Crummiest 108 badge request.

Ptisuisse · **Reply #30 on:** April 12, 2019, 10:01:48 PM

Quote from: Ptisuisse on March 22, 2019, 05:34:02 PM

The finished product looks just like any other beaten-up 108mm Safari. Nothing to write home about. It was fun putting it back on the road for its second or third or fourth life. Thanks to fellow members who supported me. And if you ever see an ad for a "gently used Safari Trooper" on Ebay from seller "numbaplate", by all means, don't buy it !

Just dunked it for half an hour in lukewarm (about 120°F) RIT navy liquid dye. Yes, the complete knife.
The results don't look too bad considering where I started from. The knife needed a good ultrasound cleanup aftewards to remove surplus dye from the metal parts. Will keep you posted on how it holds up to dayly abuse. Bad quick and dirty pics with my cellphone. What you see are not colour misses, but reflections.

Thunderpants · **Reply #31 on:** April 12, 2019, 11:26:41 PM

Beautiful restoration! Now it looks like a SAK someone would enjoy using!
Is it as black as it looks in the picture? Looks really great.

Ptisuisse · **Reply #32 on:** April 13, 2019, 09:30:27 AM

Quote from: Thunderpants on April 12, 2019, 11:26:41 PM

Beautiful restoration! Now it looks like a SAK someone would enjoy using!
Is it as black as it looks in the picture? Looks really great.

It looks very black, shiny. But the sheen enhances the defects that were present before dying.
The way to go would be to start with new loose scales which are unobtainable anywhere

Ptisuisse · **Reply #33 on:** April 13, 2019, 12:11:30 PM

Quote from: Thunderpants on April 12, 2019, 11:26:41 PM

Beautiful restoration! Now it looks like a SAK someone would enjoy using!
Is it as black as it looks in the picture? Looks really great.

That is how black they look in daylight. Corkscrew scale is from a cheap chinese knock-off. Center scale is an original Victorinox, and last undrilled one is epoxy resin in an urethane mold. It's made by one of my mates, he's on MTO too I think. Blueisch hue on the Vic is due to the fact that I used navy dye. Black was not available.
I was not in a position to fully follow the instructions. I remained at 120°F not to overcook my nylon, when RIT recommends 140°F. Got to get myself one of these kitchen thermometers. My trusty Kodak darkroom thermometer only goes to 120......Will make a new attempt.