Kydex sheath making tutorial?

Mitchell Knives

Mitchell Knives

Knifemaker
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I think that I would like to try my hand at making kydex sheaths. This isn't a business venture, but something I'd like to do for my own personal enjoyment.

Anyone have any links to tutorial information? I'm familiar with the basic process of kydex sheath making, but would like to find additional information. Any sheath making forums around?
 
Let’s see if we can find the right forum …
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There are some awesome tutorials at northcoastknives.com (There are 3 kydex tutorials up at this time). Pat does a great job with his site and is a really good person to deal with.
 
and with that all said from the guys above, the most important is, wear a respirator when working (cutting/grinding) on kydex. :)
 
Thanks for the links guys.

What thickness of kydex is typically used in sheath making?

Would it be a good idea to purchase a commercial kydex press or simply make my own?
 
ElectricZombie said:
Thanks for the links guys.

What thickness of kydex is typically used in sheath making?

Would it be a good idea to purchase a commercial kydex press or simply make my own?
Click to expand...

I have used .06 and .08 kydex. There is .093 and tons of other thicknesses, but those 3 are the most common.

You could purchase a kydex press (Kinda pricey!) or just make one out of a few hinges, some thick board and some foam (which you can purchase from knifekits.com for around 20 bucks for both sides i think. It would be cheaper to make your own, but easier to buy one that is already made, tested and for sure will work well.

I would definitely get the kydex flaring dies though and use in a drill press or arbor press to seat the kydex rivets in. DON'T bother trying to set them by hand should you go that route with the rivets.
 
On my press I used el-cheepo mouse pads from Biglots. IIRC they were $.79 each (I used 8 total). Work pretty good so far...

Patrick
 
Leu Custom said:
I have used .06 and .08 kydex. There is .093 and tons of other thicknesses, but those 3 are the most common.

You could purchase a kydex press (Kinda pricey!) or just make one out of a few hinges, some thick board and some foam (which you can purchase from knifekits.com for around 20 bucks for both sides i think. It would be cheaper to make your own, but easier to buy one that is already made, tested and for sure will work well.

I would definitely get the kydex flaring dies though and use in a drill press or arbor press to seat the kydex rivets in. DON'T bother trying to set them by hand should you go that route with the rivets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I may end up just buying a press for the sake of simplicity.

Where is the best place to buy kydex, rivits, etc online? Also, is there a general guideline as to which rivits are appropriate for a particular thickness of kydex?

Thanks all.
 
If you buy from knifekits.com (I get my rivets from there) they are actually listed by thickness. The flares work awesome, use them. The press...well, buy theirs. It's pricey as said, but definitely a quality piece. I bought a "sheath kit" so I could see all the parts for my first one, but now just buy bulk. Save cost by making your own belt loops out of left over scraps unless you want the fancy TekLoks. I use the TekLok's on some, but make the loops for others.
 
I'm not real sure where everyone gets their rivets from but I get them from here.

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=41_56

towards the bottom of the link.

Yes, there is an approprioate length/height of rivet for particular thicknesses which you'll find on that knifekits.com website. They have rivets that will work for up to .093 thickness kydex. Personally I think that stuff is a wee bit too thick. .08 is good for thicker knives and .06 for the little EDC knives.

You can also buy a press from knifekits.com to mold the sheath and even the flaring dies and the actual press (which is a bit expensive). Nothing more than an arbor press (which you could buy at Harbor freight for half the price which is modified somewhat to hold the dies. Or again, a drill press works well. Just use a piece of wood with a hole drilled in it to hold the bottom die. A piece of thick aluminum works well.

here is a photo of some guy I know did with the cheap arbor press he bought in order to get the flaring dies to stay on.

http://www.geocities.com/jasons_blade/PIC10.html
 
Thanks for the link to knifekits.com. I'll probably order everything from there.

What grit belt is typically used to finish the ends of a completed sheath?
 
I use a worn 220 for the edges. Melts the Kydex a little and bonds it. Light buff of the whole sheath with white compound.
 
ok here goes just 1 more question, what side of the kydex is generally used as the outside of the sheath? the rough side or the smooth side?
 
TekSec said:
I use a worn 220 for the edges. Melts the Kydex a little and bonds it. Light buff of the whole sheath with white compound.
Click to expand...

Just beware when you buff if you haven't done it a million times like TekSec i'm sure :D not to get any compound accidently into the sheath as that will be like scratch central as you can't figure out why since you blew everything out of the sheath prior etc etc. Just takes grit from any compound to leave nice ugly scratch marks real fast on your blades!

Personally I use a worn out 80 grit belt (or whatever I can find :D) to shape the sheath (after cutting with a bandsaw) and since i'm not cool like Peter Atwood, I use the ghetto version and use an SOS pad to take off any of the burrs possibly left over from even the used belt. WEAR A RESPIRATOR when doing anything with kydex!
 
BLADECARVER said:
ok here goes just 1 more question, what side of the kydex is generally used as the outside of the sheath? the rough side or the smooth side?
Click to expand...

I think the proper name for the rough side is called something like "Hair Cell" or some jargon.
 
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