Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

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RustyIron
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Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#1

Post by RustyIron »

My wife has been restoring a 65 year old coke machine, repairing the electronics, stripping it down, shooting high-zoot automotive paint, and hand lettering. The original buttons were cracked and faded, and wouldn't look right on the machine. Plan A was to get some colored plastic and carve out some buttons. Alas, finding material in Coca-Cola Red is not as easy as you might think. Then I started thinking about what my buddies over on the Spyderco Forum do to their knives. Everyone here talks about how easy it is to dye plastic scales. Plan B was to take some nylon rod and carve away all the material that didn't look like the button on a Coke machine. A smart guy would do dyeing experiments before putting in all the labor of turning the buttons. A bold guy would consider the hygroscopic nature of the material, put in the labor, and gamble that the dye job would work out. I'm the latter.

This morning we protected the countertops and cooked up a pot of dye. I suspected it would be easy, but was really surprised at how simple it actually was. The buttons came out GREAT. I was still intrigued by the process, so I took my favorite knife out of my pocket and weighed being smart and being bold. Again, I chose bold. The knife is a Manix 2 in REX45. I've taken it apart, improved the lock, riveted it together, allowed patina, and have grown really fond of the knife. Although I admire adherence to the correct color for different flavors of steel, I really wanted the knife to be Coca-Cola Red. Into the pot it went! I'm happy with the results, and now the knife is even MORE personalized.

IMG_1483.jpeg
IMG_1484.jpeg


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kennethsime
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#2

Post by kennethsime »

Nice! Can I ask what kind of dye you used?

I successfully dyed my FRN Stretch with RIT Dye, but failed with my FRCP Manix LW. I've heard the synthetic RIT dye might be the way to go?
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#3

Post by Dan In MI »

RustyIron wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 3:22 pm
Alas, finding material in Coca-Cola Red is not as easy as you might think.
I would assume that the exact composition of Coca-Cola Red is a closely guarded secret. Your Manix looks amazing after its dye bath!
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#4

Post by Holland »

Nice! Looks good
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#5

Post by Rinzler »

Could you elaborate more on the riveting?
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#6

Post by Buddafucco »

Love it! It would be nice if more red knives were an option.
Make sure to post a pic of the restored Coke machine with the Manix when you're finished! :)
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#7

Post by RustyIron »

kennethsime wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 3:26 pm
I successfully dyed my FRN Stretch with RIT Dye, but failed with my FRCP Manix LW. I've heard the synthetic RIT dye might be the way to go?
I used the dye for synthetic fabrics, and the knife took the color really quickly. The only other advice I can give is that I scrubbed the knife with Comet and dish soap to clean the surface of contaminants. To the soup, add a few drops of dish soap to wet the water, and then keep the temperature just under boiling. Splashing around with a cold knife brings the temperature down really quickly.

Prior to doing this project, I thought knife guys were a bunch of super-geniuses for coming up with such a cheap and elegant solution to our aesthetic dilemma. But after reading a bit this afternoon, I discovered we're nothing special. Every seamstress and fashion designer knows that the one of the reasons for the widespread use of nylon in garments is its affinity for dye.
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#8

Post by kennethsime »

RustyIron wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 4:12 pm
I used the dye for synthetic fabrics, and the knife took the color really quickly. The only other advice I can give is that I scrubbed the knife with Comet and dish soap to clean the surface of contaminants. To the soup, add a few drops of dish soap to wet the water, and then keep the temperature just under boiling. Splashing around with a cold knife brings the temperature down really quickly.
Got it, thanks Rusty!
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#9

Post by TomAiello »

That's awesome. I love that red. Nice work!
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#10

Post by nerdlock »

The red looks great!
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#11

Post by The Meat man »

Great job!

You've got a knack for humorous writing. :D
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#12

Post by z1r »

Looks great. Waiting for pics of the Coke machine now! :D
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#13

Post by RustyIron »

Rinzler wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 3:54 pm
Could you elaborate more on the riveting?
I started a thread on that back when I did it. I'll link below.

This knife got taken apart because the lock would bind and it required more clearance. The only other reason I can think that I'd want to take one apart is to decrease the spring preload. I have another Manix 2 that I'm tempted to chop apart, but it's a bit of work, plus some risk, just to make it a little easier to operate.

The rivets I used were brass, which I plated. It's now wearing off, which kind of adds to the patina. Really, it would have made more sense to leave them bare.

http://forum.spyderco.com/viewtopic.php ... s#p1468441
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#14

Post by ladybug93 »

wow... that is RED! great job with the dye and mostly the boldness. i can't imagine being bold enough to take my m2lw apart.
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#15

Post by Stuart Ackerman »

Coke Red is actually in the Pantone Matching System...

PMS 484

Reference is here:
https://www.garudapromo.com/pantone-cmy ... %20System).
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#16

Post by RustyIron »

Clarification, and more learning...

In an earlier post, I wrote of the fabric of that leisure suit from 1975 that you have hanging in the closet. That's NYLON. I forgot that Manix LW's are made of Fiberglass Reinforced Co-Polymer (whatever that is). So that's the pictures of the first part of the experiment.

The saucepan still had dye in it, and there was still time before dinner, so I took apart a Native 5 REX45 and gave the scales a dunk. This time, I gave it only one dunkin', for less time. This time, the scales came out a dark brick red, almost brown. Hmph. That wasn't the plan. So I gave it 5 minutes in a hot bath of laundry bleach, and they lightened up just a hair. They came out pretty good, just not as red as I had hoped. I attribute the difference to the Native 5 scales being made of Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon... not Co-Polymer. The moral of the story is to take the scales out of the soup often to check the progress.

This pic is on the dark side of the house with some artificial light. I tried to photograph the colors as close to realistic as I could, but since the knives are side-by-side, you can see the difference in the coloring.

IMG_1487 2.jpeg

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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#17

Post by ZrowsN1s »

Thought I was gonna finally learn how to dye scales white :rolleyes:
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#18

Post by JRinFL »

Nice post! I thought the title was from a Miami Vice episode. :)
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#19

Post by ZrowsN1s »

JRinFL wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 7:11 pm
Nice post! I thought the title was from a Miami Vice episode. :)
🤣
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Re: Coke and Knives: A tale of colored plastic

#20

Post by RustyIron »

z1r wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 5:20 pm
Waiting for pics of the Coke machine now! :D
Here ya go. She's all finished aside from the little "Insert Coins Here" and the price stickers.
IMG_1546.jpeg
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