RIT dye job on G10 gone wrong

[Matus]

Hello,

since I got my super blue Draongfly and Caly 3.5 I new I would like to give the handles some colour. I have read around here and quickly found out that with RIT (powder!) dyes it was indeed well possible and all those nice looking results encouraged me to try it myself. So much for the introduction.

First I started with the Dragonfly. I have removed the blade and the clip and gave the FRN handle a good long bath in warm water with detergent and then used toothbrush to properly clean it. Then boiled up some 250ml of water, added 2 spoons of RIT golden yellow colour and some vinegar. I soaked the handle so long until I reach the colour I liked (darkish orange-brown). It wen all smooth and fine.

Encouraged with the results with the FRN I proceeded with the Caly 3.5 G10 handle in a very similar way just with more vigorous cleaning. I then prepared the dye (violet) and dipped the handle in. And there the problems stared. The handle started to show rather obvious variations of the colour density - some places would get darker - for example there were the clip touches the handle and around on side of the pivot. And altogether the G10 did not seem to want to 'accept' the dye.

Seeing the not very encouraging development of the dying process, I stopped it and dipped the handle in RIT colour removal. This went rather well with next-to-no dye left (only tiny little bit around edges - nearly invisible) and the handle turned back light grey. This was the time point when I should have stopped, but unfortunately I did not.

I have washed the handle with more aggressive cleaning agent and decided to try orange colour instead (I have seen one very nice example of Caly 2.5 SB dyed with orange colour to very nice orange-red tint). In short - again - no success - the handle got ugly light orange (again not homogeneous). So I thought - let's remove the dye again. This did not go nearly as well as before and I ended up with light ugly orange greyish handle.

So I decided to do the last step - I mixed up stronger soup of RIT Teal colour and left the knife there for nearly 30 minutes. The result reminds of light blue-green denim which by itself would be bordering to acceptable, but on right side the previous orange dye patches show through.

Put all together - with all this effort I have pretty much (when it comes to looks) destroyed the handle. I feel really stupid and at the same time I can not stop wondering what went wrong

Anyone has an idea? Any help would be appreciated. I originally wanted some interesting colour, but now even pitch black would be better option than the result I have now.

Sorry - no pics as of now, I will add some later.

thank you

[Surfingringo]

Hello,

since I got my super blue Draongfly and Caly 3.5 I new I would like to give the handles some colour. I have read around here and quickly found out that with RIT (powder!) dyes it was indeed well possible and all those nice looking results encouraged me to try it myself. So much for the introduction.

First I started with the Dragonfly. I have removed the blade and the clip and gave the FRN handle a good long bath in warm water with detergent and then used toothbrush to properly clean it. Then boiled up some 250ml of water, added 2 spoons of RIT golden yellow colour and some vinegar. I soaked the handle so long until I reach the colour I liked (darkish orange-brown). It wen all smooth and fine.

Encouraged with the results with the FRN I proceeded with the Caly 3.5 G10 handle in a very similar way just with more vigorous cleaning. I then prepared the dye (violet) and dipped the handle in. And there the problems stared. The handle started to show rather obvious variations of the colour density - some places would get darker - for example there were the clip touches the handle and around on side of the pivot. And altogether the G10 did not seem to want to 'accept' the dye.

Seeing the not very encouraging development of the dying process, I stopped it and dipped the handle in RIT colour removal. This went rather well with next-to-no dye left (only tiny little bit around edges - nearly invisible) and the handle turned back light grey. This was the time point when I should have stopped, but unfortunately I did not.....

Ouch, it was hard to keep reading after this. . Sorry, I've had a similar knife experience (not with rit dye) where I spent hours trying to undo what I had done and it just kept getting worse. :rolleyes:
So yeah, I can relate. Sounds like your best chance at this point is to try to make yourself a decent looking black caly. Best of luck.

P.S. For the sake of your sanity try to hang on to the idea that it has zero effect on how the knife functions. :)

[BadFish]

I too would suggest going black. Hopefully the black will overtake everything and make a more uniform color. As the above poster said remember this won't hurt the function of the knife and could be a great user!

[Evil D]

That's the good news about dying scales, you can always go black so as long as you accept that you may end up with plain old black, it's never that bad in the end.

[PayneTrain]

This was the time point when I should have stopped, but unfortunately I did not.

This made me laugh. Trust me, I know the feeling. I had a similar result today trying to paint a new bumper for my car. The more I did, the worse it got. It's all part of the learning process!

Unfortunately, I know nothing about RIT dye. Black is always an option I guess, but gosh it is boring. Perhaps the failure of the dye can be the theme here. Keep messing with it till you have a crazy looking multicolored design. Might be cool?

[HarleyXJGuy]

Someone is trying to tell you it is time to buy some custom scales!

I thought the scales on the Caly knives were pinned?

[Joshua J.]

A few years ago when I was playing around with RIT dye, I tried it on a fountain pen, but even boiling water is hot enough to melt some plastics. Thankfully it was "only" a $20 pen.
I also discovered you can use it cold, it just takes longer.

[Matus]

Thank you. Indeed - the function of the knife was not lessened in any way. What I would like to know - what could have caused the G10 on my Caly to "refuse" to load the dye. I have seen quite a few well done dye jobs around here on G10 scales.

And yes - black is not really my colour. And even if I decided to dye the knife black - I am actually unsure whether that will work. The handle was in the strong teal soup nearly boiling for 30 minutes - it should have been nearly black anyway.

It is indeed pity that the Caly scales are pinned - otherwise there would surely be custom scales available as there are for Para2. I would love something strong orange, blue or green.

[weetoots]

What is the G10 made of? If it is nylon, you should have great results.
Wash with a small amount of liquid dish detergent. I prefer Dawn. Use a small
hand brush or tooth brush.

What did you use to hold the solution in? I use a medium (1-1.5 gallon)
Plastic paint pail. A glass bowl or SS sink.
Heat the water to 140-160 degrees and keep the solution at that temperature
Until you are done.
Use powder, the whole pkg. If nylon add 1 cup of warmed white vinegar
after the first 5min.
DO NOT USE SALT.
Stir often, use metal tongs. Add what you want to dye.
Leave item in solution until color is what you want. Longer
will not hurt.
Remove item and rinse under warm water for a minute, changing
to cool.
Let dry.

I just finished a yellow to black, I processed it for 45 minutes.
It came out very black and beautiful.

Clean any spills with household bleach.

Weetoots

[Surfingringo]

And yes - black is not really my colour.

It might be now. :o

[bearfacedkiller]

Curious how bad it is. Sounds like black is your best option.

[Studey]

Handle it with rubber gloves during/after cleaning. Oils, even from your skin, can keep dyes from penetrating. Wash it again, then degrease it, rubbing alcohol can work for this.

[Matus]

Photos are coming soon.

I did use surgical gloves during the process and the cleaning agent I used contained also some alcohol. I am not sure I will be trying to re-dye the Caly right away, but if I will decide to do that, I will use 97% ethanol to clean the handles.

[Matus]

OK, to give you an idea what I am talking about - here are 'before and after' photos. They have been taken some 2 months apart. In the mean time I have not only dyed the handles, but also etched the blades with vinegar (I actually love the way Caly looks with that vinegar etch)

Before:


And after. The colours are actually darker in the real life. On the Caly you can see several 'streaks' on the handle. Those are left overs from the orange colour. Oh well.

[jmh58]

I am liking the way the Caly turned out!! JMO!! John

[Matus]

The colour would have been OK, but it looks so 'dirty' with all those variations in darkness and additional hues (orange)

[PayneTrain]

The colour would have been OK, but it looks so 'dirty' with all those variations in darkness and additional hues (orange)

Maybe think of it as "distressed" or "aged". I'm tellin ya, keep screwing with it and I bet it will look pretty cool eventually. The Dragonfly looks great too, by the way. Love the color.

[jmh58]

Now put a nice polished edge on the blade!! That would set ot off!! Like the "aged" idea!! John

[Liquid Cobra]

That Caly looks like it was a collaboration with Serge Panchenko! Nice work.

[Matus]

Aged sounds like a good cover name :) I will go with that. I am not that pleased about the look, but hearing positive opinions helps :)

New edges are planned for both (they both need it after the etch anyhow), but I want to go with 15 deg per side on the Caly and the current secondary bevel is steeper. It seems that it would forever with the medium rods, so I am waiting to take delivery on the CBN rods to do the bevel grinding.

I like the way the Dragonfly turned out, just hoped for slightly brother colour. But that was hard to achieve as the handle was not particularly light grey.