"gundy" this is what has worked for me for years. Allen Elishewitz showed me this back in the early '90s.
To form the Kydex sheaths to my sheath knives, I use a PVC Thermo Foam. It's 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 about 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 cool enough for you to remove the blade. Don't rush it. If you don't like the way it looks, just pop the Kydex 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 use 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 open up the belt loop, I 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.
A.T.
------------------
A.T.
http://www.customknives.com
If you make, sell, or just love knives and want a website with your name
customknives.com/your.name, AND a links page for $70.00 a year? Check out
http://www.customknives.com/webdesign
AKTI #476
