is it possible to dye or remove dye from FRN scales

[TH448]

i am considering buying a Dragonfly 2 with the muticolor scales and wanted to know if it was possible to dye them a solid color.

[Doc Dan]

It is easily possible wit RIT.

[tonijedi]

On my opinion unless you dye it black you'll always see the pattern. The general rule is that you can dye darker but never lighter.
Why don't you get a knife already in a "solid" color?

[VashHash]

The rit dye remover helps to remove rit dye. Not sure what is used in the zome process.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

i am considering buying a Dragonfly 2 with the muticolor scales and wanted to know if it was possible to dye them a solid color.

I say based on how the pattern is hand dyed all it would take is RIT dye remover and you should have your solid lighter color which in this case with the picture you provided is swamp green.

More about ZOME:
Zome (pronounced "zoh-may") is a classical Japanese method of dyeing textiles that is closely related to many aspects of that country’s culture and history. Inspired by this rich artistic heritage, Spyderco's Zome family of knives includes unique hand-dyed variations of popular lightweight models with injection-molded fiberglass-reinforced-nylon (FRN) handles. The handles of these knives are first molded in a light base color, and then individually hand dyed by expert Japanese artisans using a technique reminiscent of traditional hiki-zome (brush dyeing). In this painstaking method, various colors of dye are hand brushed onto the handle to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind patterns that permeate the FRN material.

[TH448]

thanks for the tips everyone

[koenigsegg]

thanks for the tips everyone

Please post your results we can see if there is anything that works.

Thank you

[JuPaul]

I'm curious, too...keep us updated!

[Cambertree]

One other thing.

I've only dyed FRN scales once, so I'm no expert, but I understand you can get normal RIT dye and RIT dye specially formulated for synthetic fabrics.

Obviously the standard stuff works fine, as demonstrated by the many examples shown before on the forum, but it may be the synthetic fabric RIT dye is better for FRN or G10.

I didn't find a RIT synthetic fabric dye in the colour I wanted, so I used another brand, and it was very quick and effective.

[Stuart Ackerman]

I found a few pages about using hydrogen peroxide, as I use it to bleach bone.
Zytel / FRN does not like long contact with HP, so experiment with an old piece?

Use at your own risk?
http://www.retr0bright.com/

[NWPilgrim]

One other thing.

I've only dyed FRN scales once, so I'm no expert, but I understand you can get normal RIT dye and RIT dye specially formulated for synthetic fabrics.

Obviously the standard stuff works fine, as demonstrated by the many examples shown before on the forum, but it may be the synthetic fabric RIT dye is better for FRN or G10.

I didn't find a RIT synthetic fabric dye in the colour I wanted, so I used another brand, and it was very quick and effective.

Regular RIT works for FRN. The instructions say to add salt for natural fabrics and vinegar for nylon and other synthetics. 55 minutes in heated RIT Blue Denim bath dyed my yellow Salt 2 an almost black. 30-60 minutes should get a shade of blue/green to midnight blue. I think the instructions say the color will look darker while wet. Mine was at least as dark when dry if not more so.

[Cambertree]

Regular RIT works for FRN. The instructions say to add salt for natural fabrics and vinegar for nylon and other synthetics. 55 minutes in heated RIT Blue Denim bath dyed my yellow Salt 2 an almost black. 30-60 minutes should get a shade of blue/green to midnight blue. I think the instructions say the color will look darker while wet. Mine was at least as dark when dry if not more so.

Thanks for the extra info, NWPilgrim.

Yeah, the synthetic fabric dye I used was just called a 'blue' colour. I got this result on the Coyote brown Urban scales with a 10-15 minute soak in simmering dye solution:

[NWPilgrim]

That turned out really well, Cambertree! Nice depth of color. I’m going to try another one with a gradient.