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Has anyone ever used RIT dye to try dying the blade tips to match colored blades?
In the shooting community this has been done with clear plastic magazines. (specifically Ruger 10/22 magazines) Im going to give it a try this week. I don't think it will work well on the clear PC blades but it should easily work on the blade tips! RIT can and has been used on many different plastics in various hobbies so Im sure its just a matter of technique.
I'm not aware of anyone trying this. Give it a shot, detail your steps, and report back with results. Even if you get less than ideal results, some of us may have some ideas to refine them.
I remember someone trying it and it didn't go all that well as I recall. Besides, it sounds like you are trying to redo the blades that are sold in the store or VV's new Photon Blades
Getting an even dye job on the whole blade would be difficult at best. Doing just the tip as he indicated is just an exercise in chemistry.
I'll give a suggestion for the iDye Poly line. It's a dye for use on synthetic fibers like polyester, and might penetrate the polycarbonate tips better than RIT.
Ok after two attempts to use RIT dye it was a total bust! The general rule is that a plastic will take the dye in the first ten minutes. After 15 it seemed to be a beautiful scarlet red, I pulled it from the mixture and when I rinsed in water EVERY bit of dye washed away! On the second attempt I let it simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, it ALMOST has a pinkish hue but with light behind it its as clear as glass. Next I will try to locate the dye Kouri suggested although I have used this technique before with RIT and it worked fine, but that was not on PC.
I'm assuming you didn't add any acetone to your dye bath? You need a little to help the dye get into the plastic. Not too much, or the polycarbonate will dissolve. I don't recall what I found earlier, it was maybe 1 part acetone to 3 or 4 parts water.
I was looking to do this once, and someone (on the forums, but don't remember who) had colored their saber tips with a Stained Glass Color spray paint. Something like this.
I haven't tried this yet myself, but it seems like it will work, as long as the colors are close.