Carbon fiber - Kevlar sheath

N

Natlek

Joined
Jun 9, 2015
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So , I make some Kydex stile sheath from PVC and I was thinking can I use same press to make sheath from carbon fiber cloth or from Kevlar ? Of course cold process , press is just to make shape . I search little and almost nothing found .Only this topic , but he did not explain clear how he make them and they look ugly ? I have no idea what and how he done that ....

Carbon Fiber and Carbon+Kevlar BK2 and BK11 Sheaths

Here's my first try at making some carbon fiber and carbon+kevlar sheaths for my BK2 and BK11. I got the idea by watching some kaydex vids on youtube and thought, why not? I still need to install some eyelets on these and put on a finish, but so far they've turned out pretty good for my first...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
So I try that my self with Kevlar . Piece I used is very damaged , I cut it from piece I use to wrap small bearing before I break them with hammer /I need that small balls/ so sheath/mold don t look good .This is ballistic Kevlar cloth , woven very tightly and i have doubt that it will stretch enough to follow shape of knife but seems that it works excellent . With carbon fiber cloth would be more easy.
On my pictures is only one layer of Kevlar , for real sheath it will need at least five layer .I decide to not use an insulator between the two parts , I do this just to see if i can get nice shape as with PVC . Of course soon i will try to make sheath from new Kevlar and I will make it from two part separated so I can line the inside with something / to protect edge from Kevlar/ and to use that hollow rivets whatever you call them . Impossible to drill clean holes in Kevlar , but they will be covered with rivets so no problem from that side .I ordered some carbon cloth so i will try that too.
Lot of work ,time , probably expensive to make if you pay for material but will look so cool :) so I have no doubt that someone would pay the price to have one ......
So what do you think , why there are no sheath like this ? Price or work and time involved ?
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Interesting. What do you use as resin, epoxy ? You know that there is CF covered Kydex for the looks, right ? Your sheath will be lighter and harder though, and more difficult to adjust.

Also, but you must also know, make sure you use a mask when shaping/drilling/etc.
 
ferider said:
Interesting. What do you use as resin, epoxy ? You know that there is CF covered Kydex for the looks, right ? Your sheath will be lighter and harder though, and more difficult to adjust.

Also, but you must also know, make sure you use a mask when shaping/drilling/etc.
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I use epoxy which is intended for job like this one . Yes I see that carbon look kydex sheath , plastic is plastic :)Thanks about warning ,but i know with what I work :thumbsup:I make first fiberglass racing seat when i have fifteen years I guess ;)
https://shop1.r-g.de/art/104100AP
Lot of time for work and to get good soak to do job right , I need it for molding some carbon /kevlar handles on several other knives i work
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I shaped this sheath a bit and took a closer look . It can't be seen well in the picture, but there is pretty much dried epoxy inside. Exactly where the sheath starts to narrow for the blade.That is not good , it is just one layer , maybe i used more epoxy then i should but it can be big problem when i use four layers from side . So i try something else .......vacuum ? I improvised with an ordinary thin nylon bag and it works ! It shape dry Kevlar like it is soft cotton cloth ? What if I made a vacuum bag out of thin rubber, to avoid the possible creases/fold?? that a thin nylon bag would most likely make? If I have to sand it it will be a lot of extra work to get a nice finish in the end And vacuum would pull out not only air but also excess epoxy ?
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I prepared Kevlar for the first try, how I'm going to do I don't know yet .Most likely a vacuum in combination with a press ? BTW , Kevlar is very resistant to abrasion, it destroying blades as if they were made of wood . If i try this with 52100 the tip would withstand only a few clean cuts.This one is from M35 HSS steel will cut all day long .........
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I will unravel these remains and I plan to make some Kevlar marble scales out of them.
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I like your projects Natlek, I also have some R+G epoxy that I ordered for laminating CF and GF cloth to the ski bow. Keep us updated
 
FredyCro said:
I like your projects Natlek, I also have some R+G epoxy that I ordered for laminating CF and GF cloth to the ski bow. Keep us updated
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Tomorrow I will improvise with the inside tire from a car wheel . Just a knife inside to see how the tire will behave/shape under vacuum. I have a feeling this is the best way to do this .If it works I have pretty good clear idea how to make reusable vacuum tool with rubber on top and bottom .
This is what I will try tomorrow , just rubber
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eric brinkerhoff said:
Natlek has some cool ideas , doesn't he ?
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Thank you my friend :thumbsup:
I'm doing this so you don't have to do :) The fishing season is over here so I have more free time. And it doesn't cost me much , I get most of the materials for free .. service for service ;)
 
N Natlek I liked that very much..."now that fishing is over."

Losing the mobility to fish was a great loss in my life. I live a mile away from what was one of the great inland salmon and trout fisheries. Man, I miss a freezer full of salmon. Damned stuff's expensive! :)
Cherish it, and never pass up a chance if you're a fisherman! There's a saying in American English that goes, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day of anything else." I bet there's something like that in Macedonian, too. :)
 
fitzo said:
N Natlek I liked that very much..."now that fishing is over."

Losing the mobility to fish was a great loss in my life. I live a mile away from what was one of the great inland salmon and trout fisheries. Man, I miss a freezer full of salmon. Damned stuff's expensive! :)
Cherish it, and never pass up a chance if you're a fisherman! There's a saying in American English that goes, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day of anything else." I bet there's something like that in Macedonian, too. :)
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I'm sorry to hear that my friend .My heart is where that arrow point on first picture ,that is place where I charge my batteries .After two hours of driving through the mountains, where only a motorcycle can pass and a three-hour hike to get there ...........My son has been my companion for the last few years in that adventures , what more can a man want from life?
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N Natlek Thanks. I got to do a lot of fishing, so the fish get larger with each passing year. :) Miss my Harley, too, but that's a different story.

That is a beautiful set of mountains ( I live flat lands, farm country) and that spot would capture my heart, too. And the shared adventures with your son - as you say, what more could one want? Not much, but maybe a bigass catfish is a nice bonus, eh? 15kg perhaps? Nice fish.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Beautiful place , I once traveled trough Macedonia and I have some magical pictures of mountains and lake in the middle , captured in my memory. In what part of Macedonia is your special place if it's not a secret :)

And not to be completely offtopic - the sentence "I'm doing this so you don't have to do" describes my feelings about this project very accurately - it's something that looks cool and interesting to me but I hope I'll never have to do it :)
 
fitzo said:
N Natlek Thanks. I got to do a lot of fishing, so the fish get larger with each passing year. :) Miss my Harley, too, but that's a different story.

That is a beautiful set of mountains ( I live flat lands, farm country) and that spot would capture my heart, too. And the shared adventures with your son - as you say, what more could one want? Not much, but maybe a bigass catfish is a nice bonus, eh? 15kg perhaps? Nice fish.

Thanks for sharing!
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Good estimate , catch and release so no exact weight and who care about that .... About twenty years ago when my son was about four years old I took him there. On my shoulders, along with everything I need for him and fishing and camping equipment . It's always a tour of at least three days of camping and you need to carry all necessary .......food , drinking water .Not easy task to get there . No road , no phone signal , lot of snake /Vipera ammodytes/ so it can be dangerous and very few people go there . In these pictures he is the first time there since then, after 20 years .When we come there I ask him ........would you take your son here ? No chance ! And he tells me that Iā€™m crazy that I took him there when he was four years:eek:

 
Dimitar Popov said:
Beautiful place , I once traveled trough Macedonia and I have some magical pictures of mountains and lake in the middle , captured in my memory. In what part of Macedonia is your special place if it's not a secret :)

And not to be completely offtopic - the sentence "I'm doing this so you don't have to do" describes my feelings about this project very accurately - it's something that looks cool and interesting to me but I hope I'll never have to do it :)
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Most likely you think on Kozjak lake or Debar lake .Only that lake have road close to them . Or beautiful Ohrid lake maybe ?
This is on Black River , Tikves lake......
About this "I'm doing this so you don't have to do" I was more thinking on " I would make all mistake so you don t have to do them " :)
 
Looking at the map I think It was Kalimanci. I think we passed near the region of your lake too , on our way to Krushevo. Anyways , Macedonia is beautiful place , I hope that I'll visit it again soon :)

Ah yes , I understand what you had in mind now , For sure it will be of help for someone who decide to make something like that.
 
eric brinkerhoff said:
Natlek has some cool ideas , doesn't he ?
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Sheath would wait little , i need to make tool for vacuum .Handle is on menu;)
Well my friend , this time I have no idea how to do this..............
I prepared Kevlar for the first handle ,it will be puukko knife . I will use finished blade, tang in the mold and kevlar inside to make a handle around the tang. It has to come out perfect, sanding Kevlar after I take the handle out of the mold is out of the question , mission impossible.
I don t know what I should use for mold fiberglass resin , epoxy resin , silicone or what ? And most important i have no idea how to cut/split at half that mold after that ? I can t pull out wooden handle because of the shape so i must do that in place .If i use some kind of thin saw i will loose shape of handle ? Does anyone have any idea how to do this ? To use some peeler off between two part is hard to do, impossible ?
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I prepared Kevlar for this , more then I need , I hope :)
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PS. That is not complete mold , there are other part and whole thing would be done in vacuum .And if this work , my friend would make on CNC mold from aluminium .
 
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