A day with the mad scientist, or "My second kydex sheath attempt."

DerekH

DerekH

Handsome According to my Mother
Moderator
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
6,118
So, yesterday I headed over to hang out with the Mad Scientist, my culinary advisor, ThePointyEnd, and we set out to do some tinkerin. Started off with getting some belts for his belt sander, and then some lunch, then we got to work. Way back when I got ahold of a spare chunk of 1075 from Aldo that was pretty large, and Pointy had need of steel, so we put two and two together and said what the heck, might as well use this stuff. Those projects are still far from complete, but I got a couple of pics of Pointy grinding on steel, which is always fun times!

8019328794_9a5497426a_b.jpg


8019329338_f1347a54c4_b.jpg


More to the point, and more to what I was hoping to accomplish, we got to finish up my second kydex sheath for my BK16. I had tried previously with the Major to get one finished up just the way I wanted it, but managed to screw that up. I have since learned from my mistakes.

Old one on the left, new one on the right.

8019329082_2ac3514747_b.jpg


And here it is after a little bit of TLC after I got home.

8019329650_e3d6989e32_b.jpg


8019330014_0671e6b4fd_b.jpg


8019325159_7711ab7790_b.jpg


8019325441_455b59c324_b.jpg


8019331108_796363f926_b.jpg


8019328490_9cdd737bfb_b.jpg


All in all, had ourselves a pretty productive day!
 
Thanks! It is amazing the difference proper tools makes. Drill press and belt sander FTW!
 
Holy smokes D, that thing rocks! That turned out better than I had imagined.
 
That sheath looked nice even before you cleaned it up, now it's a thing of wonder.
It's always fun hanging out with D, but getting to see how this whole kydex thing comes together was real neat. :thumbup:
 
That looks like a solid sheath. Looks very strong, simple, functional and symmetrical. Very good 2nd take!

I've been thinking about giving this a try. I ordered some thinner kydex (your looks like .93?) a few days ago.
 
Looks great, we definitely could use another bender around here. I wanna see how that chunk of steel turns out too!
 
Thanks for the kind words folks!

As with anything, I tend to go full bore once I get into it, so it was nice to finally have that project marked off the to-do list. Among the things I learned were these:

1. I cannot drill holes in a straight line no matter how clearly I mark them with a sharpie. I can however drill holes in a straight line pretty easily when I print out and apply a blueprint for the hole layout. Also, use a tiny drill bit first, then switch to a quarter inch one.

2. Cutting the edges off straight and square is difficult at best without a band saw or similar device, however if you have access to a belt sander, that issue is quickly negated.

3. I started by folding over the kydex at the end (towards the tip of the blade) clamshell style. Leave that folded bit to hold everything together until you have finished everything else (drilling the holes, cutting the edges, etc...) then remove it and square everything up, but only if you have the pieces held firmly in place, otherwise, they will slip all over the place.
 
Even the first one looks pretty good, but the second one is of professional quality... Very nice job.. also just learned what those rubber washers are for that came with the Tek Lok..
 
DerekH said:
3. I started by folding over the kydex at the end (towards the tip of the blade) clamshell style. Leave that folded bit to hold everything together until you have finished everything else (drilling the holes, cutting the edges, etc...) then remove it and square everything up, but only if you have the pieces held firmly in place, otherwise, they will slip all over the place.
Click to expand...

Very clever.

Good looking sheath.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top