Kydex Saturday/The modern day warrior??

Bawanna

Bawanna

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Had a delightful day in the man cave today. Sort of. I spent a little time on my hatchet makeover, didn't change much, gonna take a lot to get a polish on that puppy but we shall keep at it.

Then an officer at work asked me to take on a kydex sheath for his bawanna bowie. He's done kydex before but in his much misguided opinion I do it better. I think he just wants to carry it and doesn't have time and thought I did which I guess is pretty much true. It was a typical wet NW day so I took it on.

He brought the sheet of kydex, I'm not into this camo stuff much but it's not horrible I guess. I don't think I'll ever have a forte with kydex but I get it eventually. I kind of gave up on my toaster oven this time and just used a heat gun, seemed to work better for me.





So then I cleaned everything up and put stuff away and contemplated life and my next victim. Low and behold I recalled that I wanted a sheath for the little Bura Hunter that Steely so graciously sent me, soooo out came all the Tupperware burning stuff AGAIN.

I actually had a piece that I'd already started that was a dismal failure, since it was a tad too small for whatever that was, but it was perfect for the little Hunter. Actually the officers piece of kydex was the same deal, a remnant from nightmares past.

I'm pretty happy with the hunter sheath, I achieved that magical condition where it actually snaps in and snaps out and doesn't rattle at all when in the sheath. Now I'm not a big Tupperware fan but I like the way they ride on the belt using the bungee cord setup I prefer, holds it nice and tight but also allows it to flex and move if you hang up on something.

Until I get an appointment with Pugs for some leather, it'll work just fine. I hope to actually incorporate the bungee cord on a leather sheath, grommets in a few spots and we're there.

Evidence photos.





Steely, I don't intend to toss your little leather scabbard neither, it works well in my little chair bag up front.
 
Thats a fine job man! I think you got it down! Do you have some sort of die you use to punch them rivets? I guess thats done while the stuff is cold? Imma Kydex dummy so pardon my ignorance. I do have a few pieces of tupperware but I havent tried to make anything myself yet. Great job!
I just got the DD on the last Bhakta Micro so looks like theres only a few more min's left then these micros are done for a while. Kind saddening. Such a great blade. Im sure interest will pile up again soon and they'll end up making more. That lil Bura is so Khul:thumbup: Ya did good there!
 
So when you use the shock cord setup, do you have to slide it on the belt into the desired place after threading the belt part way and then thread the belt the rest of the way once it's on?
 
Scara said:
So when you use the shock cord setup, do you have to slide it on the belt into the desired place after threading the belt part way and then thread the belt the rest of the way once it's on?
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Just like a normal belt loop, have to feed it thru the loops but then it just slides along. It's kind of snug but by placement of the grommets you can make it loose or tight or whatever. I like the flex and it doesn't tilt forward or back.

If you lace the shock cord properly you can wear it right or left side. I usually wear it on my left side and save the right side for noise makers.
 
Bawanna said:
Just like a normal belt loop, have to feed it thru the loops but then it just slides along. It's kind of snug but by placement of the grommets you can make it loose or tight or whatever. I like the flex and it doesn't tilt forward or back.

If you lace the shock cord properly you can wear it right or left side. I usually wear it on my left side and save the right side for noise makers.
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Right. Personally I'm looking for a setup that doesn't force me to wrangle with belt, belt loops and knife in order to wear the knife.

Just out of curiosity, how close is the fit on these? If I were to do this or have someone do it, would it be specific to one of my IBBBs, or would it fit both the shallow clip and the steep clip?
 
I always wondered about a kind of hybrid Kydex/leather sheath in the style of a paddle holster. Whats cool about a paddle holster is it dont matter where your belt loops are. I have a few pairs of pants where the belt loops are different locations and my IBBBB rides too close to my front pocket. Normally id burn them pants or compost them for intruding on my iBBBB but that cuts into my Khukri money if I have to buy more pants...not good. That idea may be worth pursuing Scara. Im not a leather bender at all but I think i know where your coming from.
 
It's no effort to determine where you want it and lace it on after that loop. Unlike a gun it doesn't take up much belt real estate so in front of or in back of a loop isn't a big deal.
I carry it more to the back about 7 oclock on your FM dial, easier for me to reach and not quite as obvious, a bit more subtle as it were.

I've always preferred a lace on, although I do have a couple paddles for special occasions, I just don't want to draw knife or gun and have the holster come with it.
 
Scara said:
Right. Personally I'm looking for a setup that doesn't force me to wrangle with belt, belt loops and knife in order to wear the knife.

Just out of curiosity, how close is the fit on these? If I were to do this or have someone do it, would it be specific to one of my IBBBs, or would it fit both the shallow clip and the steep clip?
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The original bowies were all very close and probably all fit in the same sheath, (I know I had 4 peoples at one time, it was awesome),The Min blades are a tad deeper and I could force it in but it's really too tight. I put one of the last Bhakta's I got in my leather sheath and it stretched it, worked fine for it but my original bowie was too lose. So I got a little instruction and kind of rewet molded it. It's better but I still need to play a bit more with it.
They do fit very snug if you get it right and a proper kydex burner would probably make them fit even snugger than I do.
 
Great functional work:)

I have dabbled with kydex a couple times, but I just don't enjoy it like bending leather. As a matter of fact, I went into Tandy yesterday intending to buy some stuff to make a kydex hybrid for my fnx. I changed my mind and walked out with $50 worth of supplies to make an extra wide kinda garish edc belt for leather revolver holsters.

Maybe one day when I get my outbuilding constructed and have more space to monkey with stuff:)

And please feel free to junk that little sheath I sent the kph in:p It was an exercise in necessary MacGyverism at its best.
 
Not that bad at all. Works well for my little pack pocket where I can pull it out and put it back without two hands.

Todays mission (should I decide to accept it) is some Birdseye Maple grips for Shavru's Ruger 1911. Found a piece of stabilized in my drawer so hopefully they'll turn out worthy.

That and a little wood chopping if the wind and rain quit for a bit.
 
Todays mission accomplished. Fresh off the press. Started at 9:30, lost a little time watching the Seahawks scare the heck out of me but we're done. I don't think I'll checker these unless Shavru wants em checkered.
We'll see if they appeal to her or if we gotta go back to square one. I can do that pretty easy too.







 
That wood is gorgeous and much as I am in awe of your checkering skills I would feel horrible to do anything that would distract from the depth of character that wood has. I love them as is! Just makes my head spin thinking of carrying these with me every day. I can junk the hideous black grips I have on it now because as ugly as they are they fit my hand so well. These look perfect. Not super thin, but thin enough they will fit my smaller hands perfectly.

Oh and that football game almost did me in. Thank goodness I don't have any heart issues. If I did I wouldn't still be here. Now we just have to beat my 2nd least favorite team in the entire NFL in the superbowl.
 
I'm glad they appeal to you Shavru, I made them about as thin as I could using the standard bushings. I tried again and buggered up one of mine, took a bit to get it out and replace, so we know if thin is required I know we can do it but it ain't easy.
That being said I don't want you to settle for good enough, if they don't fit really good we'll do thin and swap them bushings.
Also when you see them if the look doesn't awe you, we'll find something different and start over, no problem.

Why don't you PM me where you want me to send these, that way Bookie won't be flooding your mail box with Valentines and Cutie Curl cards and such.

I agree on the checkering, I think it would just take away from the look. Some of the stabilized woods allow the grain to just show through and maybe I'll try checkering the little scrap piece of this left over and see what it looks like.
 
Very handsome grips, Sugar. I'll bet Bookie will like them when he sees them. By the by. Who is this lady friend of your's that you did this for, buck-o? I'll check back later for a reply. Gotta go do my nightly weight lifting work out at Gold's Gym. Hugs, CC
 
So I've been meaning to ask, how do you tell if it's a Bhakta or a Min?

And I'd already been strongly considering sending my two IBBBs to you for checkering and for bluing. Thanks to this thread, I'm now considering sending you my Bowies, but for kydex as well.
 
Bhakta has a bow and arrow mark, Min is a straight line with a point on the end. Kind of a vertical spear.

Bluing and Checkering I can do, I'll have to get more kydex and that's a gamble. I'm not that good at it, might be others here that could do a better job of it. I'll sure give it a try and stick with it till I get something presentable but again it's a gamble.
 
Bawanna said:
Bhakta has a bow and arrow mark, Min is a straight line with a point on the end. Kind of a vertical spear.

Bluing and Checkering I can do, I'll have to get more kydex and that's a gamble. I'm not that good at it, might be others here that could do a better job of it. I'll sure give it a try and stick with it till I get something presentable but again it's a gamble.
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Hmm...

Oh and both of mine are Bhaktas. Though I think I have something with the vertical spear mark, but doesn't Padam also use a mark like that?
 
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