Custom Concealex Sheath for the Becker Necker? Suggestions?

Codger_64 said:
I won't be offended at all by your suggestions. I am not a sheathmaker and don't even play one on TV! I don't know the process of Kydex bending well enough to understand what design elements work and what doesn't.

I am just not a neck carrier or a "paracord guy", and tried to think of a sheath design that didn't "require" cords and was composed of the fewest pieces to be simple to make, slim and unobtrusive on the belt.
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Well, your design, is good in that it solves the problems that you identified. But it creates other problems, mostly in manufacture. The flat plat on the back does not make for a secure sheath, and that design would require like 3 heats, for one piece of material, which can really be a problem, because any successive heat can ruin what you did with the previous heat(s). And same with the integral firesteel carrier. Then again, maybe there is some thermo-form magician out there who will be able to do those...

I think I can solve your issues with the stock Camillus sheath, but if I were to do it, the FireSteel would be mounted to the front on a thin plate. And I would use a dropper.

Best,
Marion
 
Marion David Poff said:
Well, your design, is good in that it solves the problems that you identified. But it creates other problems, mostly in manufacture. The flat plat on the back does not make for a secure sheath, and that design would require like 3 heats, for one piece of material, which can really be a problem, because any successive heat can ruin what you did with the previous heat(s). And same with the integral firesteel carrier. Then again, maybe there is some thermo-form magician out there who will be able to do those...

I think I can solve your issues with the stock Camillus sheath, but if I were to do it, the FireSteel would be mounted to the front on a thin plate. And I would use a dropper.

Best,
Marion
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments Marion! Your experience in thermoforming has allowed you to identify problems with my rough design that had not occured to me. The design flaws you pointed out could be overcome with creative forming methods? More complicated than would be commercially viable?

Ooooohhh! I LOVE a good challenge! I have absolutely no experience with thermoforming plastics but I do have years of experience with injection molding a wide variety of plastics. Before my factory was moved to China, I was a plastics manufacturing process engineer (Grills and other parts for GM, Chrysler, Nissan, etc.)

With injection molding, such problems are overcome by using zone heating and cooling. Zone controlled steel injection molds are way too expensive to consider here, much less the injection machine (some were the size and weight of a locomotive). But your type of manufacturing uses molds too, right? Just with an independant heat source and air cooling?

I'll see what I can come up with, but I am thinking of a multistep molding process with multiple molds. From my cursory search, most cottage maker molds are made from thin wood which is cheap and easy to cut, and not expensive to alter or scrap when a design doesn't work.

The relative flatness of the bare metal BK11 handle "uncomplicates" the molding somewhat in my mind's eye, in that one might use the actual knife (or an unground blank) as the internal part of the mold rather than having to make up an accurate plug. I can see where a lot of modern handle materials (such as TPR) might be damaged by the needed heat, but this Necker has none.

Thank you again for your comments! You've given me a lot to consider!:thumbup:

Michael
 
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