- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
I just wanted to put a small "warning" out to amateur/first-time dabblers in the black art of sheathmaking. I have been seeing a lot of advice, most notably in the latest issue of Tactical Knives magazine, that I find disagreeable and wanted to give my own spin to it all. The biggest problem I have is the recommendation of temperatures for forming the material. I have seen instructions for heating the Kydex to 300-350 degrees F and higher for up to 15-20 minutes (see Tactical Knives latest issue) and I see that as either a misprint or a huge oversight.
First of all, there are dozens of different types of Kydex, some of which are more resistant to heating than others. I heat Kydex 100 to 225-250 in a preheated oven until it is pliable (about 3-5 minutes), then move it dorectly to my knife and "sandwich mold". I get great molds and the sheaths are cool in a few minutes so I am ready to move to later steps quickly. I can't imagine what this stuff would be like if I left it at 350 for 20 minutes! I don't think there would be anything left to mold! Also, some people will try to use Concealex like it is Kydex, and that is a big mistake. I left a sheet of Concealex in the oven the other day at 225 for about 10 minutes and when I opened it the stuff had begun to melt between the spaces in the rack, and was all gooey. Concealex is a great material to work with, but you must understand that, although it looks and acts a lot like Kydex, it is a virgin polymer and, therefore, has different physical properties, so it needs to be worked in a different way.
So, try lower temps FIRST to see what you can get away with. There is no advantage to higher working temps, and it simply ruins your molding pads faster and requires more wasted time during cooling.
The other thing I had a problem with in the Tactical Knives article was that it seemed like the hardest possible way to do the project. The finished sheath sure wasn't the same one that started as a rectangle from that dummy mold they used! Also, the one-piece folded-over sheath is a lot easier to make for an amateur than the two-piece type. You DO NOT need to use glue on the sheath, and it does not add an appreciable amount of strength to it. They put a million rivets and eyelets in that monstrosity...do you really think the thin layer of glue would resist the forces that would tear these asunder and render the sheath useless? All it adds is time and expense to a project that is MUCH, MUCH simpler. Another tip they give is to make a wooden dummy mold if the handles are heat-sensitive polymers. It is true, even at my relatively low working temps I can and have ruined Kraton handle inserts on a Moran, but I also learned this can be totally avoided by wrapping the handle in aluminum foil with the SHINY SIDE OUT (thanks to <a href = "http://www.perkinsknives.com">Sean Perkins</a> for that tip). Would you spend days carving a replica of a knife out of wood or rather use a strip of foil?
Kydex belt loops work fabulously IF THEY ARE DESIGNED PROPERLY. I disagreed with the author on his generalization that webbing or leather is more desirable. I'm sure there are more things I could point out but I don't have the mag in front of me, so I think you get the picture, anyway.
I generally like TK, and it seems to be a fairly good magazine. I have some other gripes, such as FREQUENT misspellings in the articles and titles, the requirement that any knife pictured in TK muct be a "tactical" knife even if it clearly is not, etc, but by and large it is a good mag with pretty solid reviews. I do, however, feel that there were better people to resource for the article, a better sheath that was 100 times cooler looking and way more functional could have been made a LOT easier, and the advice could've been better researched. Any disagreements?
------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
[This message has been edited by Chiro75 (edited 11 October 1999).]
First of all, there are dozens of different types of Kydex, some of which are more resistant to heating than others. I heat Kydex 100 to 225-250 in a preheated oven until it is pliable (about 3-5 minutes), then move it dorectly to my knife and "sandwich mold". I get great molds and the sheaths are cool in a few minutes so I am ready to move to later steps quickly. I can't imagine what this stuff would be like if I left it at 350 for 20 minutes! I don't think there would be anything left to mold! Also, some people will try to use Concealex like it is Kydex, and that is a big mistake. I left a sheet of Concealex in the oven the other day at 225 for about 10 minutes and when I opened it the stuff had begun to melt between the spaces in the rack, and was all gooey. Concealex is a great material to work with, but you must understand that, although it looks and acts a lot like Kydex, it is a virgin polymer and, therefore, has different physical properties, so it needs to be worked in a different way.
So, try lower temps FIRST to see what you can get away with. There is no advantage to higher working temps, and it simply ruins your molding pads faster and requires more wasted time during cooling.
The other thing I had a problem with in the Tactical Knives article was that it seemed like the hardest possible way to do the project. The finished sheath sure wasn't the same one that started as a rectangle from that dummy mold they used! Also, the one-piece folded-over sheath is a lot easier to make for an amateur than the two-piece type. You DO NOT need to use glue on the sheath, and it does not add an appreciable amount of strength to it. They put a million rivets and eyelets in that monstrosity...do you really think the thin layer of glue would resist the forces that would tear these asunder and render the sheath useless? All it adds is time and expense to a project that is MUCH, MUCH simpler. Another tip they give is to make a wooden dummy mold if the handles are heat-sensitive polymers. It is true, even at my relatively low working temps I can and have ruined Kraton handle inserts on a Moran, but I also learned this can be totally avoided by wrapping the handle in aluminum foil with the SHINY SIDE OUT (thanks to <a href = "http://www.perkinsknives.com">Sean Perkins</a> for that tip). Would you spend days carving a replica of a knife out of wood or rather use a strip of foil?
Kydex belt loops work fabulously IF THEY ARE DESIGNED PROPERLY. I disagreed with the author on his generalization that webbing or leather is more desirable. I'm sure there are more things I could point out but I don't have the mag in front of me, so I think you get the picture, anyway.
I generally like TK, and it seems to be a fairly good magazine. I have some other gripes, such as FREQUENT misspellings in the articles and titles, the requirement that any knife pictured in TK muct be a "tactical" knife even if it clearly is not, etc, but by and large it is a good mag with pretty solid reviews. I do, however, feel that there were better people to resource for the article, a better sheath that was 100 times cooler looking and way more functional could have been made a LOT easier, and the advice could've been better researched. Any disagreements?
------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
[This message has been edited by Chiro75 (edited 11 October 1999).]
-RadarMan-(<
