How can I reform a Kydex sheath?

T

TheMartialWay

Joined
Jul 2, 1999
Messages
1,347
Hello all,

I recently aquired an awesome neck knife. The only problem is the sheath. It does not hold the knife in well. How can I heat the sheath and pinch it a little to make it snug? Is the oven the only way? If so, can someone describe the process? Thanks. I know this should probably be posted in Custom forum or shop talk but I am looking for homemade remedies as well as professional ones.

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive"
 
If it is a small fix that is needed, you can indeed just heat and pinch (pinch hard). Put a bit of tape on your blade though to protect it, and to ensure that you can still get your knife out of the sheath.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to rig up some more gear, like a vice set-up or something. A heat gun will work for heat. Good luck!

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"Come What May..."
 
I think that “Tough Love” really does work best, coddling bad behavior only reinforces it.

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use a lighter or match to heat the area, and pinch, but put some padding on your fingers so u dont burn them
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Hello,

Well for my limited experiance in forming Kydex sheaths i would recommend using a Hair Dryer on the high setting if a heat gun is not available and heat it to the point where is is slightly plyable then push in at the desired area just enough to cause the kydex to move,to much and you may not be able to take the blade out after it cools, 8-)
Another thing is to keep the heat sorce moving and do not hold in one place or it will devlope a shiney overheated spot which just looks ugly. I do not recommend using an Oven, Lighter or other means other than i stated above. Also for cooling you can just hold tesion on it until it cools or cool under cold water to aquire a set in the kydex right away.

well thats my .02

Regards, Allen Blade

[This message has been edited by Allen Blade Knives (edited 05-11-2001).]
 
Hey Louis..

I agree what Allen says..Don't use a lighter or a match,, you'll only Phuck it up...

Hairdryer is the way to go..
If for some reason the dryer doesn't get hot enough,,cup the intake with your hand a little...

You should first determine why the sheath is not holding the knife well...

Where are you going to heat it to cause the effect you want..?

Fitting a knife can be a tricky thing..Take it slow.. I'd also stay away from the blade area with any heat...

Drop me a note if you get stuck..

ttyle

Eric...

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On/Scene Tactical
Leading The Way In Quality Synthetic Sheathing
 
I used my iron, with steam. Worked just right to tighten a kydex sheath. Put the kydex in a towel, and ironed away!!
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Blades
 
Louis -- thank you very much for starting this thread.

Everyone else, thanks for the info.

I recently bought a used REKAT FANG which I truly like. Then a few days ago, as I got out of the car -- passenger side, where I slump more than when driving myself -- and about 2 steps and CLANG! there was my FANG bouncing on the blacktop.

I just assumed was going to have to get another of Eric's sheaths. Probably still will, but this gives me some hope of fixing the problem myself. To those of us who are totally unmechanical/whatever, it never occurs to us -- well, okay ME -- to try to do it myself. Now I can and will!


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Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for all of the advice thus far. I really did not care about the cosmetics of the sheath(It wasn't that great to begin with) and wanted to take it with me in a hurry so I went with the lighter method. I used one of those torch lighters and held it near the area for about 5 seconds and then pressed and held it 'til it was cool again. Eric, I did exactly what you recommended and figured out exactly where I needed to reshape the sheath before I heated. It worked perfectly and holds the knife like a glove. I did it without the knife in the sheath and had no problems. It did make the heated areas shiny like Allen said it would, but like I said, I did not care about the appearance. Thanks again for all of the great replies. Keep 'em comin, this will be a great reference thread.

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive"
 
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