I couldnt find any definitive how-tos on dying G10 different colors with Rit Dye, so, here goes nothing.
I recently bought my second Spyderco Paramilitary, but when the dealer told me he was out of black I reluctantly took the digital camo version. Although the fit and finish were superb, I couldnt continue to wear an Army pattern in my Marpat pockets haha.
After searching google for info on dying G10, I found speculations that it could possibly be done, but few had tried it. I decided that any darkening of the scales would be positive, so off to Wal Mart I went. I chose Forest Green powder and Black liquid dye.
My first step was to boil 1.5 liters of water, in which I placed the forest green. Constantly stirring all the while, I turned the heat to a simmer after a few minutes at a roaring boil. I placed the knife into the water, holding onto the tip of the blade, and then stirred the dye with the knife for 5 minutes. After this, I washed the knife in hot water and placed all the black dye into the current pot and stirred. When the knife had dried, I placed it back into the pot for 5 minutes, removed it, and baked it for 5 minutes at 350*. I repeated this process 5 times until the G10 had completely blackened. I washed the knife vigorously under hot water and scrubbed it. I then dried it with a hair dryer and voila, black G10.
I also did this same process with an FRN Endura, and I will say the FRN took to the dye quite easily and it actually soaked into the material by about a millimeter. The G10 on the other hand resisted the dye until the last 2 coats, and the dye was able to sink in about .25 of a millimeter. If you scratch hard at the scales, the previous color will show somewhat.
Overall, Im quite happy with the results, but I will report back in a week or two to let you know the how it stands.
I took some crappy cell-phone pics, but the G10 currently looks just as good as factory black G10.
I recently bought my second Spyderco Paramilitary, but when the dealer told me he was out of black I reluctantly took the digital camo version. Although the fit and finish were superb, I couldnt continue to wear an Army pattern in my Marpat pockets haha.
After searching google for info on dying G10, I found speculations that it could possibly be done, but few had tried it. I decided that any darkening of the scales would be positive, so off to Wal Mart I went. I chose Forest Green powder and Black liquid dye.
My first step was to boil 1.5 liters of water, in which I placed the forest green. Constantly stirring all the while, I turned the heat to a simmer after a few minutes at a roaring boil. I placed the knife into the water, holding onto the tip of the blade, and then stirred the dye with the knife for 5 minutes. After this, I washed the knife in hot water and placed all the black dye into the current pot and stirred. When the knife had dried, I placed it back into the pot for 5 minutes, removed it, and baked it for 5 minutes at 350*. I repeated this process 5 times until the G10 had completely blackened. I washed the knife vigorously under hot water and scrubbed it. I then dried it with a hair dryer and voila, black G10.
I also did this same process with an FRN Endura, and I will say the FRN took to the dye quite easily and it actually soaked into the material by about a millimeter. The G10 on the other hand resisted the dye until the last 2 coats, and the dye was able to sink in about .25 of a millimeter. If you scratch hard at the scales, the previous color will show somewhat.
Overall, Im quite happy with the results, but I will report back in a week or two to let you know the how it stands.
I took some crappy cell-phone pics, but the G10 currently looks just as good as factory black G10.
