Flaring the Throat of a Kydex Sheath???

[Marion David Poff]

Howdy,

How do you all flare the throat of a sheath?

I am looking for a way to do it after the main molding is done, I could maybe imagine doing it in the first molding, if you stuck something under the edge, but there has to be a better way...

Marion

 

[Martin Swinkels]

I leave the knife sheathed, and wrap everything, except the part to be molded, in a wet cloth to prevent the kydex you don't want to heat gets too hot. Then, preferably, use a heatgun from upclose, and away from the surrounding kydex to heat the part you want to mold.. when the kydex starts to relax, it's time to mold..

When you're doing a thumb-push it's very important not to influence retention..
to influence retention (make it looser very often) I heat the kydex, and when it's relaxed I slowly start to sheath and resheath the knife till I feel the kydex starts to stiffen.. Just before that I push the knife in completely, and, with the last remaining flexibility of the kydex, form the retention..
It takes some practice to get the hang of it, and very often you have to do things over again, but after a while things will go much easier..

To make the final mold in one time it's very well possible (not with all knives) to mask the parts you want wider with small pieces of tape..
You could make the sheath flare open like this too. I have used electrical tape succesfully. Duck tape or gaffer gets gooyie..

 

[Martin Swinkels]

one other thing that might help..

If the edge starts too get all shiny, before the kydex starts too loosen up, you're heating it too fast..
Depending on thickness, If it takes over 30 seconds to let the kydex relax, you are heating it too slowly.

Good Luck!

 

[Marion David Poff]

I might just do it by hand, but I think I will try to do it in the main molding too.

I have seen sheaths that looked like they had to have been flared during the molding.

Martin, your work is quite good looking, and work like that is why I will probably never go into the sheath business solely.

Marion