Your tools are boring

[@ryneches]

Hey Zac! The reason you couldn't get the temperature much above 150 is that you were boiling off your acetone. Acetone has a boiling point of only 133F, so you were essentially distilling your mixture. The evaporating acetone was carrying the heat away as it converted to vapor. If you kept going, eventually you would have evaporated all of the acetone, and the temperature would start to climb again.

[@ZacBuilds]

Good call! I'll keep that in mind for next time.

[@SuckyMike]

So your saying just heat it up to 133F? So you don't mess up your acetone to dye ratio?

[@mitch3384]

Same question as ​@Mike ​- do you need to keep the mixture heat below the acetone boiling point, or isn't that hot enough?

[@Mogliz0rz]

@@mitch3384 I think he means the mixture physically cannot be above 133f unless/until there is no acetone present. Like something with water in it can't go above 100c until the water boils off (at atmos. pressure)

[@jeremym8748]

​@@Mogliz0rz well it got up to 150, so the acetone would be a bottleneck not a limit

[@ericwilliams538]

When I started in construction work years ago, I found out the hard way that not everyone I worked with was "honest"!!! Meaning, tools would come up missing that I worked hard for so I could continue working. One day, on lunch break, and after buying a few new tools the night before, I laid all my new tools out in front of everyone so they could see what I got. Then I grabbed the cans of hot pink spray paint I got, and painted everything I had with hot pink spray paint!!!!! Not one of my tools came up missing ever again!!!! Also no one asked to borrow anything from me either!!!!

[@cobalt49]

Did the same with pink electrical tape. Worked a treat.

[@mitch3384]

This was a common problem for smokers, having lighters pinched. It started out that you bought pink, but they went missing too. So I started buying brown, and worked for ages with a couple of sharpie markers to make them look like turds. That worked well. I had the same problem with people pinching my knives (bought myself, rather than company supplied, so, nicer) at my first freezing works. In the end I went and bought orange/yellow handled Swibo knives, the ONLY ones in the room, never had the same problem.

[@0987__]

Smart, I would do this for sure

[@Demorthus]

Another cheap trick is using duct tape & electrical tape on stuff. It could be as simple as an extension cord; few people want to take a chance to steal a cable that looks like it might've been damaged in one or two areas (the electrical tape "patches" lol) and will leave it alone. It also helps to hide or obscure any branding on things & add a, "smashed" look to it. Also, charcoal. A light touch with the smallest dust of charcoal can make even the newest shiny drill look like it's been abused in a mechanic shop (add duct tape in areas they tend to see most stress) & eventually you've sold the perfect idea as most would rather not gamble with what seems to obviously been a 'questionable' power tool, at that point lol. Edit: the benefit of charcoal is also that depending on where you smear some if it, you create what's essentially going to become a Fingerprint ID. If someone grabbed it in a way that's 'normal' (but not the way you use it), they're going to have black stains on their hands & clothing. Depending on the type of work, it'll also be a subtle flag as to who took it because their hands are dirty before everyone even got to work again lol. There's other stuff that can do the same, they even sell special chemicals that are UV reactive & not as easy to wash off (so you can hold a UV light & find who touched it hours later, even if they washed their hands with Dawn platinum several times in a row, for example).

[@201hastings]

@@mitch3384 generally it’s just muscle memory not anything bad.

[@warw]

The difference in the two Dewalt colors may be because the acetone had boiled off by the time you put the second Dewalt tool in. Acetone has a substantially lower boiling point than water so it tends to leave first when heated. Unsure if this is the answer, just my thought.

[@randybobandy9828]

Acetone evaporates sooo fast its crazy.

[@nottelling6598]

Nah, he just didn't clean the last one enough. Pause at 11:19 and you can see they're filthy.

[@Burds_Builds]

This was my same exact thought. Need to do cool the water, add more acetone, and start the process over

[@K8Stuff]

@@randybobandy9828indeed. It evaporates at temps between 78f and 84f.

[@randybobandy9828]

@@K8Stuff what? It evaporates at a way lower te.p

[@aurtisanminer2827]

Black tools are so much fun to look for when you inevitably misplace them! Not yellow tools, though. They’re too easy.

[@tylersblue]

Shit man. I laughed out loud good at this one 😂

[@josephromasco4860]

Buzz kill😂

[@theanagramman1678]

I lose tools in my tool bag in my tool bag all the time

[@a1racer441]

The stealth black dewalt stuff is amazing dewalt really needs to allow for some color options.

[@randybobandy9828]

They want brand recognition. When you see yellow, you know it's Dewalt.

[@ShitThatsMyn]

@@randybobandy9828 well, yeah, but bosch and makita allow some color option based on target audience and is still recognisable.

[@ElevatedisScout]

Its not just brand color its also visibility, a bright yellow tool is easier to see than a black tool at night or in the dirt.

[@pablorivera4230]

Bright vivid blue or purple is also easy to see, and better looking than ugly yellow.

[@mBaggins]

I actually think the green colour on the drill actually looks cooler than the blacked out impact driver. They both look great though

[@garrettgiuffre5653]

I have to say. Great idea. I think I did it the hard way. I dyed my Milwaukee from red to black. From years of use

[@469monkey]

Did it give a result more like the impact driver in the video or was there still some visible red?

[@experienceprecision5406]

As a representative of Craftsman, our motto is always "when working with our tools don't expect much".

[@danthemakerman]

Sick!!! I really love the flatness of the black.

[@randybobandy9828]

You can actually tell what type of plastic the tools are made of, they have a code on the inside of the plastic clamshell that tells you what it's made of.

[@NonLegitNation2]

yeah idk about the older tools but all of dewalts newer power tools are PA6. I'm going to be dying my DCF809 later today.

[@carlosdelgado8617]

Did this to my set this past weekend, turned out great, weirdly enough my drill also came out a bit greenish on the initial dye, but I ended up doing another soak with more dye and it turned out better the second time around

[@ZacBuilds]

Maybe 2 dyeing attempts is the trick!

[@GlitchGarage]

Sick! I did the same thing with Rc car parts, no acetone just the water and it died a bright blue to a deep black easy peezy. Keep it up!

[@trashpanda5981]

I was literally googling whether this was better than paint or exactly how to do this, with my tools, earlier this past week. Thanks for reading my mind and doing it 😂😂

[@1barticus]

That's great thanks. I love my metabo dark green tools and hate the light green. I might just give this a try

[@j.l.emerson592]

When I worked as a mechanic in a large shop I always painted my hand tools screaming purple. I never had any of them grow legs & walk off. 😁

[@tomr1107]

I work for a mechanical contractor. Tools would walk away until I told my boss we should spray everything hot pink. It worked. lol.

[@cognizancecognizance8815]

I was literally trying to figure out how I was gonna do this the other day. Love DeWalt but wanted a blacked out impact like Makita. This is great. Now a glow in the dark case like makita

[@CanalGabrielCoelho]

Red plastic takes A LOT of pigment, much more than the yellow, so red wont die as good. The green dewalt is probably BC all the acetone had already evaporated when you put the shells in, not allowing the penetration of the die. maybe a pure acetone bath BEFORE the dying process would be a nice idea

[@K8Stuff]

Dangerous lol as acetone melts plastics but could try to maybe brush it on or sunk it in it fairly quickly

[@CanalGabrielCoelho]

@@K8Stuff I'm pretty sure glass fiber reinforced nylon is pretty acetone resistant

[@NonLegitNation2]

@@CanalGabrielCoelho nope plastic is plastic. TBH he shouldn't have used acetone at all, it will 100% weaken the plastic, even PA6.

[@emmettturner9452]

FYI, DeWALT does make some blacked out tools, like the oil-resistant PowerStack, the Formula 1 edition tools as seen on Torque Test Ch, and the Mac Tools versions of their 20V Max batteries including the iconic 5Ah XR.

[@gebzed]

Good choice on the tools I keep saying Craftsman is slightly budget DeWalt.

[@bubbalo3388]

May look cool but I prefer my tools more visible so I don't forget or lose them or easier to find. Like for instance I buy chrome colored ratchet tools over black sets because if I drop a socket or something in a tight dark engine bay it is easier for me to spot. Also the bright yellow on my power tools makes it easier for me to find and gather up my power tools if I have them lying around when the lighting is low.

[@gebzed]

Man I been doing this forever but not dying just painting and such lol. Gonna try this for sure. I love blacking out stuff or changing up the colors. Just did a craftsman truck tool box, gonna post on my channel soon. All kinds of fun.

[@cooltimo]

I wonder if a pure acetone bath first, then into the dye would improve the coverage?

[@danielreuter2565]

The "guaranteed to lose your drill under the house" edition

[@randybobandy9828]

Because if something isn't bright yellow... you're going to lose it. 😂 what are you autistic?

[@gila..josiequintana6468]

Nice try wiping them down with acetone before dying them it's worth a shot

[@JasonGrissom]

I'm SOO late! Sorry Buddy. This was a fun watch Zac. I think the black tool looks sick BUT one thing I think Dewalt "hangs their hat on" is when you see someone wielding a bright yellow tool they IMMEDIATELY connect Dewalt to that tool. I personally love my yellow wall of tools. 😂 Also 17:20...super clean transition my dude!

[@ZacBuilds]

100% they pay a lot for that branding and to stay top of mind, but then again so does Makita, and they're willing to sacrifice that to give the people WHAT THEY WANT hahaha. Thanks buddy!

[@thenextgen1able]

I get supplied Dewalt tools for work, I don't get the hype on why guys like them. They're weaker than competitors, and the batteries don't last as long as competitors. I can't even throw a diablo blade in my sawzall because the saw is too weak for the blade. The blade catches on the material and the saw bogs down. Put that same blade in my m18 fuel sawzall and it'll chew right through 3/4" emt. Dewalt is junk in my experiences on the job.

[@DCWoodWorking]

I really like this! I have wanted to do this or dip wrap my DeWalt tools for the longest time. Thanks for the awesome video

[@therealdonchelios]

The middle one is giving off a green camo vibe which looks sick!

[@itsbenhealey]

Woah! when you test the driver after re-assemble you can see some white gas (dust, steam, smoke?) Come out of the vents! Great video!

[@ZacBuilds]

That's just dust, I cleaned the motors a bit with a brush while the tools were disassembled and some of the dust fell into the motors

[@jacksmith2315]

I seen that too. Thought it might have been a bit of water that didnt fully dry. Dust from scrubbing the motors makes sense

[@MemelordSupreme]

a light scuff of 400 grit or 600 will also help open up the plastic a bit. If it's super glossy it's not going to penetrate as well from the get go

[@armandocardona6975]

Your acetone ratio changed due to boiling off of the solution. You could have prepared an acetone water pre soak without heat to prep the plastics. Then dipped into the acetone dye solution. Great look over all. The craftsman’s is my favorite one.

[@K8Stuff]

I do Wonder if it works better to start with cold water / acetone a s heat it up whilst the tools are in it.

[@kingjer125]

So im attempting to do this as my original acetone + Dye bath after 1 hour did not dye my plastics so after reading the comments I see that the acetone may have evaporated. I added another 8 oz safely while it was still hot and then covered it with a lid to see if the acetone can kinda stay. I also prepared a cold water + acetone bath to prepare the other plastics to see if this helps the process

[@KyanCruze]

@@kingjer125 how id it go? what were your results?

[@thechad7803]

Idk, I’ve been dying knife scales for years using vinegar instead of the acetone and I think it works better

[@rhiannonhooper]

Just white vinegar? I might try this

[@TheSek-]

Uau. I’m not the only mad. I’m changing all of my gears to the black decker only to have the chromatic orange all over. In my second house, in Sardinia, only bosh green! ❤

[@Blackdynasty123]

I would absolutely buy that blacked out impact

[@Maximusrex4575]

If you ever do this again get a large 15-20 qt Canning pot. A large shallow tray allows all your heat and acetone to escape easier.

[@francoisg3009]

Get yourself these Makita subcompact impact and drill. I have both Dewalt and Makita and the subcompact is the go to.

[@joshuagrafton8781]

Like you I am a DeWalt fanboy. Try to only use DeWalt tools where possible. I even painted my shop black and yellow. But a Black Ops drill and driver combo set would totally take the cake.

[@Demorthus]

Tip for the future (I'm not a scientist or anything..), use chemical rated respirators & also some amount of eye protection (if you don't have air that's directly exhausting/venting, it's still present in the immediate area). Acetone will turn some plastics into a gooey slime & strip paint off metal like a cloth wiping a whiteboard with dry erase markers lol. The respirator you used is meant mostly for particulates (dust/filings/wood/sanding), but not for fumes - it's effectively just helping remove the odor because of the charcoal inside it, but not addressing the chemical part. Even though your shop seems adequately sized, I can't stress this enough, because there's a good chance that others that'll go out and try this may do so in essentially a small shed with limited (if any) airflow. In the end this is just info to help anyone looking to do something similar. You'll be safer & you'll also be able to do more (literally) when the next project comes around everything is set. Edit: As far as results go, the type of plastic(s) used is critical to understanding what results you're likely going to get. Chemically the reactions can go from 'ok', to 'its dissolved' lol. This is also why it's important to know & measure the exact amounts/ratios beforehand & adjust for things like evaporation during the process of heating it up (and how quickly you heat it).

[@Chrislk1986]

I worked for a small FRP pipe building company for 3 or 4 months back in the day. There were random buckets around filled with acetone, used for cleaning tools (and maybe a quick dip of the hands if you had a resin accident). I just remember someone threw a pair of scissors in there and they had these beefy plastic grips, when they took them out, those plastic grips were gone. lol

[@Demorthus]

@@Chrislk1986 Yup! That'll do it 😂

[@maxvanhaagen7009]

Maybe Sand the parts. You can see that the stain doesnt accur where there was stickers on the newer dewalt drill. So maybe there is some kind of coating that prohibits the paint from penitrating into the plastic

[@TonyVM775]

I also paint my dewalt tools! But because I’m a Pittsburgh Steelers fan I paint them black and yellow.

[@PREDATOR07]

I just finished the Makita da polisher in dark purple . Thanks dude for this very useful video

[@edward1937]

I like dewalt tools but getting tired of yellow. Switched to Bosch because they look cool and are just as amazing, even better. I gotta do this to my tools.

[@armandocardona6975]

The craftsman’s plastic is a tougher polymer that requires a higher concentration of acetone. Acetone eats at plastic so depending on plastics it will penetrate at different rates. I’ve held both tools in my hands and dewalt always had a much softer finish that felt better in hand compared to the harder plastics that cheaper tool manufactures use. They could also be softer to be able to handle drops better as harder plastics tend to crack when dropped.

[@Oakleyshooter]

Hey thats Cameron Niemela. He does some clean bike builds

[@WDMurphy]

Love the green lol, really worry it'll mess the rubber grips up faster.

[@rene7071]

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to soak the shells in a water-acetone mix before submerging it in the hot dye bath. This way yoou could achieve a higher dye temp and "open" the plastic shells without boiling off the acetone.

[@ryanbabros7981]

I'm guessing the tool bodies are made of ABS. I work with ASA, very similar. That Acetone for sure evaporates very quickly. Try a lid.

[@ZacBuilds]

Good tip, thanks!

[@MatiasV_PNW]

I'd buy it - special black out edition. I'd buy it every time.

[@R-C.]

Now add a few lasers, optics, grips and suppressors

[@keith_hudson]

Honestly the green is sick

[@ArpadBuildsThis]

Love it! You already saw my comment on patreon about painting the logo white, but other than that it looks so cool!

[@ZacBuilds]

Thanks Arpad! Always appreciate the support man

[@ArpadBuildsThis]

@@ZacBuilds actually looking at it now, the DCF886 is already rare enough already! They don’t make them anymore!

[@ZacBuilds]

@@ArpadBuildsThis Ya the DCF887 is better in pretty much everyway, and the DCF888 is also out too. I was shocked to see the DCF886 is like 6 or more years old!

[@ArpadBuildsThis]

@@ZacBuilds I actually recently got a set of Milwaukee drills on Black Friday, they were too good of a deal to pass up, and I’m thinking of dying them the exact same way! I’ll talk to you more on IG if I have any questions, but I’m planning on doing the exact same thing with those

[@ZacBuilds]

@@ArpadBuildsThis VERY CURIOUS to hear how that goes! I wonder if Milwaukee uses the same type of plastic as Dewalt.

[@jeffreytackett3922]

What this video has done for me is give me the idea to dye all my brother's tools hot pink some weekend while he's out of town. Ohhh, that's going to be good.

[@andreapittau5720]

I think I'll wait for my Husqvarna's warranty to end before I get it the black edition 🤫 good joob👍

[@elonwhite6628]

i love the dark green deWalt drill

[@CNTHINGS]

The impact looks super cool! I wish I could do something like this without voiding my warranties 😅

[@NoknOnDors]

Be interesting to try for some purple tools by putting a craftsman or Milwaukee in some blue dye if it could be found

[@attackonhumby]

im going to be using this method to help me turn toy pistols into film-set grade props. thank you for this video 👏🏽

[@Tartanbuddha]

Quick folllow up question - Have you had any issues with brittleness or cracking with the dyed plastics?

[@Zuchoho]

I'm not really a chemist, but the boiling point of acetone is lower than that of water, so the acetone was boiling off constantly thus making the dye less effective overtime, as you explained so well the acetone is wat lets the dye inside or the grain in the plastic. So maybe this would work better if you do it in batches, you put some parts in and let it for an hour and a half maybe, the you let it cool, add more acetone, and repeat. With the amount of dye that you use maybe you could repeat this process a couple of times, nice video! Personally I like my tools brightly colores so they're harder to lose 🤣🙏🏼 (Excuse my English please, it's not my first language 🙏🏼)

[@JasonMichaelKotarski]

I've been debadging my tools as well, if they want to start sponsoring, cool. Until then, I'll scrape, cut, pull, and grind them clean!!!

[@richdobbs6595]

I spray paint the cords of plug in tools, so that I can see which is which when there is a tangle at the end of the extension cord. Given the risk of something going wrong with disassembly and reassembly, this seems like a project that I will never get around to.

[@pflegefachkraft7595]

Exchanging the housing to wood would be right up my alley… I wouldn’t have the skills and knowledge to pull something like that off. I really hate rubbery grips

[@jacksondunphey2620]

This reminds me of taking apart nerf guns and painting them when I was a kid. Now I want to make my Milwaukee black 😂

[@user-eh7pl9gx6m]

Check the pan, in one shot it look like the lining was green as it peeled away from the acetone during the boiling

[@DominickPeluso]

The local guy who steals catalytic converters is going to love this

[@DeWaltjunkie]

Did you think about spraying with black bed liner and you wouldn’t have to worry about dropping

[@Ensirum]

Hikoki also does special coloured versions of their tools, Metabo HPT does not for some odd reason.

[@PREDATOR07]

I like how the red came out kinda like red phantom.

[@TheRockofEasyCo]

I love the green

[@BrandonHinojosa]

Super dope Zac, I might give this a go now! Thanks for sharing

[@dananichols48]

U can buy any color makita shell you want, it does suck no one has made a replacement

[@TrevorWilliamsIsAgodDamnBoss]

Hey, Try poly dye. I'd give I dye poly brand a try or Pro chemical and dye brand. I use those on all sorts of colored plastics for frisbees. Hope you give this another go.

[@kingjer125]

Im trying this now with some car parts, my intitial run with water + dye + 10oz of acetone didnt really do much after a hour so I added more acetone and waiting to see. I prepared a cold bath of acetone and water with the other pieces to see if that does the trick! Will update soon!

[@alansnchz]

anything jer?

[@TheVanillaGorilla93]

I wonder how the rubber on the grips is gonna hold up. I know grease, fuel, and oil basically disintegrates my power tools so soaking them in Acetone basically seems like the same thing? Unless im stupid and Acetone doesnt eat rubber or the adhesive holding the rubber to the plastic. When anything Safety Yellow comes out from Snap-On, I scoop that bad boy up cause they're so easy to find

[@chronokoks]

Aaaaa I thought I was the only one modifying my tools like this :D damn!

[@thegermansherlock9845]

What’s about the warranty? I don’t know if you said something about this, but I think DeWalt will not change your tool if it’s broken/defect. 😮

[@ZacBuilds]

This definitely voids you warranty. But this tool is also 7-8 years old

[@SpencleyDesignCo]

i've always been told that deeper penetration is always prefered

[@coreydavoll7622]

😂😂😂

[@evanhoover]

Oh Eric! You need an explicit tag on this comment now!

[@xap95]

That's what she said. (replying to OP)

[@ZacBuilds]

Really? I keep hearing "it's OK, I don't like big ones anyways" 🤔

[@xap95]

@@ZacBuilds Don't listen to the voices, they're not real 😌

[@jerrywhidby.]

This has me wondering if you could use the Ritz dye remover with the acetone to remove the original color, so that you can use lighter colored dyes.

[@ZacBuilds]

Damn good question!

[@roberth3793]

That wouldn’t work because the plastic is colored all the way through.

[@coolcoolercoolest212]

I wonder if you could mask areas to do like black yellow hazard stripes or something.

[@iambear.6526]

You just made your tools harder to find 🤣 Looks cool though

[@emmettturner9452]

My tools may be boring but at least they still have warranty and resale value. ;) This is still awesome though!

[@jakubharwacki]

8:50 min, you got problem to heat it more because boiling point of acetone is around 130 degrees Fahrenheit. When your mixture heated up it means you boiled out acetone and it's mostly water.

[@therealtttjt]

You should dye your table saw too!

[@danielmichalka2648]

i would put white paint on dewalt lettering

[@drewfrizzlexd2273]

I've been tempted to get that purple mikita ngl.

[@ZacBuilds]

We've all been tempted..

[@ericjames8655]

Pretty awesome man good job !

[@jimmyjames5001]

I use DeWalt also. Did you know that Dewalt is actually Black and Decker under a different color. Owned by B&D, they just added something new to their lineup up after their stocks tanked it was called.... You guessed it "Dewalt" and changed orange to yellow. (For the power color)😮

[@jamest3188]

i have the white storm trooper version of makitas drill and impact they are so dope looking

[@The_Chad_]

Any time I've dyed plastic like this and the dye wouldn't take, I would just add more dye and keep the plastic in longer. I've went 48hrs before, but have always got the results I wanted eventually.

[@danhenderson783]

Hikoki has been making various colored versions tools for as long as Makita. Known as Metbo HPT in North America.

[@xap95]

Yeah HiKoki are my favorite coloured tools but they have really dropped their quality since the Hitachi-Koki combination entered the brand name. Like my dad has a 10 year old Hitachi impact wrench and it's still going hard, but a guy at my work got a HiKoki equivalent this year and had to send it back within a month. There have been many similar situations reported sadly.

[@coreydavoll7622]

Those look awesome!!!

[@ZacBuilds]

Thanks Corey! Appreciate it man 😘

[@xeress]

I wonder how that process would look on Ryobi tools?

[@carlgoetzinger6876]

I am 100% going to do this.

[@JT-fk6ht]

Awesome work man!!!

[@ZacBuilds]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@erik365365365]

Come looking for this vid from a short, Subbed for your shorts, now I realize I shoulda been subbed for the vids!

[@erik365365365]

And you’re in Canada🙌🏻

[@Lee-lb9qh]

Cool idea, I would like some blacked out DeWALT tools, but these ones looked better with their original color

[@jacksmith2315]

The first one he put in that came out all black looks good. The second one that came out greenish, not so much in my opinion. I dont think i would have put the stickers back on though. It kinda does look more factory, but doesnt really match/go well

[@Lee-lb9qh]

@@jacksmith2315 ya first one looked better

[@naratouzumaki]

I think as the time went on and you put the other DeWalt piece in there some of the acetone might of boiled off so it might have not penetrated it as much

[@chocol8milkman750]

This is great for the environment... What's you do with the accetone dye mixture?

[@spycedezynuk]

Drink it obviously

[@roberth3793]

All that acetone probably boiled off or evaporated. Acetone evaporates very quickly.

[@trtrvdcv]

FYI you can buy the dye at Walmart too

[@d1986ben]

I use a cnc laser to put my name and company logo on my power tools. Turns out nice and my tools don’t grow legs

[@NickLavic]

DeWalt's lower end batteries are already completely black so, ironically, in an attempt to make your battery look more premium, it actually looks cheaper. I would have kept the battery yellow and just dye the tool itself. The green DeWalt looks great, even if it wasn't what you were going for.