1/8" Thick Kydex

I recall Ed Halligan made some nice small tactical neckers with thick kydex scales and matching sheaths. Lightweight, stable, and comes with it's own texture... I thought they were very cool.
 
I saw a pic of a Busse apprentice blade recently on the Busse forum that used Kydex scales. I thought they were ugly, although he did a decent job with them. They just look, well, plastic. You can get thicker Kydex than that, too. All the way up to at least 1/2 or 3/4" thick, I think. I have a sample thingie from the manufacturer and the sky's the limit.
 
I've used 1/8" thick kydex for large khukuri sheaths.
 
It's ridiculous all right. I've got a good amount of the stuff too. This has a redwood burl pattern on it, actually very nice looking, just thick.....
 
Do you have any pictures of it that you can post? I am working on some non-damascus folders/autos and that might be a good material for the scales.
 
Not THAT ridiculous :)

I don't think your going to get the same type of snap fit you get with normal kydex though. Once you get into the .090" stuff there isn't much give to it. Don't need many rivets to keep it closed. Its also difficult to mold without having it heated just right and a lot of pressure on your press.
I have a feeling something 30% thicker is going to be a real PITA to mold, and once its set its going to be more like a PVC or hard plastic sheath than what we normally see with kydex.
Its worth a try though :)
 
I am doing these sheaths in .125" . No big deal to working. With a decent press you can get all the detail that you can in .06" but with alot more rigidity. So for things like breakfront and skeletol style sheaths its ideal.
 

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It won't rivet using standard rivets....tried that at Tom Krein's shop. Too thick. I used it as a liner for a leather sheath, actually. Just drilled holes through all 4 layers. Worked great that way.
 
Did you have to modify your pattern to get the retention right? Seems like a pattern for .090 or especially .060 would never let go if you made it from material that much stiffer.
I like .090" a lot better than .060" Now you got me wondering about going thicker since you say its not much different to mold.
 
.125 is all I use for my larger sheaths, works fine if you give it time.
Heat it untill you start to smell it and when you wrap your piece give it some extra time to cool. Thicker material takes longer but will give a good mold if you crank down the vice and leave it alone.

Try to catch it just before it starts to shrink from the heat. Those who work with Kydex know what I mean.
 
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hey..I have 3/16" stuff in the shop. Came accross a piece so I grabbed it. Havent used it by Laredo7mm your welcome to some.
Email me what you need.....
 
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