Thread: RIT Dye+Metal

Ok, so Im really stumped on this one... Ive been thinking for over a week about this now.

Remember thoes sexy coated plug-in's? Some how Niubi used RIT dye, to "dye" these:

The Color SVGA Model is the same as the Bionic, but each yoyo has been dyed by hand by me with the RIT dye technique.... The visual effect of the yoyo is stunning! We were all surprised when this summer we made this experiment...that turned out really weel. ;)
Sometimes a man needs to be a little lucky. ;)

So, Im stuck. I can't think of anything that makes the yo-yo "gummy" like acetone would do plastic. Acetone obviousily does nothing to metal. I was thinking of mixing oven cleaner with RIT dye, but that corodes the surface metal completely off, and also doesn't leave the metal shiney and polished.

Another thing he mentioned was a "plastic film" over the yo-yo, perhaps that film is applied all over the yo-yo, then can be dyed with a regular acetone dye, but that doesn't seem plausable either.

Perhaps annodizing is the only way to go, but I guess I wanted to try something new, and something I could do at home too...

Any idea what you think this "RIT dye" method of creating works of art like Niubi does? I have a feeling that union jack plug-in, and the harliquin sumo was done the same method...

Jeff

Rit dye during the anodisation process will colour anodised yo's. The anodised layer from what I can gather is slightly porous, unlike pure Al so it has the ability to take up the dye. Guides I've ready say that after this process the piece needs to be boiled to bleed it of excess dye, then it must be sealed in some way to prevent losing the colour.

That's just off the top of my head. Feel free to correct.

Originally Posted by JeffreyPang911

...

Another thing he mentioned was a "plastic film" over the yo-yo, perhaps that film is applied all over the yo-yo, then can be dyed with a regular acetone dye, but that doesn't seem plausable either.

...

I talked to him about this a while ago and from what I remember, that's exactly what it is.

My guess is that it's a powder coating because PC is essentially plastic. Plus, I've seen some people dye PC'd yoyo's the same way you would dye a plastic yoyo so that would seem to further solidify that theory. If that's really how it's done, the translucence of the color is achieved by using only a clear PC and then dyeing it as usual. You get the color but you can still see the finished metal underneath.

If the Harlequin, Union Jack, and other various one-offs that have shown up here and there are done with the same method, then Niubi is one hell of a dyer.

Originally Posted by Luke Vader

I talked to him about this a while ago and from what I remember, that's exactly what it is.

My guess is that it's a powder coating because PC is essentially plastic. Plus, I've seen some people dye PC'd yoyo's the same way you would dye a plastic yoyo so that would seem to further solidify that theory. If that's really how it's done, the translucence of the color is achieved by using only a clear PC and then dyeing it as usual. You get the color but you can still see the finished metal underneath.

If the Harlequin, Union Jack, and other various one-offs that have shown up here and there are done with the same method, then Niubi is one hell of a dyer.

Thanks for the info...

Niubi is great. I believe he did dye thoes yo-yos. I read that some where around here...I wish he'd post here more though.

Clear PCing/ dying. Would you think that has the same texture as annodizing a polished aluminum? I have no idea if aluminum etches during the annodizing process, but for once I do want to achieve a smooth, plasticy texture.

Perhaps that is also how the Speed Dials were done.

Jeff

If a plastic feel is what you're looking for, PC is the way to go

And I think the Speed Dials were just powdercoated in candy (translucent) colors. The Plug-In's might have been too and something's just getting lost in translation, I'm not really sure.

Ben says, the clear speed dials in front of me is coated with a lacquer finish... perhaps I can run out to the store to see if it is "dyable"

Jeff

Edit: I go onto another forum oftan, found that saxa posted saying that they apply a film all over the yo-yo (this was for the haliquin sumo) then dying process is started, taking a little more than 2 hours.

Wow, truely a work of art.

ahhhhhhhh, completely misunderstood the question.... my bad

Originally Posted by JeffreyPang911

axa posted saying that they apply a film all over the yo-yo (this was for the haliquin sumo) then dying process is started, taking a little more than 2 hours.

Yes.

This is the exact tecnique.

Take an aluminium yoyo.

Have the "plastic/resin/dontknowwhatitiscauseisamadebyaprofessional" film applied on the yoyo halves. :)

Then use the normal Rit Dye method (works well also with cold water and almost no acetone...I think it depends on the resin used for the external film) + masking.

The aesthetic results is different if you satin finish or polish the yoyo before applying the plastic film.

That's it.

Just a clarification....the most complex works were not made by me, but by Saxa & Tuwonga (a friend of us who lives in Bari, like Saxa). I only made the normal ones...indeed I discovered the fact that it was possibile to dye them during my holidays at Saxa's villa... I remember I was used to rit dye anything that passed in my hands that year.... :) .... so we tried it also with the plastified Plug-Ins. Turned out that worked. :)

Originally Posted by JeffreyPang911

Perhaps that is also how the Speed Dials were done.

Jeff

i was going to post that but i was too lazy at the time. but by the looks of it the blue and silver ones look like they were done that way

Wonder what it'd be like with a bead blast underneath...

Originally Posted by Humphrey

Wonder what it'd be like with a bead blast underneath...

Yeah, too bad we don't know any beadblasters.....

Originally Posted by Paul Williams

Yeah, too bad we don't know any beadblasters.....

haha, the man has a point


this seems a little to complicated to me...

this seems like a challenge to do for challenge sake.

Or for beauty's sake!

well worth it if you ask me and thats just judging by the pics of those awesome plug ins