Kydex for Large sheath knives with old-style Oval and Double Quillons

[sawgrass7]

Howdy,
I have some sheath knives that are in dire need of good sheaths. I’ve wanted to mess about with Kydex for awhile, have read stuff here and watched videos, but have never done it yet.

I’ve made a number of traditional leather sheathes for years, so am familiar with that process. I’m pretty good with my hands and have an eye for details. I just don’t want to waste a lot of money on F-ups cause money is reeealy tight. I know it’s part of the learning curve, just want to minimize that. I know no one locally with Kydex experience to hang out with and learn from.

So I’d really like to hear from folks and/or get any links for “How to’s/DIY Kydex” – particularly for large sheath knives - with old style brass guards and Double quillons. These all have 7-10” blades with either the old-style oval or the elongated two-arm offset or double-end style guards. Old Bowies and a 1917 Plumb bolo.

Any thoughts and suggestions from the experienced Kydex dudes who have worked these kinds of blades/sheaths would be much appreciated. I'm having a hard time visualizing how to do it all with these protruding types of guards. Any special techniques, "make sure you do this" type thingies?
I’ve seen the kits which I plan to get and use .080.

thanks all - sawgrass7

 

[MatthewSB]

If you want to learn kydex, make sure you start on a knife you don't mind ruining. If you make the kydex too tight, and even if you do everything perfect, you'll get "kydex scratches" on the blade which can be very deep and must be ground out. It's not really caused by the kydex, I think, more the fault of silica or dust or whatever getting stuck between the steel and plastic.

Mike Sastre, of River City Sheaths, makes fantastic kydex sheaths for old style Bowies (and a lot of other knives as well). He also has an instructional DVD titled Kitchen Kydex.

I just don’t want to waste a lot of money on F-ups

I have a big garbage can full of my 'F-ups', I can't see any other way to learn.

 

[theHobbyist]

IMO .080 will want to be the thinnest you want to go. We've all left dropping of good advice throughout this forum. For a first timer, I would say don't worry about it too much just do a couple and see where it takes you. The 2 bits of advice that helped me the most while getting started was to mind my temps and use tape... The latter will save your knives...

This one may spark a bit of noise, but I'm starting to advise starting with the Kydex brand thermalform plastics then moving on to something like Boltaron, the Kydex, to me, is a bit more forgiving and easier to learn with. Once you've got a few down and you got good direction, move to Boltaron. There's a bit of a learning curve to be had but I think that the results are worth it.

EDIT: I have the Kitchen Kydex DVD, worth every penny.

 

[Grease]

From one beginner to another, my only advice is BUY GOOD FOAM. Nothing will screw up your first sheaths more than bad foam in a kydex press. High quality closed cell foam designed for a kydex press will help alleviate a lot of mistakes.

 

[sonil]

i am doing Kydex for about 2 years now and at least once a week since then
i go to Google search, Google images and Youtube and plug "kydex knife sheaths" you will be surprised with the information that is out there and tips i still picking up(here too )...i actually when i decided to start doing Kydex again(first time was late `90s before computers when info was harder to obtain and i had to abandon the idea for various reasons) i did the search first before i even placed my first order
Anyway if you do Kydex don`t forget to wrap 2 or 3 layers of masking tape on the blade that will create a small void between the sheath and the blade, and keep it clean this way you won't have any scratches....kydex don`t scratch, the dirt and particles inside it do
There is a company named Index fasteners that sells a starter kit for about $200 and worth every penny
As for Fus you wont be able to avoid them no matter what...i too have a can full of them....
BTW for sheaths with double guards big quillons and such i would suggest to lookup the Warrior Hobbit sheath for ideas ...i think it was done by Mike Sastre...

 

[MatthewSB]

To be a bit more specific, I wasted a lot of time, and material, using .080" material....It just isn't rigid enough for me. I use .093 and it is way better as it requires much less material to grip tightly.

I use 4 layers of 3" wide masking tape on each side of the blade, with NONE on the handle. This way, there is space around the blade for dirt and whatnot to avoid being compressed between metal and kydex and scratching, and the sheath grips the handle tightly and keeps the blade from rattling inside.

Each model knife is different to tweek the fit, but I often leave the back of the blade tape free so the blade fits tightly in at least one direction. Others don't wrap the last 1/2" or so of the tip of the knife so that the tip is tight against the sheath.

Last thing...I never use a heat gun. Either everything is perfect from the start, or I toss the $2 worth of material and start over. It's worth it to get a sheath right, without overheating it messing around and having an ugly product.

 

[Mike Sastre]

While a lot of people "get by" using .080, it still flexes a little too much for how I want a sheath to perform. i have always used no less than .093 for all fixed bladed knives, no matter how small. Much better results.