How exactly do you make sheaths? concealex and kydex

R

Riallin

Joined
Jun 26, 2000
Messages
54
I think they're diff. but i dunno....How exactly would i go along making these sheaths all you people! I am so interested i'm already panting in anticipation. Please, I NEED TO KNOW!!

Ok well, if anyone knows of sites and stuff to find more info and these plastic sheaths, lemme know. I gotta go to sleep so i can wake up tomorrow and not goto school
smile.gif


------------------
Suck my balis ;)

¥Rîñ‡™©®
 
Hi!

Not very hard to work in, my impression is that concealex is easier to work in then kydex, and it comes in a lot of kewl colors.

Check these sites out: http://www.eskimo.com/~boyerbl/howtomakeknife.htm

And: http://www.ecomplastics.com/ecomplastics/kydex.html

And: http://www.piersidedist.com/what_is_kydex.htm

And: http://www.engnath.com/BladesNStuff.html (click on "part 3" and "Kydex For Sheaths")

And buying the stuff: http://www.blade-tech.com/store/contents.html

Any other questione just e-mail me at army@home.se and i'll do my best to answer any questions.

Hope that it helped!

------------------
Be well!/Jonas aka 2Sharp

"May all your detonations be expected"

The coolest bar in the world: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Camp/8373/index.html
My knives!
 
I've never worked with Kydex, but the Concealex is pretty easy to work with, though I've only been at it for a few weeks now.

If you're going to do it, do yourself a favor and buy enough material so that you can experiment.

It's going to take a bit of playing around to figure out it's personality. Things like the right heating temp for molding, or bending, or how much time you actually have to play before it starts to set, sanding and finishing the edges, how to "spot" heat one particular area......... don't expect to be popping out sheaths right away.

I get my stuff from Blade-Tech (see the link in Jonas' post). They're great for helping you get started, but call them on the phone as they don't seem to respond to E-mail.

Good luck and make sure you post some pics of your work.



------------------
Clay
www.balisongxtreme.com
Because......
getting 'em open
is half the fun!
 
Clay,
What other materials would you need other than the concealex??

I am assuming you would need screwes to do the belt loop, but what would you recomend?? And is there anything else I am missing??

 
thanks for the link 2Sharp.. it is just what I needed
smile.gif
more options for my procrastination time...

------------------
<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]


 
Well, lets see........

~ You'll need some molding foam. Blade-Tech has some good thick stuff, but I also use this thinner foam I found in a camping supply store. It was suposed to be used as a sleeping bag mat, but it's a good molding foam as well.

~ A few of the larger sized spring clamps come in handy.

~ A Dremmel tool works for cutting, sanding, buffing, and drilling. But I will say, I do get much better results with a belt sander (vertical ribbon type), band saw, and full sized buffing wheel.

~ Tin snips for basic cutting.

~ A heat gun is good for spot heating, like when you want to mold or bend one area, but you don't want to lose the shape on the rest of the piece.

~ Gloves, so you can handle the hot Concealex. I just use regular leather palm gardening gloves. They also work to shield areas from heat when spot heating.

~ Screws and posts, to keep things together. Eyelets are also good to use for creating different carry options. Talk to Victor or Robert at Blade-Tech and just ask for a bag of assorted hardware (but mention you want eyelets as well). For $10 they'll hook you up with a good selection to get you started.

~ MOST IMPORTANT~ keep an open mind, have fun and experiment. Cut a piece of Concealex, heat it, bend it, twist it, play around with it. Get a feel for how much heat it takes, or how quickly it cools. Don't be afraid to try something different, and don't worry about screwing up. All things considered, Concealex is fairly cheap, so buy a good amount. I got 12, 24X16 sheets of .080 for about $65 (@ Blade-Tech).



------------------
Clay
www.balisongxtreme.com
Because......
getting 'em open
is half the fun!
 
how exactly would you go about making an auto-popper? would you just mold around the handles? I guess i'm just seeing a problem of getting the knife into the sheath.
 
Wow, I was driving home from school today and wondering how cool it would be to make a concealex sheath. Yet I had no clue where to get materials or how to do it. Lo and behold, I come check the forum (it's become my regular first-thing-when-getting-home habit) and find all this wonderful info! Thanks very much 2Sharp and Clay for the links and info. I'm with Darth - how would the auto popper work? Just a bump at the end of the sheath to knock the latch open when it passes by on the way out?
 
Check out this page from Snipe's site:
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/article11.html

With the Concealex snugged up against the latch, all you have to do is push downward and the latch disengages.

I decided to try a completely different method. These are pics of the Poppers I'm working on. All are worn horizontally, with the side of the Balisong facing up. When you draw, you pull the Balisong out to the side in a Horizontal basic motion.

Notice how I wrapped the Concealex over the latch from behind.
pop1.jpg


This is just a strip the same width as the Balisong. It wraps over the latch on the back side, and goes to just above the tang pin on the front side. This is the tightest gripping method I've tried. It's virtually impossible to shake the Balisong loose from the strip. Mounting the Belt loop forward makes it work.
pop2.jpg



This is the same strip with another section added to support the sides. I like the look of this.
pop3.jpg


------------------
Clay
www.balisongxtreme.com
Because......
getting 'em open
is half the fun!
 
so there has to be something actually attached to the latch? what I was thinking was that the latch would be pushed undone when your pulling it out horizontally (example: just put a bali through a belt loop when its closed; the loop opens it)
 
Assuming you went with the .080 Concealex, 1/4" posts, 1/4 & 3/8" screws will do you just fine.

Eyelets are another story. The 8-8 size will be fine for the .080 Concealex. The problem comes in setting the eyelets themselves. The ones from Blade-Tech are good steel and won't set with your run of the mill plier type setters. Unfortunately, the commonly found "Post and anvil" type don't work consistently well either.

Theres a place called Fastener Supply in San Francisco that sells everything you'll need:

http://www.fastener-supply.com/nav.htm

Call and ask for John, he'll be able to help you. Be prepared to shell out at least $100 for the basic setting equiptment (upper, & lower setting dies). It jumps to about $300 if you want a good bench mountable hand press.

Don't even worry about the eyelets for now. Screws alone will be fine while you're getting the hang of working with the stuff.

------------------
Clay
www.balisongxtreme.com
Because......
getting 'em open
is half the fun!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top