i need help on working with kydex

G

giar

Joined
Jun 10, 2000
Messages
113
Can anyone tell me what the best way to form the kydex over the blade is? i tried using a oven , a blow dryer ... to soften up the kydex but just cant seem to get those define edges... if anyone has any tips i'd greatly appreciate them thanks..g
 
I'm not an expert by any means but here's how I do it.
I made a press by glueing a piece of 1/2" thick neopreme to a 1x6. This is about 2 ft long.

I have a piece of glass from a jeep window large enough to get the knive on. Any flat surface will do.

I heat the kydex with a heat gun.

When it's soft I put it over the knife sitting on the glass.

I put the press on the kydex and rock from side to side.

Add the back, trim to shape and grind the edges.

All done!

Good luck
 
I have a little press I made out of two pieces of 2X8, and a door hinge...
with a piece of fairly dence foam rubber in
the middle. (Neoprean works great)
It opens like a book, I heat the kydex, lay it on the knife close the press, and then I stand on it
biggrin.gif
Once it cools a bit I open it up and see how good it went. I'm sure there are better ways, but it was cheep easy, and works pretty good.

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The Infamous ShadedDude
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Hey Giar...

Peter has it pretty much down,,except for a few things..
smile.gif


#1 Don't Rock back and forth. Not Good...
#2 1" X 6" is not heavy enough..

Try using 2X6's as your molding platform.Glue your foam to these.

A short piece of 2X6 or even better 4X4 as your leverage arm..This may seem excessive,, but I'll explain...

The reason your aren't getting definition on your outlines is because you aren't using enough pressure to mold.. This is one reason..

The other may be that your temperature isn't up high enough....

A better way to do it is using Pipe Clamps on your 2 2X6 molds...

On a 12" in length mold you will want to use at least 4 pipe or similar clamps..Torque them down good and tight...

You Don't want Any Flex in any part of the operation.... Flex is Bad!!

The reason you don't rock back and forth,,and I Don't know how this got started,,but I wish people would stop telling others to rock their molds..All it does is move the blade around..

You want Steady,, Even Downward Pressure,,with Absolutely No movement What So Ever...

It takes some serious weight to get a nice press.. Your body weight Won't be enuf....

Hope this helps...

ttyle

Eric....


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On/Scene Tactical
Leading The Way In Quality Synthetic Sheathing
 
Hey Shaded..

Yaa you got the idea....

The only problem with the design is that you are getting more pressure at the hinge than you are at the middle and front.

To even outr the pressure,,try replacing the hindge with a hindge of sorts using Heavy Duty webbing of some sort..
A few layers of seatbelt webbing screwed down good,,should give you enough flex at the hindge to even the pressure...

Reason I say this is,,when you have Uneven pressure,,you get Twisting on the blade..

Will work fine with a flat knive,, but try doing a CRK Project I or something with Big fat handles,,and you'll see what I mean about twist....

You will also get twist if your molds are worn out with deep ruts from fat handles...

Replace the molds often when this happens...

ttyle

Eric...

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On/Scene Tactical
Leading The Way In Quality Synthetic Sheathing
 
If you can find a January 2000 issue of Tactical Knives there is a great article on working with kydex(p.52). It has lots of good ideas and pictures from Dale Sanberg of Eight Dollar Mountain Foundry.

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Dale C. Tipert aka 'wyrm'
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Normark, I stand corrected. The reason a lot of people rock is that they, just as I, learned from trial and error. That's the beauty of forums like this. I learn something new each time I log on here.

It's also whay I try to convey that I am not an expert. I always hope people such as yourself will post improved techniques.

Thanks!
 
I've been thinking about making a press out of some plate steel and a 1 ton car jack...
Two plates...some foam in the middle...
jack the bottom plate up to the top one...

Even pressure, and plenty of it.
Don't know if it would work out well or not.
May try it one day.
 
The procedure below works for me.

When I made Kydex sheaths in the past, I used a PVC Thermo Foam. It was about 2.5" thick and I glued it to two pieces of 2" X 6" X 18".

I first use 2" wide masking tape (3 or 4 layers) on both sides of the knife blade. If you don't do this, you will really scratch up your blade.

I use my wife's oven to heat up my Kydex. You will need to experiment with the temperature. For 1/16" thick I used about 310 degrees, and I think I used 325 degrees for 3/32". If you get it too hot, it will stick together. And, if you don't get it hot enough, it will not form to the shape of the knife. Anyway, since that Kydex is really hot, I wear cotton gloves.

After the Kydex is limp from the heat, I lay it on the piece of foam. I then place the knife on the Kydex, and then I fold the Kydex over. You need to leave an ample amount of extra Kydex. Don't try to save material. I then take the other piece of Foam and place it on top of the Kydex, that I wrapped over my knife. I then stand on the top board and
rock my feet. This makes the Kydex form to the knife blade and handle.

In about 5 minutes, the Kydex will be cooled enough for you to remove the blade. Don't rush it. If you don't like the way it looks, just pop it back into the oven and re-heat it. I then grind the Kydex down to the
shape I want. To make the belt loop, I just basically do the same thing I described above, but I use a 2-3" wide strip, that I double over(after being heated and limp) and lay on the bottom piece of the Thermo Foam.

I then place the sheath (with the knife inside) on top of the limp Kydex, place the other piece of Thermo Foam on top. I then stand on top and rock until the Kydex is cool.

I used the oven to fit the belt loop to the sheath. After I glued the belt loop to the sheath, I used a heat gun to open up the belt loop. I used either a 2" or 1 1/2" wide piece of 1/8" thick Micarta to shape the blade loop. After I opened up the belt loop, I would then finish the shaping of the sheath.

The glue I use is Oatey orange for CPVC. Just skuff up the inside of both parts of the Kydex with some 220 grit sandpaper. Apply the glue to both sides. Keep pressure on the two parts for a minimum of 4 hours. If you will check with your local Plastic Suppliers, you will be able to purchase Kydex fairly inexpensively.




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