KYDEX! EDIT new pics & 16 sheath

[thrillbilly]

I got my rivets in finally, since I effed my 9 sheath up I used it to practice my rivet technique. I also ordered .80 kydex instead of .93 like last time, much easier to work with!

did a couple 11/14 sheaths today, gonna do more tomorrow, had to waste time buying supplies and building another press since my original one is 60 miles away.

feel free to critique...I wanna know what I effed up so I can improve.

I used the 14 for all the build tasks, figgered I'd make him earn his new pants

I heated it up with my new Heat Gun (Wagner, 2 temp settings, 25$) then used my ''320 pound clamp'' for the first couple of minutes to ensure good molding, then swapped to the speedclamp and let it set for 10 minutes or so.

My elaborate ''Riveting Station''...I read and heard that the ''proper'' technique to set the rivets is line 'em up then one hard whack, but I was splitting and generally effing up the rivets that way yesterday...what works for me is, one soft tap, one medium tap and a third and final whack at half power. YMMV

the 11 was my second, I got much crisper retention on it, I think it's because it has no scales so I got it to ''sit'' just a hair deeper

made a quick&dirty belt loop for it, it works for now, I am either gonna get a small teklock or devise a better method.



I'm obviously not gonna put GODSPEED! or AZwelke out of business LOL!

 

[thrillbilly]

They aren't finished, still have to sand em up & shape them some...round the edges and whatnot. Once again, I gotta buy a belt sander LOL

 

[Dave from State Farm]

Very nice work! If I make a clip, I use something a little less in diameter then a pencil, and heat, bend, and hold for a bit.

 

[Renegade90]

Good job on the sheaths. I really appreciate the photos and explanation of how you made them; it is very encouraging and I may have to give it a try sometime. Thanks for the thread.

 

[wasatchdan]

Looks like a good, basic design to me. Round off the sharp corners and stuff, and it looks like it'll do you just fine.

Did you measure the rivets for a tek-lok? I imagine that sheath would be great carried horizontally on the belt with a tek-lok.

 

[daizee]

nice work! if you mold them further up the handles you can then trim it back to where you want it.
If you round your corners a bit more they won't catch on things.

 

[cleans up]

looks good to me!!

 

[edctac]

nice work

 

[cricketdave]

looks good to me too. setting the rivets by hand is a pain, if you have a drill press or arbor press the dies are well worth the money. the belt sander will make it really easy to shape and smooth your edges, the cheap one inch one from harbor freight works great. I would heat the kydex in a oven instead of using the heat gun for it all, just use the heat gun to adjust the mouth of the sheath for easy insertion and removal.

its fun and not terribly difficult to work with until you get to the level of someone like mashed cat and dave brown.

 

[thrillbilly]

Very nice work! If I make a clip, I use something a little less in diameter then a pencil, and heat, bend, and hold for a bit.

I have an idea, gotta go buy some nylon spacers tomorrow

Good job on the sheaths. I really appreciate the photos and explanation of how you made them; it is very encouraging and I may have to give it a try sometime. Thanks for the thread.

thanks, not too difficult, just has a learning curve, good thing about kudex is as long as u cut it properly, u can reheat and reshape it if u screw it up

Looks like a good, basic design to me. Round off the sharp corners and stuff, and it looks like it'll do you just fine.

Did you measure the rivets for a tek-lok? I imagine that sheath would be great carried horizontally on the belt with a tek-lok.

I put em at 11/4'' center to center...I was told thats the proper spacing, I dont have a teklock on hand so I hope so.

nice work! if you mold them further up the handles you can then trim it back to where you want it.
If you round your corners a bit more they won't catch on things.

thanks. yeah, gonna put my big knives deeper, up on the handle, the lil blades seem to be snug as is. I added another rivet about a 1/4'' above the top chicago screw in last pic...made retention perfect, it was adequate before but not where I wanted it. Sanding/shaping is tomorrow

looks good to me!!

Thanks. not quite where I wanna be but it's improving. Im my own worst critic.





What's y'alls sandpaper grit to shape this stuff? How low do u do the rough shaping with and how high do u go for the final polishing? Thanks

 

[thrillbilly]

looks good to me too. setting the rivets by hand is a pain, if you have a drill press or arbor press the dies are well worth the money. the belt sander will make it really easy to shape and smooth your edges, the cheap one inch one from harbor freight works great. I would heat the kydex in a oven instead of using the heat gun for it all, just use the heat gun to adjust the mouth of the sheath for easy insertion and removal.

its fun and not terribly difficult to work with until you get to the level of someone like mashed cat and dave brown.

I dont plan on making enuff of them to warrant the die-cost, but yeah, it looks better to use the dies. I have a Kydex toaster-oven but it's also 60 miles away, so I improvised. the heat gun worked well on the ~4''x41/2'' pieces for the lil blades tho

the 1x30 HF belt sander is on my to-do list for sure! just learned my dad was in st louis yesterday....he went right by a HF store. Nearest one to me is over an hour. (Jonsboro AR)

 

[azwelke]

looks good to me for your second attempt!
Keep going you will get the hang of it.

AL

 

[thrillbilly]

took apart my botched BK0 sheath today and reused the kydex to make a 16 sheath. Also finished out the 14 and 11 sheaths.

I still dont have a belt sander...but discovered my 5'' bench grinder works marvelously on Kydex! I have a model with Coarse stone on 1 side and fine stone on the other. Still gonna go over them with some fine sandpaper to smooth off for final touches.

 

[Angryhippie]

nice work

 

[trailbum]

Great job thrillbilly.
I like that stippling.

 

[wasatchdan]

Nice, Thrillbilly. Those turned out great. I especially like the 16 sheath. Good job.

 

[thrillbilly]

nice work

thanks, u and da 'Bum have been puttin out some nice work urselves!

Great job thrillbilly.
I like that stippling.

LOL more like Half stippling. I got sidetracked, been half-done for a week

Nice, Thrillbilly. Those turned out great. I especially like the 16 sheath. Good job.

Thanks, Im pleased with it myself, turned out better then I woulda thought!

 

[TwinStick]

Awesome work. Really love that BK16 sheath. Thumb ramps ROCK on kydex sheaths---makes for quiet removal when needed.

 

[thrillbilly]

Awesome work. Really love that BK16 sheath. Thumb ramps ROCK on kydex sheaths---makes for quiet removal when needed.

Thanks, I calls it the ''Sharkie''! I wanted something a lil different, something to stand out from all the other Kydex I've seen.

 

[Renegade90]

Thrillbilly, that is really impressive work on the sheaths. I really like the the sheath you made for the 16. Not only have I caught the Becker Bug, now I am really itching to try making a sheath for the BK11 I've got coming in a day or two.