Project Obsidian - M4 DLC / Jade dye project

[gbcaffee]

I had set about building a collection of M4 DLC Jade which I intended to transform into what I call Project Obsidian. As a kid, I loved collecting the so called “Apache Tears” rocks, obsidian rocks, that were nearly black unless looked at with a light source behind them, at which time they looked translucent. I decided to try to emulate that effect with the natural jade G10 handles. This was done with a single dye bath, I had seven separate sets of handles all tied with its own fishing line harness and held by a single clamp. The whole lot spent 15 minutes in a Graphite Rit DyeMore synthetic solution bath. Below are my pictures of the results. I’m really happy with how they turned out.

[JuPaul]

Really cool effect! I don't especially love the jade g10 as it comes, but I think it looks great when dyed.

[SG89]

Looks great!

[steelcity16]

Very cool, I've always wished they would offer semi-translucent Peel Ply G10 in a smoke color like this as well as semi-translucent brown, forest green, and neon fluorescent yellow (for Salts). I love the semi-translucent blurple, red, and jade G10 scales.

[JRinFL]

At first I thought "Yet another Rit Dye thread", but this one is good. I really like the look of those! Well done.

[gbcaffee]

Thanks everyone! I am new to Spyderco and have always loved customizing any of the things I collect. This was a total leap of faith, doing all of them at once, but I wanted consistency and I got it. The Shaman G-10 was (obviously) the one I had the biggest question on how it would turn out, with the thickness, contouring and overall difference to the other scales. Plus I had previously dyed that one with Pearl Gray powdered gray and it had turned out a bluish / gray color. I learned from that and went with it. I was taking apart and putting together knives for hours last night. I'd love to build a display case for them with a nice sized Apache Tear rock bookending each side and a backlit or underlit display glass platform.

[Mushroom]

This is really cool, I like the vision and execution! :D The set looks really good together.

The "Obsidian" or "smoke" color G10 looks great and has a really cool effect. I would definitely welcome more translucent g10 colors from Spyderco.

[PStone]

Man! That set took some time and dedication to all come together. I agree with Mushroom. Great vision and execution. But you’re missing my favorite iteration, the Native5!

► Show Spoiler

[VooDooChild]

Cool.

[Evil D]

Without a doubt the most badass dye job I've seen. Bravo dude, bravo.




Sal/Spyderco if you're watching, I'll buy everything if you figure out how to make this color a production option.

[gbcaffee]

Man! That set took some time and dedication to all come together. I agree with Mushroom. Great vision and execution. But you’re missing my favorite iteration, the Native5!

► Show Spoiler

I do have one more bottle of the dye, I might have to search that one out because that looks great!

[gbcaffee]

Without a doubt the most badass dye job I've seen. Bravo dude, bravo.




Sal/Spyderco if you're watching, I'll buy everything if you figure out how to make this color a production option.

Thanks! Quite an honor to hear that from you!

[Evil D]

Without a doubt the most badass dye job I've seen. Bravo dude, bravo.




Sal/Spyderco if you're watching, I'll buy everything if you figure out how to make this color a production option.

Thanks! Quite an honor to hear that from you!

Aww shucks


It just so happens that obsidian is my favorite rock/mineral/glass/mineraloid or whatever you choose to classify it as. It's probably the most fitting substance to relate to knives since it can be flint knapped down to edges that are a mere molecule thick.

[JMM]

Awesome -- Never seen anything quite like it, very well done indeed!

[Mako109]

Awesome collection and theme!

[VooDooChild]

Thats quite an Obsidian Order...

Sorry, star trek joke.

[gbcaffee]

Without a doubt the most badass dye job I've seen. Bravo dude, bravo.




Sal/Spyderco if you're watching, I'll buy everything if you figure out how to make this color a production option.

Thanks! Quite an honor to hear that from you!

Aww shucks


It just so happens that obsidian is my favorite rock/mineral/glass/mineraloid or whatever you choose to classify it as. It's probably the most fitting substance to relate to knives since it can be flint knapped down to edges that are a mere molecule thick.

Yeah, you're totally right! In fact, some surgeons still use obsidian scalpels for surgery.

[gbcaffee]

Thats quite an Obsidian Order...

Sorry, star trek joke.

Well, the Cardassians were arguably the best villains of TNG era. Even the ominous threat of the Borg didn't have the personality behind it the way they did.

[VooDooChild]

Thats quite an Obsidian Order...

Sorry, star trek joke.

Well, the Cardassians were arguably the best villains of TNG era. Even the ominous threat of the Borg didn't have the personality behind it the way they did.

Thats kind of the point of the Borg though. No personality, no reasoning, no motivation beyond assimilation.

Everything in Trek loses its thunder with enough time though.