Spyderco Forums

I think most people just dip the Salts, completely intact.

ZrowsN1s wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:08 am

Question for the Salt Rit Dyers...
Have any of you ever tried dyeing the knife without taking it apart? Just dipping the whole thing in there lock bar and all?

LSS152 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:04 pm

I like them! I didn’t even take my scales off. Just rinced everting off an could not tell that it affected anything but the scales.

SpyderScout wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:39 am

ZrowsN1s wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:08 am

Question for the Salt Rit Dyers...
Have any of you ever tried dyeing the knife without taking it apart? Just dipping the whole thing in there lock bar and all?

LSS152 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:04 pm

I like them! I didn’t even take my scales off. Just rinced everting off an could not tell that it affected anything but the scales.

missed that, thanks! Maybe I'll try it out. My Dye job that I got from KP is looking a bit faded after constant carry at work. I just didn't want to go through the hassle of taking it apart.

ZrowsN1s wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:57 am

SpyderScout wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:39 am

ZrowsN1s wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:08 am

Question for the Salt Rit Dyers...
Have any of you ever tried dyeing the knife without taking it apart? Just dipping the whole thing in there lock bar and all?

LSS152 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:04 pm

I like them! I didn’t even take my scales off. Just rinced everting off an could not tell that it affected anything but the scales.

missed that, thanks! Maybe I'll try it out. My Dye job that I got from KP is looking a bit faded after constant carry at work. I just didn't want to go through the hassle of taking it apart.

No problem.
Look forward to seeing the result of your dye job.

Mstach07 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:21 am

Natural g10 dyed with liquid sapphire blue.

very pretty

Formerly a Pink Large Lum Chinese Folder, now a plumb/eggplant deep brown purple.

The orange was nice, but I already had the dye out...
-rwponline

I RIT dyed the first PM2 I got. The digital camo version. Used blue dye (royal blue) and it came out pretty good I think. I took the knife entirely apart to do it, which was easy enough, with one exception. Namely the lanyard tube. They apparently crimp that on (or in) so that the scales don't just slip off. If was the dickens to pry the scales off the tube, and if I do it again (which is extremely unlikely), I think I would just dunk the whole knife. But everything worked out fine.

rwponline wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 29, 2018 10:35 pm

The orange was nice, but I already had the dye out...

IMG_1118.JPG

-rwponline

Spyderco scales came out well.

Some of the mags in the AK family come in funky colors ... or did you dye the mag as well?

If yes, what material is the mag made of?

There is a shedload of different patterns amongst the former Warzaw Pact countries...

Sharp Guy wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:03 am

Here's the two I've done...

Nicely done! This looks like the factory gray g10 on the Maxamets. Did this start out as jade? If so, what color dye did you use?

I have a BHQ jade native in the mail due in on Tuesday, and have some project hopes/plans in mind.

DirtMcGirt wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:43 pm

Sharp Guy wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:03 am

Here's the two I've done...

Nicely done! This looks like the factory gray g10 on the Maxamets. Did this start out as jade? If so, what color dye did you use?

No it's the Cruwear sprint that had the (very) light grey scales. The dye was frost grey Rit Dye More.

i know its not a pic and i havent tried yet but is there a way to order cruwear grey handle for the para 3 or other colors then i wont have to dye them.

EXCELLENT thread idea, OP. Very nice work everyone! They all look great. Looks like you all had better results than I did.
I Just wanted to add; maybe we can add the starting color and process (dye method and dye color choice) if you all feel intrigued.

I have done a little bit of rit dyeing. I dyed my blue (to my surprise, more like lavender in person ) Kizer mini sheepdog scales. It didn’t turn out so well, but I have finally bought a new pack of dye, this time I’m trying black colored powder dye (first two tries I used liquid). The first two attempts were done without vinegar. In the next few days I’ll try it with vinegar, and I will post my results. I’m just waiting for a friend to bring his N5 Salt over for a red dip (idea was thanks to another thread). I might have a hard time keeping from throwing my N5 salt scales in there with his.

Sharp Guy wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 09, 2019 3:34 pm

DirtMcGirt wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 09, 2019 12:43 pm

Sharp Guy wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:03 am

Here's the two I've done...

Nicely done! This looks like the factory gray g10 on the Maxamets. Did this start out as jade? If so, what color dye did you use?

No it's the Cruwear sprint that had the (very) light grey scales. The dye was frost grey Rit Dye More.

Thanks for the reply Sharp Guy! I know it’s an old post and all, but I think you nailed it, and I will be getting some frost gray Rit. Pics to come later in the week :spyder:

Thanks again sharp guy! Did my first two dye jobs last night. Used frost gray Rit dye more.

DirtMcGirt wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 12:26 pm

Thanks again sharp guy! Did my first two dye jobs last night. Used frost gray Rit dye more.

That looks great! I've almost done the same, but always sold the Jade scales... Maybe next time cause that came out even better than I imagined!

abbazaba wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:37 pm

That looks great! I've almost done the same, but always sold the Jade scales... Maybe next time cause that came out even better than I imagined!

Thank you! Little darker than I was aiming for. So I adjusted the time in the dye on my jade military and it came out way lighter. I’ll post a pic of that one later today after work.

Last year, I dyed my grey Cruwear Para 3 with RIT DyeMore synthetic material dye. I got tired of the dull, dark red, so I chose to remove it as best I could. For those who are curious, the undyeing of my Para 3 went as detailed below.

This is what they looked like after a year of use:

The light spots where the clip sits is wear through the red dye, since the dye doesn't penetrate the nonporous G10

The light areas near the lanyard hole are areas where dye couldn't reliably get to during the initial dyeing due to my not being brave enough at the time to force the lanyard tube out.



First, I wanted to degrease before undyeing to ensure even final results, so I got the acetone out. I was astounded by what the acetone did. The color started coming off instantly!



I continued stripping the color in a beat up old sauce pan. I refreshed the acetone twice, after which the acetone remained almost completely clear.






After the acetone took off what it could, I used RIT color remover. I didn't use a whole pack since I only used about 2 cups of filtered water. After 30 minutes, no more color was coming off, so I quit there.


As you can see, some color didn't come off, but I found that it was mainly in areas where something was pressing against the G10. The clip went right back to where it used to be, so that remaining dye doesn't matter.




Overall, I'm quite pleased with how well the undyeing worked out. It was a great learning experience, and my knife is not ruined. That's a nice bonus. Hahaha

Wow, that final result is something else! Things didn’t look too promising until the color remover was applied. Thanks for detailing our the process. I’m glad your Para 3 was saved.

Great write up and pics! Thank you for sharing your process. Pretty cool knowing that Rit doesn’t have to be permanent. Also super glad I now know what acetone will do to a dye job, as I will sometimes use it to clean up.