Hey that’s pretty much the sharpening system I got. Have had a bit of a look for replacement stones but being in Australia options are low and prices are extortionate, if I find a good value set maybe I will just order from US in the end and cop the 30USD postage. The other thing I’ve looked at is the ‘small knife’ attachment, I see a few videos on youtube using this for 3” pocket knives and it seems sensible, another case of stickershock there though, I’m considering making my own rectangular thing with a hole in it for a fraction of the cost.
At this stage I think I’ll flatten the stones that came with it on some sandpaper and a flat surface then man up and start working on some old kitchen knives first. Then hopefully progress to fishing, hunting and EDC lol. (tl;dr sharpening good pocket knives is scary, I tried sharpening years ago with a basic stone and failed miserably, have done enough youtube research about angles, apexing and burrs, now I just need to eat cement).
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Well, that went different than planned. Recipe: 20ml racing red, 20ml dark navy mixed in 500ml almost boiling water in a small pan with a few drops of dish washing liquid added. The scales went purple alright but I left them in too long and now they are very very dark purple, black in anything but daylight. Still looks good though…
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I went with purple Rit Dye More. I poured very little dye into the pot with some white vinegar, and several drops of Ajax dish soap. Brought the pot to a low roll boil and dipped the scales in for fifteen seconds and pulled them out to check color. It was perfect at fifteen seconds for the shade I wanted. I still wanted the translucent effect from the original natural jade color.
I dyed the scales this morning, and I have been carrying it all day. And since I LOVE the action on this knife, and I am extremely happy with the dye job, I will be carrying it a lot.
That actually looks quite nice! Still kept the semi-translucent effect. So you exposed the scales to about 15 secs of boiling hot water with the purple dye?
Once the water with the dye starts to boil, I dip the scales in. The trick is to not use too much dye, and to check the scales initially at about ten to fifteen seconds to get an idea of how dark the dye is. I was super happy at initial check, so I stopped there.
I showed my neighbor and he wants to buy the knife from me, LOL.
Both those dye jobs look absolutely phenomenal IMO. I know the Bugout probably looks darker in person but there’s could be a fun element to it changing color a bit under bright light or sunlight.
Thank you! A lovely lavender, yes, yes, yes. I didn’t think of that. I’m so happy I was able to keep the translucent effect.
After I dip the scales I place them in the freezer for ten minutes. After that I rinse them off under cool water. Then I wipe them down with a cotton pad and isopropyl alcohol. Zero color bleed.
I always follow these steps since that’s how I was told to do it by a member on an EDC knife forum a long while back. Some members on that forum said all those steps weren’t necessary, but it worked perfectly for me, so I just do it.
So we were RIT dying
I died the scales of my Civivi Elementum with micarta scales. It was a middle brown colour (have a before-picture somewhere) and I dyed it, very short this time, I learn , with RIT Dye More in racing red. The bright red on the brown gave this lovely tint (colour corrected picture, so pretty right).
I wasn’t aware of the Green Thorn brand until reading a few of your posts. Really nice machining & designs. How robust is the aluminum scales? It’s usually a soft metal, unless well blended as an alloy. I’ll never forget dropping an aluminum flashlight like 3 feet to a hard wood floor, sadly seeing the bezel dent inward. Soft! It was an old Fenix.
Green Thorn makes amazing folders even in the $60 range. Their F95 nudist made a reference point for what can be achieved in this price range.
The handle of this F111 made of some sort of aviation aluminium alloy with an anodized finish so I’m not affraid of scratches. Dropping the knife would be a different story.
Since the titanium version of the GT F111 costs five times more I guess I can live with this aluminium handle version.
The 919 has an interesting shape but break it down. The sharpened part of the blade is a very practical shape that we’ve seen on plenty of knives. Two things make it radical. First is the straight line back to that pronounced point on the spine. That’s reminiscent of some “harpoon” designs that seem purely aesthetic to me. Second is that second point on the spine which makes for two distinct thumb rest positions. Functionally, that’s not so different from some knives with a thumb riser such as the Ganzo FH71. You’ve got an early spot for your thumb and a spot for if you want to use a more forward grip. The choice here is obviously artistic but in practice, it should be okay so long as it lines up for your hand size.
Like some of the other PF knives, it’s on sale now. If anyone else orders it, I’d love to hear feedback down the road.
, with RIT Dye More in racing red. The bright red on the brown gave this lovely tint (colour corrected picture, so pretty right).
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