Kydex: Taming the Chaos

[Justin Presson]

Good one I have not used kydex yet but this will go in the memory bank. Good job Aaron

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Kydex can be pinned with brass or nickel silver pin stock, just like a knife handle.

 

[Kokoshawnuff]

Great post. Very interesting.

 

[Jesse Latham]

Bill, If you use pin stock do you peen the pins? Jess

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thanks Aaron, never tried Kydex but I will have to someday.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Yes, the pins are peened.

 

[Don Nguyen]

I am jelly at how skilled and efficient you've gotten in such a short amount of time. Cheers Aaron, this was a great walkthrough.

 

[aarongough]

I am jelly at how skilled and efficient you've gotten in such a short amount of time. Cheers Aaron, this was a great walkthrough.

Thanks mate, hope it was useful! I still have a long way to go yet. I'm constantly amazed by guys like Horsewright that are able to turn out large numbers of really fine knives... I think I'll only catch up to that kind of efficiency by going mid-tech!

Thanks Aaron, never tried Kydex but I will have to someday.

I'll look forward to seeing that Patrice, I'm sure your Kydex would be different in an awesome way!

Good one I have not used kydex yet but this will go in the memory bank. Good job Aaron

Cheers mate, hope this helps out!

 

[aarongough]

3/8 to a 1/4 all the way around wouldn't be bad, I swear some of the sheaths I have seen were a half a yard wide ;0)

I think mine are generally a bit over 3/8" at the edges. I agree it would be great to get the size down a little. It'll be something I think about going forward!

 

[aarongough]

Really good tutorial on your Kydex process Aaron. I added it to my favs so I can reference it in the future. I would also suggest you take a look at some of Gavko's youtube videos on Kydex. He has a ton of good info and has a detailed video of how he makes thumb ramps and retention locks with a heat gun and a screwdriver.

Bob

I'll make sure to check out his Kydex videos!

Thanks for the post! I am getting ready to start making some sheaths for my knives and it was very helpful.

Best of luck mate!

Awesome tutorial! I was browsing reddit and i still end up on bladeforums haha have an upvote!

All roads lead to Rome I guess

 

[kbog]

Great post and thank you. I completely agree with your general thesis that controlling the process is key. Great point. I would say that I have found a couple other things in my experiences:

1. Handle shape really matters for thermoform plastic. I'm not a huge knife maker, but my knives have a curve at the front of each handle to rest a thumb inside. That curve doubles as a retention point for the sheath. It doesn't take much.
2. Rivet location is critical. I actually do NOT rivet the slabs together until the last step. I use Kant Twist clamps to clamp the kydex at various places near the handle to help guide me on where to put that first, and most critical, rivet. Sometimes the top rivet is more crucial and sometimes the bottom rivet. Sometimes both are equally crucial. My point is, sliding that first rivet towards or away from the handle changes retention drastically. The other advantage to this is that I can drill, cut, sand, etc. the sheath before I rivet it so that I can thoroughly wash it out before the bare blade goes into it. This has helped me prevent micro scratching significantly. It does come at the expense of the hidden seams though. I like your invisible seam better, but I traded it for a perfectly clean sheath. Hey, that's me.

Your sheath looks really great and I think your retention is perfect too. Well done, I learned a lot.

Keith

 

[aarongough]

Great post and thank you. I completely agree with your general thesis that controlling the process is key. Great point. I would say that I have found a couple other things in my experiences:

1. Handle shape really matters for thermoform plastic. I'm not a huge knife maker, but my knives have a curve at the front of each handle to rest a thumb inside. That curve doubles as a retention point for the sheath. It doesn't take much.
2. Rivet location is critical. I actually do NOT rivet the slabs together until the last step. I use Kant Twist clamps to clamp the kydex at various places near the handle to help guide me on where to put that first, and most critical, rivet. Sometimes the top rivet is more crucial and sometimes the bottom rivet. Sometimes both are equally crucial. My point is, sliding that first rivet towards or away from the handle changes retention drastically. The other advantage to this is that I can drill, cut, sand, etc. the sheath before I rivet it so that I can thoroughly wash it out before the bare blade goes into it. This has helped me prevent micro scratching significantly. It does come at the expense of the hidden seams though. I like your invisible seam better, but I traded it for a perfectly clean sheath. Hey, that's me.

Your sheath looks really great and I think your retention is perfect too. Well done, I learned a lot.

Keith

I agree that the handle shape is super important for Kydex sheaths. When I eventually make the leap to mid-tech I will be doing some more thorough investigation of optimizing the handle shape for sheaths...

I actually haven't ever played with rivet location too much. I'm sure it makes a difference like you noted, I just haven't really experienced how much. I'll try to remember to look into that more in the future!

 

[AVigil]

the higher a rivet is to the top of the sheath will greatly increase the force needed to release the knife because it limits the amount the kydex can flex in opening.

I like to place my rivets and then fine tune the amount of retention with a heat gun at the exact point that actually locks the blade in the sheath.

 

[kevinc]

Hey Aaron
Very Good tutorial - will you do one on the belt loop?

Kevin

 

[aarongough]

Hey Aaron
Very Good tutorial - will you do one on the belt loop?

Kevin

Hey Kevin!
I actually did a post a while back showing the process. It's here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ops-for-kydex-sheaths?p=13188313#post13188313

 

[PT Doc]

Very clear instructions. Thanks

 

[DukeHarley]

Great info. Thank you!

Jay

 

[Dane_A]

Great tutorial. Are you still expecting to open up your order list in August?

 

[Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.]

Great tutorial Aaron!

I've been struggling alot with consistency, especially in my machete sheaths. Drilling consistent holes in a 2 foot piece of kydex is just about impossible to do freehand. A hole template is something I am going to need to implement in the future as well as a more consistent molding method. Id also like to develop a more professional and defined look for my sheaths. The ones I've been making are not very confidence inspiring in terms of visuals. :grumpy:

One thing alot of us who do our own sheaths may overlook is the amount of time we spend on them. On my run of 23 machetes I did, I probably spent 40 hours making the sheaths--something I include for free. I spent so much time and money on the sheaths that I ended up making no profit at all on the machetes. Your tips are definitely going to help me get faster and more consistent.

An idea I had for molding was to secure the top piece of foam+backing and then attach the bottom piece to a floor jack. That way I could quickly put the kydex on the foam and then quickly crank the floor jack a few times to achieve fast and even molding pressure.

 

[AVigil]

KaEl...

Nice sheath. But do not give them away for free that is crazy considering the time and money it costs to make a sheath that large.