Forming a two piece Kydex Sheath

O

oldwolf

Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
617
I'm making my first Kydex sheath. Press is done and ready. Sheath is a two piece for a loong filet knife. Do I do each piece separately? Seems like it would be hard to keep both pieces in place if In tried to do both at once. I think the next one will be one piece. Any advice is welcome.
How long do I have before pressing?
 
Easiest way to do it is like you are doing a standard fold over but just center the knife in the kydex. Once cooled you can just cut it in two. Before you cut it though mark the outline and drill your eyelet holes.
 
Didn't plan it too well. Already cut two pieces and trying to figure out how to do it without the knife moving.
 
heat both pieces at the same time. Take out of your GHETTO :D toaster oven and lay one piece down on the press's foam and put in knife and then put other piece on top and clamp down with lots of pressure !
 
Ok, I did a test one piece folded sheath for a small knife. Formed real well, but left a big impression in both the top and bottom foam. Too Hot or too much pressure. It was about 300 degrees. Used a piece of blue camping foam from Big 5.
 
i had the same problem doing the two piece sheaths. i was using .093 concealex which i was told would be easier to work with than kydex. well i cut both pieces out and tried to do exactly what you did. i heated and re heated about 10 times and i finally just took both pieces and drilled my holes, rivited and then heated and stuck my knife in. that was my first try and i found that the concealex shrinks every time you heat and cool it. soo the sheath is kind of funny looking. the second time i just cut pieces, rivited and heated then stuck my knive in and pressed with a camp mat clamp and it worked pretty good. but now i think about it, folding over, heating and clamping and then cutting is a hell of alot easier.. and maby ill buy some thinner kydex to try. it is definately a trying expierence that i learned alot from.

oh yeah, i still havent figured out how to stop the knife from migrating in the press. and i too got deep impressions in the camp mat but it didnt affect the second sheath i did.
 
OK, I did another small test sheath at 250 degrees and less pressure. It didn't mold as precisely, but left a shallower depression in the mat. I think I need a better quality mat. I'm going to have to replace it as it's got two impressions
now.
Where can I get foam that will take the heat and pressure and not deform?
 
My press is hinged at one end as per Tracy Mickleys tutorial. No problem with a one piece folded sheath.
 
To make it easier to manage the 2 pieces of kydex , if you oversized them a bit , you can get them slightly pliable , then put a few staples down one size , to make a temporary clam shell. :)
 
Generally with fold over type sheaths, the blade moving is more of a problem because somehow the person doesn't push the spine of the blade right into the fold and then when they try to close it, it moves. To solve this problem for me, I didn't glue the top piece of foam on (which I got a knifekits.com) and I put the top piece on when I know my right hand has the knife and the now folded over sheath nicely in place, put the 2nd piece of foam on and close the hinged over type ghetto sheath press of mine (made of 2 pieces of 1 inch thick plywood with two hinges (estimated cost 5 bucks).

I would think a two piece type sheath would not have the knife migrating problem?

The better and deeper the impression you get into the kydex from the shape of the knife, the easier it is to drill the holes and match them back up after you've shaped the sheath.

I prefer to do all shaping of the sheath and any activity that would cause more crap to get stuck in the sheath all before I rivet anything together.

And until you get good at doing this, don't be cheap with the kydex. The more you have on both ends, the easier it is to do. Obviously at some point too much becomes annoying and unhelpful.
 
oldwolf said:
OK, I did another small test sheath at 250 degrees and less pressure. It didn't mold as precisely, but left a shallower depression in the mat. I think I need a better quality mat. I'm going to have to replace it as it's got two impressions
now.
Where can I get foam that will take the heat and pressure and not deform?
Click to expand...

I use the foam from Knifekits.com. I have probally 500+ sheaths on one set. I also have my oven set at 370 degrees.
 
Thanks for the help. I've got some better foam coming from Knifekits and that should help greatly. TKS was a couple dollars more. I wouldn't recommend anyone using the camping foam. Sure didn't work for me.
 
That was my finding too. I get a thin layer of foam stuck to the sheath when it comes out of the press. It rubs of easily but is not what I like to see happen.
This kydex stuff, while not rocket science, is not as easy at first as you might think.
 
I don't know if they are the same, Same thickness and size. Think it's what they use on the press they sell.

Marion, what is it that you don't like? 500 sheath is pretty good endorsement.
 
oldwolf said:
I don't know if they are the same, Same thickness and size. Think it's what they use on the press they sell.

Marion, what is it that you don't like? 500 sheath is pretty good endorsement.
Click to expand...

It could be my press, which is hinged, and built for the foam I use. Or, it could be because the knife-kits foam is softer, but, the pressings I got were not as good. Uh, the words are failing me, but with the garden foam, I get tighter pressings.

Also, I am using Boltaron/Concealex, so that could have something to do with it.

Marion
 
I can only do two piece kydex sheaths. I heat both pieces together. Put one side on the press, then the knife on top of that, then the other piece on top of the knife, then press down with as much pressure as I can and lock it closed for a few minutes until it cools and hardens. It has to be done quickly though. Also make sure on cold days that your press isn't cold at the foam and your knife isn't cold either. Or else the kydex will cool too fast and you won't have time to work it. As it is you only have a few seconds.

Now if I can figure out how to do fold over sheaths. I think I have the knowledge, just not the skill:o
 
I've used both the camping foam and the foam from Knife Kits. I found that with the camping foam it worked much better if I covered the foam with thin cloth (I used some old t-shirts and secured the material over the foam to my press). I now use the Knife Kits foam and feel it works much better. The trick is finding the proper setting for the oven you are using. I set my toaster oven on 400 and set the "toast" setting to medium so that I am getting heat from both sides of the kydex. It only takes about 2 1/2 minutes for 0.06 grade kydex to reach temp. with these settings and a little longer for 0.08.

All of the sheths I have made are two piece sheaths. I find using the method that Ray uses works the best for me. I have my press set up on a crate just a couple of feet away from my oven. As soon as I set the kydex and knife into the press I close it and sit on it for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes I remove it from the press and place it in my refrigerator allowing the sheath to go between the grates on the rack thus suspended by the bolster or guard area.

Once I complete the press and cooling of my sheath, I mark my areas for my holes and drill with the blade still within the pressed kydex and the place eyelets (without pressing them) and shape. Once all of this is complete, I remove the blade and seperate the two halves of the sheath and clean before setting my eyelets.

Murph
 
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