how to fasten kydex w/o rivets?

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the possum

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I am thinking about making a kydex sheath for a big Bowie knife I'm working on, but I want the outline of the sheath to follow the shape of the knife very closely. I don't want a 1/4" of excess kydex sticking out both sides of the sheath, and thus there would be no place to put rivets to secure it all together. I'm also adding belt loops and some other stuff, and don't want to worry about rivets scratching the blade too bad. (I know the rivets could be covered with something inside the sheath, but am hoping for an easier solution)

Is there some other way to hold kydex together? Glue? Melt it together? Are there some other ways out there I haven't thought of?
thanks.
 
On the spine of the blade, if you have a big enough piece, can fold over that side, so no rivets there(one piece sheath instead of two).

I believe people ahve mentioned using barge cement(or some other type of glue), but you'd probably still need a 1/4" or so to ensure good holding power on it. So not sure that would really serve purpose you want. I duno, the fold for the spine side of sheath is only help I can give right now.

That being said, I've never had a rivet scratch blade yet, part of it crimping down is that it grabs the kydex too, so the kydex is sandwiched together well there, and kydex is what contacts the blade, not the rivet itself. Or such has been my experience, with both factory and custom kydex sheathes.
 
A taco style sheath is definitely what you want. As far as the rest, here's what I'd do:

If possible, get the smallest eyelets you can find and a decent setter (try knifekits.com).

And, if you're really crazy like me, you could try this:

Use one piece of kydex, and have where the two edges of the kydex meet at the back of the sheath. Granted, this could prove really tricky, but it might be the best way to get what you want.
 
ept777 has it right, if the sheath is made right you won't catch a rivet.

With that said though, I would avoid using glues because Kydex is notorious for not gluing up well. I know some makers have made fold over sheaths by rolling the edges but you would have to be very certain to have a tight fit or you're just inviting loosness.

You may want to also look into plastic binder screws. I have a couple of samples someone sent to me once but not sure if I remember who.

I have made a couple of sheaths in the past that were stitched shut with paracord by drilling holes in the Kydex, it looked nice and held well once everything was tightened down.


Good luck!
 
Kydex can be pinned with small peened pins. It doesn't require tubing or eyelets.
 
Proper glue for kydex is Loctite 409, a cyano-acrylate type.
I made a sheath , taco type , for a 4" hunting knife and stitched it with stainless steel wire .The wire had to be fairly fine as the thick stuff is too difficult to handle. This` had nice contrast with a dark blue sheath. That goes back a few years but photos of it were on the forum.
 
Unless he is as slow as me he probably has the sheath finished considering this is from 2003:D:oops:
 
Thanks Stan, I missed that. The new format is harder to spot dates, and doesn't have any location info.

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