I am building a blue blank and wanted to see if their was an easy process to change the color of a finished reel seat insert. I have a prefinished light maple reel seat insert it almost looks white and I wanted to color it blue. What process would you use?
Here's what I thought:
1) sand the finish off the insert--but how much?
2) soak the insert in coloring solution (RIT)--how long?
3) let the insert dry--again how long?
4) resand and refinish

Turn it down a bit (.030) , wrap it with thread ( close to your intended color) , and give it a coat of epoxy with pigment of your color choice . There is an artical in one of the Rodmaker mags ,or you can have Putter marble it for you too . JD

Got Fish ?

Personally, I thing marbleing would be the way to go. I have marbled several and really liked them
Do like John said

Mike

Is the wood insert completely round or is it mortised? If it's completely round, you can do as John recommended or sand it enough to remove the finish and then use one of the commercially available tinted stains. I don't know for sure, but I don't think Rit dye will do the job. If it's mortised, you can still sand it down, but it will be a lot harder to get all the finish off.

Maybe grab a scrap piece of the same wood and try the dye on it?

I know a few guys who dye their inserts, and they swear by leather dyes (of the sort shoemakers would use). Haven't tried it myself, though.