How Permanent is Rit Dye?

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Aug 4, 2008
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Hi guys, I have a question about the longevity of Rit dye on G-10 scales. I've got a set of Spyderco Digicam scales that I'd like to have dyed gray. However, I don't want the dye to wear off in a year or so. If you've ever dyed a set of scales and used your knife a lot, how is the dye job holding up?

To make sure I get the results that I'm after, I'm not opposed to sending the knife to a trusted source and paying to have them dyed. I know the PM2 can be a little tricky to disassemble, so if there's a trusted member who's experienced in dying scales and disassembling a PM2, feel free to let me know.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide on the longevity of Rit dyed scales.
 
Gosh, where is every body ?
We have a dyer emergency here !
( sorry couldn't resist that one )

First off until you get some real time help I would search the forum for threads on this topic I know there are some.
What you are asking about is how "fugitive" is rit dye. Mostly that is going to depend on the particular color (some hues, colors are more effected by light than others). A huge factor is going to be, not pocket wear but how much sun the handles are exposed to. I supose there are even some products you could soak the handle scales in after they are dyed that would block UV rays and so help make the color more permanent. The cool guys here will let you know eventually.

Question : are you after the camy patern only grey or do you want the handle evenly grey ?
Another thought is maybe just buying the scales you want would be less involved.
 
Well lets bump this to the top of the list shall we.
People . . . do you mean to tell the OP that you dye 'em but don't use 'em ?
Sorry dude. It's usually not this way aroun'cheer.
 
I used liquid RIT dye--not the powder--on my PM2 camo G10 scales. It was well over a year ago and I do not think the dye has faded over time. Of course, when you see it all the time, it is harder to tell the difference, if any, between day 1 and day 400.

Mine turned out blackish-gray and I used navy blue IIRC. Hmmm...maybe it was black. ??? While not necessary, I did disassemble my PM2 because I wanted the scales to take on the color everywhere, including under the liners. Disassembly is usually not difficult if you have the right tools (I use Wiha torx bits). The lanyard tube can be stubborn to re-assemble as well, but some very lightly used medium grit sandpaper on the outer circumference of the tube ends to lessen the tube flair just a hair makes for a much easier re-assembly. I will still usually use a vice to press the scales onto the tube just so I get evenly distributed pressure perpendicular to the tube. I have never not been able to re-assemble easily this way and I have never damaged a scale either.
 
. Of course, when you see it all the time, it is harder to tell the difference, if any, between day 1 and day 400.
I don't know why I'm all up in here but . . .
I'm curious now . . .
any chance of pulling the clip and looking under it ?
The lanyard tube can be stubborn to re-assemble as well, but some very lightly used medium grit sandpaper on the outer circumference of the tube ends to lessen the tube flair just a hair makes for a much easier re-assembly.
Tapering the back side of the hole will do the same and allow the end of the tube to look the best / fit the tightest on the show side of the scale. (unless it is just a matter of removing a sharp edge / bur)

I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here.
 
I don't know why I'm all up in here but . . .
I'm curious now . . .
any chance of pulling the clip and looking under it ?

Tapering the back side of the hole will do the same and allow the end of the tube to look the best / fit the tightest on the show side of the scale. (unless it is just a matter of removing a sharp edge / bur)

I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here.

I just did pull the clip off. Underneath the clip, it's a little shiny...you can see where the base of the clip was on the scale, but it does not look any different in color than the surrounding G10.

As far as tapering the back side of the hole, that sounds like a workable idea to me, though it is easy for me to just lessen the outside diameter of the flair, which takes me less than 1 minute total. May I ask--how do you taper the back side of the hole in the scale?
 
I Rit dyed my natural G-10 Paramilitary 2 with the M4 blade about a year ago. It hasn’t faded at all.

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Disassembly isn’t difficult. Just be careful and use good tools.
 
I just did pull the clip off. Underneath the clip, it's a little shiny...you can see where the base of the clip was on the scale, but it does not look any different in color than the surrounding G10.

Nice ! Thanks !
Good news.

As far as tapering the back side of the hole, that sounds like a workable idea to me, though it is easy for me to just lessen the outside diameter of the flair, which takes me less than 1 minute total. May I ask--how do you taper the back side of the hole in the scale?

So the tube is flaired ? Weird, not the best situation for disassembly. I was thinking it was just that the fit between the tube and the scale was too tight but you tapered the tube to help get it started into the hole.

anyway . . .

There are many tools one could use. I rounded up some and took a photo.
The top thing that looks like a metal tube the diameter of a pencil with a slot cut in it . . . well that's what it is. I can stick a strip of sand paper in the slot, turn on a hand held grinder and do some quick change (grit wise) sanding. There is a strip of paper in it in the photo but you can see how one can get it to taper like a cone. Hate that ? There's more.

You could just "counter sink" the very edge of the hole using the next tool down from the top; that is a single flute counter sink which chatters less if you use a power tool to turn it than the fifth tool down which is the same kind of thing but has multiple flutes. Third down and forth down are smaller version. Fourth down is basically a fairly coarse grinding stone. Often I don't use a power tool for this kind of thing I just use the quick locking drill chuck shown (purchased at Home Depo about a hundred years ago / they are still available on amazon for sure). This one has a good quality rubber housing and I can get a secure grip on it. It will take the larger diameters shown including the long rod on the multi fluted counter sink; I use those two together a lot (the shaft is not tapered it just looks that way.

Sixth down is just your plain old tapered rough rat tail file. You could put that in the hole and just turn it by hand gently. All of this is trial and error. Bellow the rat tail file is an alignment punch. One could spiral wrap a little strip of sand paper around it and tape the top of the paper near the handle.

Bellow that . . . well now we get into the precision high tech stuff right . . . a tapered reamer . . . but that just makes it all too easy and takes the fun out of it right ?

And bellow that, what might actually be the best choice once you find the exact size you need (they make metric and SAE sizes in these UniBits. Here's the beauty of these. The smaller tip end centers the bit, and the next size step larger behind that drills what is roughly termed a counter bore that is a little larger and tapers the transition between the larger step and the stock hole size from the factory. What this means to you is it is self aligning . . . the laniard tube drops into it and it stands up straight perpendicular to the inside of the scale and then the tapered transition helps ease the end of the laniard tube into the stock (show side) of the hole.

I don't know, I haven't done what you want to do but probably what you actually need is some where between the long gradual tapered reamer and a little bit of sand paper.

But there you have it.

I was thinking about it while I was piling up the tools and if it were me I might put some rubbing alcohol or candle wax on the laniard tube to help it slip into place easier and the candle wax would help with future disassembly . I have been using rubbing alc. more and more for easing press fits where oil would be undesirable and the alc. is more slippery than you might think. Obvious prob is evaporates fast.



IMG_4706.jpg
 
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