2011 Archive

[Kiah]

but it made my day .

Very (very) rough as it was my first go, and the design is just some random punch on the shelf (I think it's a flower ). Been trying to figure out a way to tool kydex easily and finally got it. Chemical etching works, as I demonstrated already, but only on the smooth side and I wanted to use the textured side, so I decided to try something else. Need to work on the smoothness obviously, but for a first shot it's promising. This method let's me do any design I want with only about ten minutes set up time. Depth can be controlled. I can sink it in (which obviously causes some burning as you can see), raise it slightly, or just lay the pattern down as a subtle shade change. Very sweet.

 

[HikingMano]

Awesome :thumbup:

 

[Kiah]

Awesome :thumbup:

Thanks, Russell. Very rough right now, but very promising from a few straight line tests. Gonna do a few test sheaths this weekend to really test it out. One cool thing is that the pattern can be laid out before or after forming.

Oh, and those asymmetrical custom bolt sheaths in the picture are now available for $199.99 each for a limited time only. You know you want one.

 

[HikingMano]

Ah, yes, the before-or-after thing must add some nice technical versatility.


How did you know I needed one of those? Quite a steal at $199.99... And with the "I think it's a flower" to top it off... Inconceivable!

 

[Kiah]

Ah, yes, the before-or-after thing must add some nice technical versatility.


How did you know I needed one of those? Quite a steal at $199.99... And with the "I think it's a flower" to top it off... Inconceivable!

The flower (I'm just gonna call it a flower for now. For that matter, why do I have a flower punch? Maybe it's a ghost shooting fire out of it's butt. ) is $49.99 extra. We can discuss payment plans.

 

[HikingMano]

Shucks, knew it was too good to be true... definitely have to be on a plan then, I can't pass on such awesome rorshach-ish work....

 

[Kiah]

Thought I'd add this. Thread title still applies.

New dye testing. Came up with a different application method. Textured side this time (woohoo). The vein background effect is a problem (though kinda neat looking). I'm fairly certain of how to fix it. If it works, we'll have crisp clean dyed in graphics. If not, I'll just claim I made it that way on purpose (It's not seepage, it's fire. )

 

[Kiah]

Alrighty, harder than I thought, so switching back to the smooth side for now. More work, but I can live with it. A little oversaturated, but getting cleaner. Progressing a bit at a time.

 

[Kiah]

Okay, no pics ATM, but just using this thread as a record at this point.

Changed the dye recipe a bit, adding an extra (time consuming) step as well. Outcome is super crisp bright graphics ON THE TEXTURED SIDE . Oh, and transitional fading of the graphic. Takes about a half hour this way as opposed to a half minute the other, but the result is freakin' awesome.

 

[HikingMano]

looking forward to seein the results :thumbup:

 

[Kiah]

A typical order conversation:

-iheartkittens@isp.com emails me asking about a sheath, usually without giving more than a first name.

-I email them back a price and we figure out the details they want.

-Between 5 minutes and a month later I get a PP payment (often from a different email address) or MO in the mail with absolutely zero information other than their addy and maybe the model of knife the sheath is for.

Now consider that several of these are occurring at once. It's mindnumbing trying to put things together and way too much time is being spent on it.

Now if you're one of the guys or gals who are innocent of this, then please ignore. It's not meant for you.

For those that believe I'm psychic or greatly overestimate the capacity of my memory, a few tips:

-When you pay with PP, there is a note section when you fill out the form. Use it. And make sure your addy is up to date while you're at it.

-When you pay by MO, write or print out your order and include it. Also include your email and/or phone number so I can get ahold of you if needed.

-Include details. Just writing "For Swick sheath" or "per our emails" is useless. State what the sheath is for, color, carry options, any special requests, shipping options, etc. in a note included with payment.

-If you're sending PP from a different email addy than your other emails (a lot of times multiple already), make a note of that in the payment.

-If you're sending in knives, attach a note to each one with specifics for that knife. While I am a knife nut, a lot of blades come in sterile or are customs and I can't place them without research, so when 5 knives come in together with one note (if that), it's a bit of work determining which is which. Even with non-customs it's a bit daunting sometimes. I don't know Busse models to tell most apart, so when several come in with a note that reads "... on the FHHFHV, ... on the CVNBUK, ...on the RTFIIOO, etc." it requires me to to start figuring out what all that means. Off topic, but on shipping knives, please package your knives reasonably. The next time I pick up a box from the PO and hear steel clinging against steel, I'm just gonna refuse to take it.

Hopefully this will help speed up orders and lessen my confusion a bit.

Thanks,
Kiah

 

[HikingMano]

Good ground rules :thumbup:

I've been slacking on a lot of this myself lately

 

[Kiah]

Good ground rules :thumbup:

I've been slacking on a lot of this myself lately

Nah, you're cool. Mainly meant for those sending me zero info with payments.

On a side note, should have your Condor on it's way home the beginning of next week.

To anyone else wondering, without me starting a new thread, yes I'm alive and still making sheaths. And yes, I've got some awesome stuff coming up that I really need to get pics up of. And yes, I need to get the website done (again). I'm currently having to move a family member's business while clearing out, fixing, and repopulating a burnt out house, so I'm a bit preoccupied and dead tired, so it may take me a bit to get back to emails and whatnot and I'm gonna be in and out of the forum for a bit. All is cool though, and like I said, cool things are coming, as soon as I can get to 'em.

 

[HikingMano]

Right on, I look forward to the condor and pics of the new stuff :thumbup:

Good luck with dealing with the fire aftermath.

 

[Kiah]

Good luck with dealing with the fire aftermath.

Yeah, it's a mess. My Mom's house. According to the fire marshal, a faulty air conditioner caused it. Luckily she was staying at my sister's to babysit and wasn't home in bed at the time.

 

[HikingMano]

That IS lucky. Wow.

Is it completely gutted? I hope she is insured.

 

[Kiah]

That IS lucky. Wow.

Is it completely gutted? I hope she is insured.

The house is stone and block (inner walls as well), so it's structurally sound other than parts of the roof supports which are charcoal now. Ceilings down in places, everything plastic is melted into everything else and combustibles are mostly combusted in a few rooms. Wiring and plumbing are toast obviously. Fire department got there before the fire spread to the back of the house but the heat was still enough to melt and blister everything.

Yep, everything's insured, though they're confusing the bejesus out of everyone as much as they can and making it as difficult as possible and since the house is mortgaged, the mortgage company is controlling the insurance money at the moment (and between the two of 'em, it's headache inducing trying to figure out what's going on). Still attempting to work out labor, so just doing what I can myself until then.

 

[mr2blue]

I feel your pain my brother.

 

[HikingMano]

Man, that's a seriously crappy deal. Well, at least one one was hurt, and everything's insured.

Good luck getting everything sorted and getting the rebuild going. :thumbup:

 

[Kiah]

Put these up on the exchange, but then figured I might as well actually use this forum for selling something as well as rambling on about nothing and make use of that pretty little "Available!" prefix I pestered Spark to death for.

So ...

Sheaths for the Swick 2. Have 2 Black (.093), 2 Carbon fiber (.093), 2 Desert Digi-cam (.093), 1 Orange, 1 Gray, and 1 Red pre-made and ready to ship.

These are gonna be $25 shipped with chains, $24 without chain.

Sheaths are set up for neck carry, paracord carry for belt or pack, large/mini TL, Spyderco G-Clip, etc. Thumb release also acts as a release catch for pocket carry.

PayPal addy is kiah@customkydex.com as always.