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Google hasn't been much help, so I'm asking the hive mind for some clues. I've got a pair of RayBan Lennons, gold metal frame, with a sort of faux tortoishell enamel finish, which is just bands of clear dark reddish-brown fading into a gold-orange over the gold metal. Ebay purchase, the enamel was chipped away on the top of both lenses, which didn't show in the photos.
They were cheap, so I couldn't be arsed to send them back, and I've had a bash at repairing them using clear two-pack epoxy. It's worked really well filling in the chipped bits, however, I couldn't find anything to colour it with, and I wondered if anyone knew of an oil/spirit-based red-brown dye that might stain the epoxy to more closely match the original.
I've tried shoe polish, but it doesn't really have the density to properly stain, and I'm struggling to think of some other dye that might work.
Only needs a tiny amount, and it needs to be transparent.
Any ideas, anyone? 🙂
How about just using nail polish?
I touched up a tobacco burst guitar by going into boots with it and comparing colours.
Ah reread... You've already filled the chips.
You could try wood stain but it may just wipe off, you would probably have been best mixing in some dye with the epoxy before it had set so it takes on the colour.
Used to do SMART repairs and this is what we did with some of the resins and also wood filler to tint it.
I looked into mixing dye with the epoxy, but I couldn't find anything easily available, there are dyes available on-line, but it's knowing which colour to use, and also the amount needed was/is is really tiny, so I was hoping I could find something that will actually stain the clear epoxy, even something like a felt pen with a dye-based colour that can stain with several applications.
I have got a bottle of brown solvent-based leather dye, which I only remembered having this afternoon, so I'm going to experiment on the dried epoxy left over using isopropanol and a cotton bud to see if it'll stain with thinned down successive applications.
Fingers crossed, it'll put just enough colour into the clear epoxy to blend the edges into the old enamel, filling in the chipped places has made a difference, making it less likely any more will break away.
If the epoxy is set you won't have much luck trying to dye it. Epoxy is well known for being very chemical resistant when cured as it is highly cross-linked.
I too would have said use coloured nail varnish as you could match the colours easily in store and then build them up.
Or go to a model shop and get some airfix paint.
You could possibly add nail varnish to epoxy provided it is a solvent based and smells like acetone. Alcohol and water based paints are not compatible with epoxy.