I hate Boltaron

Varga Knives

Varga Knives

Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
1,302
This is my first attempt at a sheath and it has been giving me nothing but frustration all morning. Yes, I know a lot of people love the stuff but as a first sheath should I just buy some Kydex? The thing curls to the point where I just can't get it flat when I press it. I only have an oven but I tried sandwiching it flat between two cookie sheets with weight on it and it curls as soon as I take it out. I give up.
 
Not only am I frustrated but I'm a frustrated idiot. What temp do you heat it at? I was doing 365 but I don't really know how accurate my oven is.
 
strider214 said:
Not only am I frustrated but I'm a frustrated idiot. What temp do you heat it at? I was doing 365 but I don't really know how accurate my oven is.
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365 is high.....but i am sure it happened to everybody(overcooking) me included....i dont know the exact temp i molded it,i think it was somewhere between 300-320 not sure, when i had boltaron i also had a pos oven and no thermometer to check,now i got a good oven and thermometer but no boltaron LOL... you need to experiment with your dial for awhile...put a piece of rock in the oven lay the piece on top and when it gets pretty limp it should be ready to mold...alot of toaster ovens have a big spike in temp, the one i am using now is a GE and the spike is very small i can walk away for long time...like now :D and the piece is not going to be burned
Hope this helps
 
strider214 said:
Not only am I frustrated but I'm a frustrated idiot. What temp do you heat it at? I was doing 365 but I don't really know how accurate my oven is.
Click to expand...

365 is high.....but i am sure it happened to everybody(overcooking) me included....i dont know the exact temp i molded it,i think it was somewhere between 300-320 not sure, when i had boltaron i also had a pos oven and no thermometer to check,now i got a good oven and thermometer but no boltaron LOL... you need to experiment with your dial for awhile...put a piece of rock in the oven lay the piece on top and when it gets pretty limp it should be ready to mold...alot of toaster ovens have a big spike in temp, the one i am using now is a GE and the spike is very small i can walk away for long time...like now :D and the piece is not going to be burned
Hope this helps
 
How thick is your material? Myself, using .093" boltatron, I start off low (in the oven), around 150° or so and then let it soak for a couple of minutes, bring up another 50° or so, let soak for a couple of minutes, etc... rinse and repeat until I am right around 300° or so, maybe even a hair under, then mold. Yes, it curls, but once you get it into your press with the knife it will flatten out. If you preheat the pad and knife with a hairdryer or heat gun that gives you a little more time to get it positioned and situated.
 
Thanks guys. Boltaron is .080". I heard mixed things about raising the temp slowly but I'll give it a shot. Also, I thought it cooks best between 340 and 370, misinformation?
 
strider214 said:
Thanks guys. Boltaron is .080". I heard mixed things about raising the temp slowly but I'll give it a shot. Also, I thought it cooks best between 340 and 370, misinformation?
Click to expand...

it could be that the guys see the reading on the dial and think it`s the actual temp, add the spike to this and you can go higher than 400...my GE is set at around 340 and it hits 328 tops(consistently) when it spikes( the spike is +12 deg), it took me a whole day to set it up with 2 different thermometers....
 
For heating, take find out what type of Bolt you got and go here http://www.boltaron.com/films/listing.asp

Sonil is right, bolt curls and kydex shrinks, I use both and hate them both equally at the moment.

As for heating techniques, start with a low temp, let soak, and ramp it up in steps... remember to get your oven to the desired temp your elements are going to get HOTTER than what you want.

Go slow with this until you get to know how your oven works.

If you're going to sandwich your material, put a paper towel on either side of it... should prevent the material burning...

Use an IR or non contact thermometer to get the temp of your material... don't use the temp gage on your oven (that measures the ambient temp of the cooking space.

If the data sheet says your optimum temp is 350... get it as close to that as possible, DO NOT go over it.

Now if I could only practice what I preach lol

BTW this advice goes for both Kydex and Boltaron... they're both thermal form plastics...

Another thing, you'll see around the threads that people will "heat until pliable". This is good, but since you're talking about going to the "higher" temps it sounds to me like you're going after "high definition" presses.

The "forming temperature" for boltaron 4335 is 335 - 370°F / 168 - 185°C, This is the stuff sold at usa knife maker dot com
 
I was going for high definition but at this point I would be happy with any definition. It's actually in the oven now and I am ramping up the temps. Decided to go with a taco as my sandwich spoiled. Hopefully it will be easier.

Just checked on it and at 265 it already curled up like a fruit roll-up.

Follow up: it actually turned out okay. I left a lot of extra room (wasted material) to allow for curled edges. I couldn't get the top edge straight before pressing so that hardened all messed up but I reheated that corner over the stove and straightened it. Not perfect but I figure I could attach the eyelets and reheat.
 
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may want to take a look at this vid about ovens:

[video=youtube;kHz00QmN408]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHz00QmN408[/video]
 
That video has me worried. I have been searching CL for a freebee and just missed one locally. I suppose if it's free it will work for me :). The oven is okay but it would be nice to have one in the shop. Wife complained about the smell too.

After today I can really see how heat gun would come in handy by just tweaking the fit a little instead of the stove burner.

Anyway, took me about an hour all told and it's finished except for cleaning up the edges. Definitely lacking in detail, though.

Thanks a bunch for the help!
 
For toaster ovens like that, if you're near a college town, hit one up at the end of the school year... kids sell those cheap.

One guy here says he folds his taco sheaths, then stables them to keep them in place while he places his blade and gets it into the press... If it hardens on you, move faster lol (sorry only advice I have there)

If your temps are good for detail work, you might not be squishing your piece enough in the press, higher pressure = greater detail. I just flubbed a sheath twice because of this. I messed up my wrist and can't get the clamps down tight enough.

If you haven't seen it, dig through the threads here, Sonils got this great book press type press he made with a small piston jack... Something like this is starting to look more attractive by the moment... even if I don't do production work like him lol.
 
I've used Boltaron, aka Concealex, ever since it first came out, and don't use anything else. Great stuff once you take the time to understand it. Recently had the regular kitchen oven I'd been using for 25 years develop runaway heat issues, so had to use a toaster oven I had for back-up until I could replace it. Totally re-inforced the reasons I dislike using toaster ovens. All ovens are different and the temps that the dials say it is, is probably different than actual temperature. Learn what your particular oven does at a particular setting, and adjust accordingly.
 
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