Dying delrin

[Captaincrash]

Just a note for anyone interested in dying delrin links or skids. I did a full set today and they turned out very well.

List of items needed:
Rit fabric dye
old cooking pot with enough water to submerge items
thin wire
small hotplate or msr type stove
small pail of cold water
items to be dyed
plenty of old rags

procedure:
attach items to wire in such a way as to suspend them in the pot without touching bottom of pot
mix rit dye and water mixture well
place on heat and bring to a boil while stirring mixture
once boiled place parts in mixture again making sure they don't touch the bottom
once they appear dark enough, remove from pot and drop into bucket of cold water to set the color.
Remove from water and clean well to check color.
If too light, repeat process again
it's a good idea to do this outside due to mess and fumes.

Good luck and like I said, mine turned out great!!!

 

[BADASSPONY]

Pics?

 

[Captaincrash]

Sorry didn't take any but I will next time for sure, I had my doubts that it would even work after soaking the parts for two hours in room temp water there was very little progress so thought I would try boiling on my msr stove. Worked like a charm. Minutes instead of hours. Messy but the black looks way better than the natural white I started with. They are as black as the rest of the black plastic on the truck. Will get pics of the finished product tomorrow.

 

[BADASSPONY]

I was thinking or trying to do red but Im affraid it will come out pink. lol

 

[Captaincrash]

I can understand your concern with pink, the worse mine could be was a shade of grey. My best advice would be to try it on a scrap chunk first with a timer and make some notes. And when your ready, do all your parts at once so they will be the same shade of red and hopfully not pink!

 

[SMR 510RR]

I cant wait to try this...I was searching around and found people were doing the same thing with delrin bolts for paintball. They were talking about doing fades and stuff, that would be cool on some delrin links!

 

[Katon]

I used to paintball alot, alot of guys would use the same process to dye their delrin bolts colors, I saw a red one with rit dye and it wasnt pink, was very red. Longer it is in the dye the closer the color will be to the color of the dye.

We used to also use elmers glue to make splash/splatter designs/striping on delrin. Elmers ultimate glue is what we used, under the glue does not dye, so you can make logos and names then dye, remove glue and where glue was, its still white.

Enjoy!

 

[BADASSPONY]

I cant wait to try this...I was searching around and found people were doing the same thing with delrin bolts for paintball. They were talking about doing fades and stuff, that would be cool on some delrin links!

I used to paintball alot, alot of guys would use the same process to dye their delrin bolts colors, I saw a red one with rit dye and it wasnt pink, was very red. Longer it is in the dye the closer the color will be to the color of the dye.

We used to also use elmers glue to make splash/splatter designs/striping on delrin. Elmers ultimate glue is what we used, under the glue does not dye, so you can make logos and names then dye, remove glue and where glue was, its still white.

Enjoy!

You guys have givin me some ideas. Ill post pics of my results this weekend.

 

[Spucknit]

I have had some success recentely as well. My methods were a little less in depth though. I got an old coffee can, I through the dye in some water with a few tablespoons of salt. I put the coleman stove in the garage and heated just below the boiling point (as to not make such a mess)for about an hour.

Before

During

After

 

[Katon]

First off... thats an awesome blue color... but just a thought....

Delrin doesnt need the salt to be dyed I dont believe, just like it doesnt need acetone or anything. I would imagine the salt would only make for a less pure dye solution, when it comes to delrin.... Correct me if I am wrong...

 

[Spucknit]

First off... thats an awesome blue color... but just a thought....

Delrin doesnt need the salt to be dyed I dont believe, just like it doesnt need acetone or anything. I would imagine the salt would only make for a less pure dye solution, when it comes to delrin.... Correct me if I am wrong...

I saw a thread where someone suggested salt, so I put some in. I really don't know if it helped at all. I do know that heat is the most important part of the equation.

 

[BADASSPONY]

Heat would be the key to basically open the pores in the delrin. Without the heat it will not penitrate the material. I remember doing tie dye (yes Im old) and you had to bring it to boil first or it would not work. I just never tried it on plastics.

 

[SMR 510RR]

After

Hey that looks awesome! Is it still wet or is the color splotchy?

Delrin doesnt need the salt to be dyed I dont believe, just like it doesnt need acetone or anything. I would imagine the salt would only make for a less pure dye solution, when it comes to delrin.... Correct me if I am wrong...

I also saw someone suggest it on here. As i remember they had done it both ways and the salt helped...


If everyone that dyes something posts up pics before and after and tells us how long they left it in and any other details we could get a really good resource thread going...Just a thought"thumbsup"

 

[Katon]

Hey that looks awesome! Is it still wet or is the color splotchy?

Thats the salt... Heh kidding, like I said I wasnt sure, I just never heard about it when we dyed paintball parts.

 

[SMR 510RR]

Hey has anyone cut the delrin after dying it? I am curious how deep the color goes through the part. I was thinking of dying some links and then "fluting" them...It could look cool if the fluted portions were still white.

 

[Captaincrash]

Hey has anyone cut the delrin after dying it? I am curious how deep the color goes through the part. I was thinking of dying some links and then "fluting" them...It could look cool if the fluted portions were still white.

Yes I did check the depth and it is a very thin dyed layer so fluting them would likely work. A good candidate for a scrap trial first though.

 

[Spucknit]

Hey that looks awesome! Is it still wet or is the color splotchy?

Still wet, The color is complete uniform except for one area. Where the arms for the skid plate bend, the delrin is black. I think it looks cool that way.

Hey has anyone cut the delrin after dying it? I am curious how deep the color goes through the part. I was thinking of dying some links and then "fluting" them...It could look cool if the fluted portions were still white.

I dyed the delrin from the T1E at the same time as some I bought from mcmaster for links. The T1E goes pretty deep, but on the links the dye is shallow. There must be some difference in the materials.

 

[SMR 510RR]

Yes I did check the depth and it is a very thin dyed layer so fluting them would likely work. A good candidate for a scrap trial first though.

Still wet, The color is complete uniform except for one area. Where the arms for the skid plate bend, the delrin is black. I think it looks cool that way.

I dyed the delrin from the T1E at the same time as some I bought from mcmaster for links. The T1E goes pretty deep, but on the links the dye is shallow. There must be some difference in the materials.

Hmm. Well i will have to try it and let you guys know.

 

[Captaincrash]

Just an update. I forgot my camera again so sorry for the lack of pictures.

I had a few more links to dye today and this time I was forced to use a different brand of dye. The dye today was a brand called Dylon purchased at a local fabric store. They make a cold and hot dye so I bought the hot and headed into work. To make a long story short, same method just different dye and after a 12 min. Soak at a low boil.......black as night.

 

[BADASSPONY]

I just need to find some 3/8 white delring sticks to try some ideas I have.