Homemade Pants for my RC-3mil

TrailWolf

TrailWolf

Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
2,809
With the current economic climate I decided that a very easy, and fun, way to save money would be to start making my own kydex. For about $100 (the cost of a couple of professional kydex sheaths), I was able to set myself up and start bending the kydex!

I've made about 5 sheaths now for my knives and estimate a net savings so far of about a couple hundred bucks - AND I HAD A BLAST! If you havent given it a shot, I recommend you give it a try - there is a slight learning curve, but after an hour of experimentation its really easy.

Here is the only sheath I've made for my RATs so far - my RC-3mil. The Izula is next :thumbup:

I think for one of my first sheaths, and with only a drill and dremel, it turned out very nice. It snaps in nice and tight, the blade doesnt wiggle and its a good enough fit that there is no rubbing or smoothing on the handle or blade. The rivets are spaced for a few different tek-lok placements. Only thing left to do to shape up the area above the rop rivet and make it look a bit more curvy :p

I do need to pic up a heat gun and harbor freight has them for under $15 - I had been using a candle to heat up spots to get a better fit :D

(sorry for the crappy iphone pics)

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Here is one for a BRKT Micro Canadian (the white spots were part of the learning process - only wear cotton or leather gloves when handling the hot kydex - not ones with grippy dots! :))
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:D
 
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Looks great! You could make some money off your talent. Your sheath looks dang near to my Buy Brown kydex for my S5.

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Thanks guys!

@ rmc85 - thanks for the compliment - my BB sheaths are my favorite and thats exactly where I got the idea for the curved lip ;) it makes popping the knife out with ones thumb much more comfortable!

I think I need to build a proper press to get a good print - I've commandeered my wife's yoga mat and then have been sitting on a book on top of it :eek:
 
rmc85 said:
LOL! I bet she loves that!
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Haha - she was a bit pissed this past weekend - a very light print remains in the foam and the mat has all these handle outlines on it. I was cracking when she came back from her class and showed me - I had no idea :D

I'm going to order the foam from knifekits when I need more kydex - its blaze orange time!
 
adaman04 said:
What are you using to set the rivets? Press kit?

Nice work!
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I bought the solid steel rivet dies from knifekits.com for a press and made my own base with a 2x4 :D I've heard the hand setter tools net pretty crappy results.

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=41_57&products_id=633

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I just smash em with a hammer and it does the trick to roll em.

Space is rather limited at our apartment in NYC - I dont have a workroom or garage so I need to make do with what I have. All my power tools are at our place upstate.

I made the sheath with literally nothing more than the oven, a candle, a dremel, a hand drill, sandpaper, yoga mat, book and this homemade riveter setup. Very easy to do with nothing.

:thumbup:
 
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I think you did a great job!!! Keep it up and you can start selling some to the rest of us. I'm going to order the material after seeing how easy it was for you.
 
TrailWolf said:
I made the sheath with literally nothing more than the oven, a candle, a dremel, a hand drill, sandpaper, yoga mat, book and this homemade riveter setup. Very easy to do with nothing.

:thumbup:
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Just wait until you have some proper equipment. You'll be like "Holy Crap I can't believe how much easier that is!"

Oh, and skip the knifekits.com foam and use the blue camping mat from Walmart. You still only get a few good moldings out of the knifekits pad and it's way more expensive.

And look for a woodworkers vise for your press. I tried everything and settled on that, it's fantastic.

Good job by the way!
 
shotgunner11 said:
Just wait until you have some proper equipment. You'll be like "Holy Crap I can't believe how much easier that is!"

Oh, and skip the knifekits.com foam and use the blue camping mat from Walmart. You still only get a few good moldings out of the knifekits pad and it's way more expensive.

And look for a woodworkers vise for your press. I tried everything and settled on that, it's fantastic.

Good job by the way!
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Thanks!

I know what you mean - I can only imagine how much quicker it would be with a press, band saw and belt grinder - look a lot better too!

Thanks for the heads up on the vise - looks like an easy but excellent press. Are you putting the foam between pieces of plywood in the vise?
 
TrailWolf said:
Thanks!

I know what you mean - I can only imagine how much quicker it would be with a press, band saw and belt grinder - look a lot better too!

Thanks for the heads up on the vise - looks like an easy but excellent press. Are you putting the foam between pieces of plywood in the vise?
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Yes sir, a couple of 1x3's with the foam glued on in the vise and I clamp the top woth a quick clamp.

As for the results looking better, not really. You can get great results with a dremel for your only tool, it just gets faster the more money you put into tools.:D
 
Shotgunner11 which step do you use the wood workers vise for? I assume pressing the kydex/foam. How do you set the rivets?
 
Yes, heat the kydex in my kitchen oven then quickly pull it out and mold it to the knife with the vise and a few "Cant Twist" clamps.

As for rivet setting, I'm lucky enough to have 3 drill presses so one of them is my permanent rivet press, works great.
 
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