SpudFiles

Anyone dyed PVC before? We've been experimenting with some dye formulas and stumbled on something that seems to work quite well.

Check out the pictures...

You notice that 5 minutes in the Dye gave .020" penetration, and 30 seconds gave about .005" penetration.

In the 3-5 pictures you can see we filed of some of the dyed PVC to show the depth of penetration.

Opinions?

jagerbond wrote:
Opinions?

It looks a heck of a lot better than "pvc white".

I've dyed a Crosman plastic stock using RIT black. Turns out good, but never tried pvc.

Good idea.

does it affect strength

looks good

Hell yeh! Looks well cool, i really like it.

It looks sweet around the edges of the filed bit.

How long does it take to dry?
Is it sticky at all after drying?
How well does it bond to the PVC (can it be scratched off easily)?

Looks good though, I assume you can get more colours as well

Sweet!!

Would you mind telling us the formula of the dye?

MrCrowley wrote:Looks good though, I assume you can get more colours as well

"You can have any color you want... as long as it's black."

I assume it won't scratch off if it's been dyed for 5 minutes; he says he got penetration of .020, so some of the dye would be "under" PVC which would have to be scratched away.

does it affect strength

It does soften the outer layer a bit, but hardness returns after sitting a while. I think that strength is unaffected once re-hardened. We are using some of the same components found in PVC primer (MEK).

We have not actually tested to see if it weakens.. Maybe a hydro test is in order.

How long does it take to dry?
How well does it bond to the PVC (can it be scratched off easily)?

Looks good though, I assume you can get more colours as well

The 30 second dip only took an hour to harden up, the 5 minute took 24 hours. I think 1 minute will be optimal.

the dye is penetrating so no it can't be scatched off, like rattle can paint. You will have to remove the outer layer of dyed PVC to see white again. If you look closely at the 30 second dip.. and, at the top, I scored it with a razor knife. Normally it would flake the paint off.

We got black to work well, cause we use it a lot. We will be working on other colors.

Thanks!

Aniline dye in MEK? (acetone would work though it'll evaporate very quickly)

IIRC, show polishes are aniline dyes in acetone or MEK or IPA or ... That's also how the orignial color is applied to leather.

You can get aniline dyes in pretty much any color. (Probably need the non-water soluble types of anniline dyes.)

i use rit. the black is flat the way i like it. non-reflective.

Speaking of dye... Anyone know how to remove purple primer from linoleum???

Otherwise I've been banned from working on cannons in the kitchen... :violent1:

jeepkahn wrote:Speaking of dye... Anyone know how to remove purple primer from linoleum???

Otherwise I've been banned from working on cannons in the kitchen... :violent1:

I would start by trying every solvent you can find like: rubbing alcohol, benzene (have some gloves for that one), lacquer thinners, turpentine, petrol (gasoline for you Americans), methylated spirits, acetone and any other solvents you can find. just be careful and test each one you try on a hidden spot to test that it won't do more damage then good like dissolving the linoleum also wear a respirator for organic vapor to prevent getting high on accident some of those solvents are nasty and you might fly out of your kitchen if you don't wear one

also next time you build cannons in the kitchen (if you are lucky and SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) allows you to do so) lay down some newspapers to prevent stuff like this happening

Edit: you might even be able to remove it using clear PVC solvent and what's up with the purple solvent I have never seen it here in my entire life all the stuff over here are clear as water

For adding printing and full color photos, the PVC should work with a dye sublimination printing process. I haven't tested it on pipe, but it works fine on PVC credit card stock.

Some sublimination printing can be heat transferred from a paper carrier into PVC with a heat press. A cup press may work or be adapted to PVC pipe with little modification.

http://www.jesseheap.com/dye-sublimatio ... utions.php

http://www.dyesub.org/articles/dyesubwhatisit.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoBEc5byzc

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