Does Kydex Damage Micarta?

[MatthewSB]

I made a perfect sheath for my green canvas micarta handled Bravo 1 in 3V. After a few months of use I can see where the micarta is wearing around the corners towards the blade. It's not significant yet, just some minor wear marks, but I'm concerned about my handle in the long term.

I made sure to round the edges good and sand them smooth on the .093" kydex before it was done.

Is this normal?

(I'll post pictures in a bit...)

 

[theHobbyist]

Sounds like you didn't tape the handle, or didn't tape it enough, I've found that 2 layers of the blue painters tape is a minimum. But yes, to answer you're questions I do believe that in the long term it will.

I would say the wear is coming from the inside of the sheath, not the edges... but I can't say for sure with out seeing it.

 

[Tbaggin]

I think it polishes the contact areas more than damage. Just my experience. When I make sheaths be if I use tape it goes on the blade to prevent scratches. Honestly I don't mind the scratches, my knives like added character and all are users.

 

[MatthewSB]

Sounds like you didn't tape the handle, or didn't tape it enough, I've found that 2 layers of the blue painters tape is a minimum. But yes, to answer you're questions I do believe that in the long term it will.

I would say the wear is coming from the inside of the sheath, not the edges... but I can't say for sure with out seeing it.

I've never heard of anyone taping the handle before.

I was under the impression that the general consensus was to tape the blade to prevent scratches, but have the kydex grab the handle so it does not wobble around.

 

[Grease]

Micarta won't take damage from Kydex, I can guarantee that. The friction might be polishing the handle - I've seen that happen on Esee knives before.

But Micarta is way too tough to be chipped, scratched or worn away by plastic. You can make wood splitting wedges out of it that'll last for dozens, if not hundreds of uses.

 

[theHobbyist]

I've never heard of anyone taping the handle before.

I was under the impression that the general consensus was to tape the blade to prevent scratches, but have the kydex grab the handle so it does not wobble around.

The tape does more than prevent damage. you don't want it so snug that your knife does not deploy (I've done that a few times). None of my kydex sheaths have any wobble and I use a couple of layers of tape on it. I've also made the mistake of cutting the wrong place and not having any retention at all... and there was lots of handle coverage... I guess that part depends on the shape of the scales.

In any case, some pictures of the damage and the sheath would be helpful.

 

[MatthewSB]

Again, I'm not that worried about this, just curious if I'm the only one whose ever seen this:

 

[Tbaggin]

It can always be sanded to a polish look again. I believe the BRKT scales and kydex are semi-mass produced so there would be some odd wear spots. Ive seen this, your situation isn't odd. Like I said, I'd hit it up with some 2000 grit or similar

 

[theHobbyist]

Very lightly dampen a paper towel with some mineral oil and rub, it might go away... I've seen this on one of my knives where the scales were coming into contact with some unfinished bits of Kydex.

Can you feel it with your fingers? If so take a good look at where the scale meets the Kydex, look for abnormalities. It might not be right at the leading edge it may be deeper if the sheath is molded to that area of the knife.

 

[Justin King]

The kydex will wear on sharp corners that protrude and make hard contact when inserting/drawing the knife. This will happen quickly when the corner has a sharp edge but the wear will stabilize once the corner has rounded off a bit. If it bothers you you can use fine grit (400-600) sandpaper and rub down the hard contact points on the scales just a bit. The wear will never stop completely but once the contact areas are smoothed out a bit it will slow dramatically.

 

[MatthewSB]

Thanks for all of the replies guys.

I've been using this knife quite a bit lately and the worn edges are smoothing out just like JK said.

This is a user knife, I'm not going to worry about it. If it ever gets real bad I'm confident BRKT will take care of me.

 

[summit2g]

Yeah It will most likely just start to polish that edge. It shouldn't chip it unless it is hitting the edge of the kydex. If it is just rubbing the flat inside of the kydex from sliding in and out it should be ok. Once it breaks in it should be ok. I never put tape on the handles. I think if you put tape on the handle it won't click into place. It might be a loose fit.
Give it some time.
Post pics of the sheath as well.
Joe

Again, I'm not that worried about this, just curious if I'm the only one whose ever seen this:

 

[Woodrow F Call]

The harder surface will wear the weaker surface. Kydex is kinda hard.... probably harder than micarta. It's probably best to relieve the edges where they contact. Most kydex sheaths I see seem to only contact the blade.