Bushing durometer and formula are critical to how your trucks perform, both of which are masked when you dye them. All of my boards use at least 2 different durometer bushings, while my asymmetrical setups typically have 4. It’s hard enough to keep them straight when they are color-coded.
Most people ride stock bushings and just crank them down. But you can make your board feel so much better if you spend time tweaking it. I realize you design custom boards for people, and they may want to follow a certain color scheme. If you’re already dying their wheels, sure, throw their bushings in there too. I just fail to see how something the aesthetics of something so small (and largely hidden from view) can be more important than the board’s performance.
not a big deal at all you can always engrave the duro on the bushings or mark it in some way Being able to color match is way too pleasing to me so i had to do it. Imagine having an all black build and yellow bushings spoiling everything. I know it sounds nit picky but it makes a big difference aesthetically.
how exactly does dye impact the durometer of a bushing?
Also, those color codes are not standard across brands. Often not even within the brand across cones, barrels, and kegs. Riptide has a yellow bushing that’s 88a and another yellow bushing that’s 90a. Seismic has a clear blue one at 90a, Riot has yellow ones that are 80a, Khiro has a yellow 92a, etc etc, and Venom has a yellow 83a as well as a yellow 85a.
It’s totally arbitray and noone is following any sort of color standard.
It doesn’t…,. Until you drop them on the floor and can’t tell which is which
While it is all rider preference, a well tuned board typically does not use the same duro all around. I’m just advocating experimenting with different bushing combinations to suit your style. Dying them all the same color discourages this
Sorry i forgot about posting my pics/results, but here they are now. The wheels i tried dyeing are @Hummie urethane wheels from one of his early batches (quick healing stuff i believe) and a pair of Orangatang Kegels.
I used Rit Dye in powder form, only because the liquid stuff was unavailable at the shop i got it from (i originally wanted to get them both, so i could try both forms). I used some leftover chopsticks from a takeout meal i ate and stuffed the tapered ends in the holes of the kegels so that it wouldn’t touch the bottom of the hot pan.
I just used a big old pot i had and boiled up enough water to be able to submerge the whole wheels. I lowered the heat so that it was just below boiling temperature and put in the wheels. I thought i would have to throw out the pan after using the dye, but it came out completely clean afterwards.
Unfortunately i don’t have any pics of the boiling proces, i guess i was scared getting dye all over my kitchen, lol. So here are the results, i took out Hummie’s wheels out after about a 20 minute swim because they where already perfectly black, the Kegels didn’t seem to pick up the dye at all, so i let them sit in the pot for twelve hours or so and the result is what you see on the pictures. I also removed the stickers/paint from the kegels using some fine sandpaper as shown on one of the wheels here.
I tried dyeing the Kegels once more after this because i had another packet of Ritt, but twelve hours later it only darkened them a little more. So getting them completely black this way would take about a week or so i guess
This is kind of weird, the cores on the purple kegels turned black… why wouldn’t the cores on the orange kegels turn black? Makes me think your process was different than @raf
liquid dye and salt. a full bottle and heat it for around 3-7 hours making sure you don’t boil it or put the wheels in direct contact if the heat. Then you can turn off stove and leave overnight. should do the job. Orange kegels i think have a higher durometer so may be harder
it should work, just a lot of time. i find using one full bottle of it dye and salt works. you can either keep the heat on the whole time but make sure it doesn’t boil and the wheels don’t touch the bottom of the pan. Or you can use the blast method i used above.
I think what really helps is the salt and leaving it overnight. IF its still not the colour you want try heating again till it is.
I don’t think it will affect the durometer. i have read online dyeing wheels doesn’t affect the durometer, but the heat may. Orangatang kegels are very strong and can withstand a lot of heat so you should be okay as long as you don’t boil the water. Just keep it hot enough before boiling set the heat to a low temp or off
you just use roughly around 1 cup per 3 gallons of water and one full bottle. (thats what it says on the site for clothes)
Im not sure how much water is in the pan, i would say roughly 1 litre - 2. i added around 3 tablespoons of salt and made sure to dissolve it for 10 minutes. you want to make sure all the salt is gone so it won’t scratch the wheels and damage them.
I still have the other wheels to dye so next time i do it. I will follow the formula above and divide the measurements accordingly. I will still use one full bottle though as it will make it stronger.
This may be a little overkill but if someone is doing this regularly a wonderbag is a great way to maintain heat while not subjecting the wheels to direct heat:
Cheaper than any sous vide options and it stays hot for very long time. I slow cook things overnight in mine all the time and it’s still too hot to eat in the morning.
It’s bulky, but it’s filled with foam so you can really pack it down. When I don’t use it I just roll it up and put it in a large soup pot in my cabinet. I usually use a 7 qt dutch oven and there’s room to spare.
Raf and I had success using ordinary Pots. If you follow our methods, you should also have success at only the cost of Heat, Salt, Liquid Dye (powder works too but you need more time), Big pot or disposable $ 1 store pans, stir and patience. I was surprised how well it worked on my Fly Wheels and bushings, and Raf’s kegels look great. I do like the wonderbag and sous vide methods but you don’t need them to get a nicely dyed wheel. Try it, it’s great getting the color you want out of the wheels and bushings you like best.
