RIT Dying With seelow123! *Tutorial*

[seelow123]

I get messages from people sometimes asking me about RIT dying knife handles so I figured I'd take some pictures of a knife I did today and do a bit of a tutorial.

This is just my way of doing it. Some people do it differently but this is the method that has worked best for me so I stick to it.

Here we go.

Start off with your knife you want to dye. This one being a DPx HEST folder 2.0 in green g10. (Black g10 will not take dye as for as I know for those that were wondering)

Take the knife apart. It's nice to have something to keep the parts in so they don't go missing. I'm just using a disposable plate.

Here's the dye. This color is "Scarlett" I've used this same packet of dye on about 7 knives now and I still have enough left for one or two more. A little goes a long way.

Make sure you wash your scale. Oils from your hands and dirt can interfere with how the dye takes so give it a good scrub.

I like to attach a small string through the lanyard hole of the scale so I have something to hold on to while the knife is in the dye. I'm using 550 paracord guts but you can use anything really.

Here's the dye in the water all mixed up. I used more than I normally do in this one just for giggles. I think I used about a tablespoon and a half. Give it a good stir when you first add it in the water.

I like to use a paper towel or paper plate to put the stir spoon on. You don't want that dye getting everywhere.

I add the scale when I can hear the water just start to boil. You don't want it boiling a bunch. try and keep it right at that pre-boiling point.

In the dye. This is where a lot of peoples methods differ. Some say they keep it in the dye over night or for an hour. It only takes about 5 minutes altogether in the dye to achieve a nice, even color. Your experience may differ.

After being in the dye for about two/three minutes, I take it out and rinse it off with cold water and check the color. I could have stopped at this shade but I figured I'd throw it back in there just because.

Here it is all finished up. That darker area in the lower middle part of the scale is just wet. I missed it when I was drying.

HEre she is all back together.

EDIT: Here are some better pics.

Well I hope this was helpful to some of you. Hey maybe we can get this stickied if people find it educational.

Thanks for looking

 

[SideTracked]

This is really helpful. Thanks for the walk thru!

 

[seelow123]

This is really helpful. Thanks for the walk thru!

You are most certainly welcome. I'm glad you like it!

 

[viper89]

Great tutorial and good detailing through the guide. Helpful indeed. I might do this later.

 

[Tbaggin]

I love it! You don't want that anymore right? I can take it off your hands..

 

[seelow123]

Thanks gents! I'm glad you guys are learning something from it.

You can't have it Tbaggin!

 

[asmith001]

I just tried to dye digicam scales from a PM2 with very little success. I mixed and simmered the dye, then placed the scales in the pot for 10-15 minutes. Noticing that the scales were very light, I put them back in for another 30 minutes. Then, an hour... Then over night... Then a whole 24 hours. The scales never got darker than a light pink. I'm boiling them now in the solution hoping they'll get darker, but it doesn't look hopeful. Any suggestions?

 

[Cereal_killer]

Stronger solution. It will work. A slight difference in my technique is I use 1:1 water to vinegar as the dilute for the powder die.

 

[asmith001]

That makes sense. I simmered them for about 3 hours until most of the water was evaporated, making almost a paste. I figured the platoon was too weak. Then I took them out and let them dry overnight with the paste on them. The next morning, I scrubbed them clean and they were perfectly red.