I tried to reply to this last night, but it must not have taken...anyway, thanks for referncing my webpage. You'll see pics of my first sheath (Concealex) and also a long tutorial on exactly how I made it. The sheath is rough, but very functional, and using pretty mcu the same techniques I made a pouch type sheath for a larger knife that turned out really nicely. Get enough material for a few shaths so you can practice as well as have extra for screwing things up! The nice thing is if it is a total disaster, you can always rehat the material and start over, or if nothing else, reheat it, flatten it and use it for belt loop and things of that nature.
That said, I have made two sheaths from Kydex and one from Concealex, and I found Kydex to be the better material. I should try the Concealex again, though, as it was my first sheath and I know the technqiues for working it a lot better now. As was mentioned, Kydex comes in black, grey, and maybe a couple other plain colors while Concealex comes in a variety of camo pattersm carbon fiber, and many colors. It is also supposedly made especially for sheaths and holsters, although I do not know the technical differences between the materials. Both materials are very similar, and all techniques that pply to one work for the other.
One other thing I've learned is that for eyelets, there is a special tool for crimping the end over. I was an idiot and tried to do it with hammer and punch, and it didn't turn out too cool. The tools go for $14 in crafts stores and maybe cheaper in hardware stores. I prefer to use Chicago screws throughout my sheaths because you can removes them and open the sheath for cleaning, or you can add carry options down the road that you may not have originally though ot. Another good pointer from a design point of view would be to use a compass (the kind with needles on both ends) to mark the drill holes for hardware. This not only gives a nice symmetrical look to the sheath, but you can make one belt loop that can be changed around for vertical carry on thebelt, horizontal carry, handle up, handle down, angled carry,etc, and that same belt loop in the only one you need.
You'll see what to do, and more importantly, what NOT to do if you check out my webpage. I hop to have more pics up in a couple weeks, too, which will include some more current projects. There are a lot of good pointers, though, at that page that came about through experience, and some aren't all that abvious until you've screwed it up for yourself, so do yourself a favor and you'll save time and money! Let us know how the project turns out!
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http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
