Dye for Stag

[JeffreyPrater]

I've read a lot of posts about using Potassium Permangante to color stag, and that Sears sells it as a water softener additive.

I cant find it, Does anyone know what Sears would call the additive, such as Automatic Resin Cleaner, or perhaps Distiller Cleaner?

Also Is it necessary to use heat with this dye?

Thanks
Jeff Prater

[Coutel]

Jeff.
Cant answer the first part of your question but can answer the last .
I have used it to darken elk antler...I did not heat it..used it cold and just made a mix which I thought looked right and dropped the antler in (think I used a spooful of PP to about a pint of water).......Keep checking it every 10 mins or so because it works quite fast (mine did anyway). When I had the right color, I rinsed it off under a fawcet of water to get rid of the PP then I let it dry naturaly over a period of a few days.
The longer you leave it in the darker it gets...leave it too long and it goes pretty much black...certainly gives an aged look.
Kevin.

[Josh Blount]

Hey Jeff,
I haven't tried it yet, but I think I remember Daniel Winkler mentioning that he used alcohol-leather based dyes to color antler. I've used potassium permanganate, but only for some chemistry experiment last semester. I wouldn't know where to get it unless I pilfered some from the college lab
I'm getting ready to finish a knife in the next few weeks that will have elk antler, and I'm going to try the leather dyes, I think. Good luck!

Josh

[Mike Hull]

You can get it here.
http://www.pondrx.com/potassium.html

http://www.reagents.com./

Another source is your local Pharmacist. Good luck.

[caveman]

here's what a bottle from Sears looks like....

[JeffreyPrater]

Thanks
I will print the pic and take it to the sears store, that way i wont get that strange look when I ask for it this time.

I have some leather dye and have used it in the past, it works fine, but i wanted to try the PP.

Also does this dye work for wood such as maple?

[fitzo]

KMnO4 is not a dye, per se, but a very strong oxidizing agent. It is very reactive, and the reason why the bone, antler, or wood changes color instead of dyes purple.
Follow the safety precautions. Do not get on skin and DO NOT ALLOW eye contact.

Wanna try a cool experiment? DO THIS OUTSIDE. Pour a small pile of the crystals on the ground. Add a little glycerin, enough to wet the stuff. Then, stand back and watch as it catches on fire! Takes a moment or two to get going, but pretty impressive for mixing two common substances.

[Mike Hull]

Originally posted by JeffreyPrater

Also does this dye work for wood such as maple?

I think you would have much better luck with aniline dyes for wood.
Watco, of the correct shade, is also good to color maple with.
Analine dyes are available here. They come in water, alcohol, and oil based.
Water is the easiest to get good results with. IMO.
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/home.exe

[falconhawk]

Potassium permanganate can be purchased at any chemical supply house, and is sometimes found in hardware stores. But I prefer Tea!

I have used tea to dye just about every type of bone or antler that I have worked with and have had great success with it.

Falconhawk

[blackboogers]

I have used the analine dyes many.many times with great success. I buy the powder though and mix it with acetone. I used water but it takes too long to dry. If you dont like acetone use pure wood alcohol. You can also use it to dye leather and dries extremely quick. Its about 10.00 for one bottle and lasts a very long time. I mix a batch in a mason jar and mark the color on the outside. I have used burnt orange for alot of my horn and it works well.

[Martyn]

Out of interest, PP is also one of the most useful carry along items for the outdoors. Mixed with river water in a weak solution, it makes it pottable, it's anti-septic in stronger solution, an anti-fungal, when mixed with crushed sugar tablet it can be friction ignited to start a fire, it's bright purple and stains everything - a useful marker.

Almost as handy as a knife.

[JeffreyPrater]

Do you soak the stag in the tea cold?
For how long?
and how deep does it penatrate in the stag?

also, with PP using the solution cold how deep does the color penatrate the stag?

When I use dark brown leather dye, cold, I get a good brown color but it seems to only be a surface coloring, grinds away very easily.
Is this normal with leather dye?

Thanks

[Mike Hull]

Jeffrey, the surface is really all you want to color on stag. It gets into the low spots etc. You brush the excess off. After they are on the handle, and buffed, the high parts get lightened, for a more "natural" look.
The PP, is what I am referring to here.

[Coutel]

Jeff.
The dye doesnt penetrate all the way through the stag (PP and tea)...if you have to sand some stag away for final fit then its natural color (white) will show again.Maybe an idea to shape the handle first before you dye it if you want minimum loss of the dyed color.

kevin.

[Martin Brandt]

Got mine at the local water softener/treatment shop. Culligan Man I think. It's used to regenerate something in water softeners. It is a Strong Oxidizer, so read labels, it's good to be careful. Can start a fire when in contact with organic materials and it's still in dry form. I just mix it with water for coloring maple. Just wipe it on until color is dark enough, a warm honey brown to dark brown depending on strength, and times applied.