Heating Kydex?

[Tyrkon Lawson]

I have noticed that kydex needs to be heated before molding. What are the best ways to do this? I have heard of hot water and also a "heat gun". Thanks.

 

[Burchtree]

A 25-dollar heat gun works the best for me. You can also use an iron (cover kydex with damp cloth first) to heat it up, or even your oven.

 

[Terry_Dodson]

for small pieces i was using an old large electric toaster oven with aluminum foil on the rack in the center, seemed to work good for what i was doing.

 

[R.W.Clark]

Heat gun or toaster oven are your best bets. You will want to get the Kydex up to around 275-300f for easy forming. Do not get the Kydex hotter than 400f. At that temp it will off gas hydrocloric acid fumes, not very healthy. Do not use your household oven. The stuff can get a bit stinky.

 

[STUMP]

I use an old toaster oven for the initial forming and then a heat gun if I need to tune the mouth of the sheath.

Oh yeah, what R.W. said about the temp is 100 percent on the money.

 

[Daniel Koster]

I've needed higher temps for thicker kydex (I've use 1/8" thick stuff...got one going right now actually...)

325-350

And yes, in a conventional oven...on a cookie sheet. Works great. In fact, it allows me to set and reset as many times as I want. Just pop it back in the oven for a few minutes...

Wife does complain about the smell...



Here's a tip I've never seen around bladeforums:

If you are having a hard time forming thick kydex (because it takes so long to cool and gets so hard and you keep burning your hands...) use ice cubes to selectively cool certain spots (help it along). Now, instead of waiting 15-60 minutes for it to cool, my kydex is perfectly set in a 2-3 minutes...even on big sheaths.