the flame dry the wet dye. This opens the pores of the stag and lets the stain penetrate deeper. Alternately, you can fit everything up, then undo it to completely immerse the stag for a few days in the dye.

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I have used the leather dye to deepen the color quality of Sambar. One of the things that I do is while the dye is still wet and drying, I'll take a Bernzomatic or a prestolite torch set real low and with just the bushy part of the flame dry the wet dye. This opens the pores of the stag and lets the stain penetrate deeper. Alternately, you can fit everything up, then undo it to completely immerse the stag for a few days in the dye.

Thats a neat trick with the torch. I ahve gotten away from dark brown or chocolate colored dye because it can darken up some stag way too much. Paul Long told me that I needed to lighten up....I think that is what he meant. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//rolleyes.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' /> <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> I mostly use light brown on stag and I am currently using light brown or British tan on maple depending on the depth of color that I want. A lighter application of British tan is what Jay Hendrickson uses to get the lighter color of his two tone maple handles. I have recently had good luck using it combined with a traditional London red alkanet root oil wood finish to get a color on maple that is similar in appearance to the traditional "acid toasted" finish you see on traditional muzzleloaders. One thing to remember is that many of the dyes have the same color solids, just more of less of them. You can take a "light' dye and make something quite dark if you keep applying it. But it is much harder to lighten something other than say maple up if you get it too dark. We metal pounders are quite good at figuring out uses for things that the maker never intended. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

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Thats a neat trick with the torch. I ahve gotten away from dark brown or chocolate colored dye because it can darken up some stag way too much. Paul Long told me that I needed to lighten up....I think that is what he meant. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//rolleyes.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' /> <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' /> I mostly use light brown on stag and I am currently using light brown or British tan on maple depending on the depth of color that I want. A lighter application of British tan is what Jay Hendrickson uses to get the lighter color of his two tone maple handles. I have recently had good luck using it combined with a traditional London red alkanet root oil wood finish to get a color on maple that is similar in appearance to the traditional "acid toasted" finish you see on traditional muzzleloaders. One thing to remember is that many of the dyes have the same color solids, just more of less of them. You can take a "light' dye and make something quite dark if you keep applying it. But it is much harder to lighten something other than say maple up if you get it too dark. We metal pounders are quite good at figuring out uses for things that the maker never intended. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

I use a heat gun or hair dryer instead of a torch to dry dye. Same principle, less chance of scorching the wood or antler. The dye I like to use is Lincoln liquid, available from a shoe repair shop. I use the brown for both wood and leather.

To lighten material that got too dark, I soak some paper towel in acetone and rub the handle material until I get the depth and darkness or lightness of color I want.

After the handle material is dry and sanded to 600 or 800 grit, I soak the entire handle in linseed oil cut with turpentine overnight, then wipe and let dry a couple of days, then hand rub to a nice luster, using paper towel or my bare hand.