RIT dyeing Salts

[olywa]

I'm thinking about RIT dyeing a couple of yellow Salts for the first time. For those of you who have already done this, do you dip the fully assembled knife in the dye, or do you disassemble and then dip just the FRN? Is disassembly even necessary for Salts?

[JSumm]

Not necessary, but gets better coverage of the dye if you do. For example, when you press the lock bar, you may see some of the old color inside. At a minimum, definitely remove the pocket clip.

[Guts]

I'd disassemble. There's some corrosive properties to rit dye so you could end up corroding parts of the knife.

ETA: But then again if it's a salt model who knows?

[olywa]

Yeah, that was a concern. I just wasn't sure if the dye would penetrate completely without disassembly.

[MidnightCoalCo.]

You can go either way, I didn't take mine apart but I did remove the clip. Gave it a good rinse after I dyed it and I haven't run into any issues yet.

[hobbyist]

I can confirm this is fine. I've dyed about 6 knives. First couple I disassembled, rest I didn't and it was fine. 3 of 6 were salts, but then I dyed some M390 and 20CV and they were fine, too. I haven't tried it with steels like k390.

I do agree with the other observations in this thread that a fully assembled knife will have places where the dye doesn't reach. Like under the heads of the screws and other places where metal might be blocking the dye from entering.

One of the most important things to do before dying is making sure the scale surfaces are really clean, otherwise you might get blotchy patterns. I use soap and water thoroughly, then I scrub with rubbing alcohol. This is easier when the knife is disassembled. You risk dirt or stuff inside the scales otherwise.

[olywa]

Appreciate the 'clean-before-dye' reminder!

[VashHash]

I take off the clip and that's it. After dying rinse it in hot water and slowly move to cold water. If you wear it iwb and sweat a lot you may get some bleed off on your skin for a week or so.

[Bemo]

Not 100% Salts but 3 of the 4 are.


The red one one of those great white GPKnives exclusives in Rex45. Used the Racing Red with a little Graphite.
The other 3 were Salts, dyed using Peacock Green and the orange/reddish one was straight Sandstone. That one really surprised me.

All 4 I dyed intact with the exception of removing the pocket clips. Nothing complicated, filled the pan with enough water to cover the knives, about 3 cap fulls of liquid dye, simmered and pulled the knives out with tongs to check the color. Rinsed under cold water when I reached a satisfactory color. Really less than 5 minutes per knife.

Oh did make sure the Rex45 was well rinsed, dried and oiled immediately. No rust that I can find.

EDIT: the N5 salt looks like some yellow is peaking through, just the way the light is hitting it.

Hope this helps.

[Ferruginous]

I dyed my yellow UKPK Salt black. I did disassemble it. It turned out well, but didn't wear well. The yellow is just too bright, you can really see it on the corners after a short time in the pocket. If I could go back, I'd have left it alone.

[AHarbuck]

I recently did the M4 Manix mint green variant. Pinned construction, so can’t take apart. Removed the clip and otherwise tried my best to keep the blade out of the bath. No problems. The dye will settle to the steel a bit but you can easily wipe/brush it off. Just rinse it well with hot to cold tap water and dry it out. No worries.

[Duncan]

Definitely disassemble. Hey Bemo, this is my GP white Rex 45 Rit dyed blue.

[Duncan]

How the **** did that happen???

[vivi]

fully assembled here. never been an issue.

[BigFishShamu]

Has anyone here re-dyed a knife before? I RIT dyed my MagnaCut Native a "matcha green" color but want to dye it a dark purple...

[cabfrank]

I've read that people used dye remover first.

[Spicy Suplex]

Be careful of the RIT dye remover, idk if it's normal but my one and only box smelled like straight up farts. Very sulfur-y.

[ZrowsN1s]

I take the clips of my salts first and hold them by the blade to dunk them.