BEFORE THE RIT DYE.
AFTER.
A little background: I introduced my stepson to Spyderco over a year ago, with a Delica. It hasn't left his side... he loves it, and recently expressed interest in a rescue-type blade from some of his outdoor/boating adventures. When I saw some great prices on H-1 / Salt blades over the holiday, the wife approved... and agreed we should buy an Atlantic Salt for him and a Dragonfly Salt for our new daughter-in-law, too. The problem: he's an Oregon (Univ. of Oregon) Duck fan, and she likes the Beavers (Ore. State). That was my excuse to try my hand at a little decoration with Rit Dye. And speaking of excuses: hey, since I was already buying H-1 blades and altering them for my favorite team (the Ducks!), I snagged a Hawkbill Ladybug and Saver Salt for me.
Process used: "Dark Green" and "Tangerine Orange" Rit dye, about 1/2 a packet of each dumped into separate pots of boiling water.
The "Duck-themed" (yellow-green) knives were prepped with a cheap low-heat glue gun, drawing patterns on them with the glue. I let the glue cool for just a few minutes before dunking the whole knife in the dye; left some of the yellow handle stay out of the dye, obviously; and slowly pulled it out, to let the dye set in darker near the end of the knife for a "fade" effect. Total time in the dye was never more than about 2 minutes, for the very darkest part of the handle. Knifes were promptly rinsed with water, and the glue picked off (it wasn't hard) - that's it, easy as pie.
The "Beaver-themed" (orange) knife was simply dunked in, pulling out just a little slowly to make for a slight fade. (Total time around 90 seconds or so.) I plan to add the other Beaver school color (black) on one end of the handle, before I give it to them.
Bonus project: I had a older brown FRN Endura 4, my first Spyderco. I disassembled the knife so I'd only be dunking the scales (I didn't bother with the Salts, I just dipped the whole knife in for those!). After drawing a pattern all over with the glue gun, I dunked the entire scale in the "dark green." I think I'll add some black, too, when I finish the Beaver knife.
Lessons learned: turn the heat off right as you're dunking in, to avoid splashing color up on parts of the knife you don't wish to dye. And a little dye mix/short time in the dye goes a long way. I followed the "you can always make it darker later, go light!" advice and am happy with the result.
Anyway, I'd love to see more pics of your rit-dye projects. This was so much fun that I'm seriously tempted to get that Manix 2 s110v I've been craving, to see if I can put a black spyder-web or similar pattern on that FRCP handle!
