Laminate sheath for a Bussé

[Nobbs70]

First of all, excuse my poor english

How to make an... almost-micarta-G10?... sheath for a NMSFNO with very little means

The idea is to make it laminating a mixture of fiberglass and cloth with epoxy resin, modeling the sheath on the knife itself, a bit quite a Kydex sheath, but cold-working.

The laminate consists of 7 layers: 2 fiberglass, 2 cotton cloth and 3 of Jeans

Impregnated of resin and stacked, then pressed between two blocks with clamps (see photos below)
In a couple of days it is dry and ready.

Here it is, raw and a little sanded. This will be the same board that I will use to make the base of the sheath, which will consist of 2 bits, a flat base and a "cover" with the shape of the knife

The material is flexible, but with enough consistency to be able to screw in it. Trying to cut it and stabbing it, it´s clear that the material is thougher than any leather I have ever seen

With 7 layers and low press, the final thickness is about 3.8 mm, a bit too much, because the sheath will go to 180-190 gr of weigth, but for the Bussé I wanted something "heavy"

The first job is to fill with foam the "gaps" left between the knife and the base, so the resin don´t flow in there, making the sheath too thight, and a PITA to adjust

You must fill in all the the concavities of the ricasso, both bottom and top (which I did not, and was a problem later ...)

Picture of the side of the knife that will go over the smooth part of the sleeve:

The knife and the blocks are wrapped in oiled plastic film

We need to make a rough mold of rubber, or dense foam, in the shape of the knife, to ensure the laminate is well adapted to the knife shape, again same as with the Kydex sheath, but this time putting two layers, one cutted and below, one complete:

In camping mattress, I trace the outline of the knife (see photo, black marker) giving a further 2-3 mm all around, and then substrac a centimeter from the edge side.
This is done because if the "cap" is not well pressed on the edge but at the same time letting a bit of room, later it will not look clean

 

[Nobbs70]

We start with the top sheet (same as bottom)

Epoxy resin (about 200gr per sheath, quite some is wasted always), extend by hand, be careful with the fiberglass, is a mess around the edges (a good idea is to place strips of cello along the line where the scissors will cut it...)

Rise the laminate and place the knife well centered

Remove any wrinkles

Ready to press

Let´s go ya!

And a couple of days later: Ta-daa!

I love the texture that is given by the insulator foam, even if it is by accident

(no jokes about putting mi feet in my mouth, please...)

 

[Nobbs70]

Here are the different parts of the sheath, cutted with an electric saw

The strip of nylon have a piece of laminate glued to it, which would then be, by compression and two pins (2 screws), coupled to the sheath so it´s strong yet changeable when nylon wears

At the inside of the sleeve, in the bottom part, I also put a layer of rubber, as shown in the photo, to better "seal" the halfs wich will be bolted together, so the sleeve is completely removable

Detail of the sanding of the bottom, the side that goes against the thigh:

After sanding, it´s dyed with cream / black dye for shoes (I'm pooor..., and also did not have anything else at home, I tried also with ink from an HP printer... better not tell you ...)

The screws are almost flushed so it doesn´t snag

In fact, I would have liked to sew the two sides together, instead of screws and nuts, but I do not have a drill column, and it is impossible for me to do the holes properly by hand ...

It starts to look like a sheath :

The knife fits perfectly, not quite like a Kydex sheath, but almost..
Maybe like a boiled leather sheath, but with a "clack" to it quite cool
The knife gets off and in without effort, and reversing the sleeve and shaking it don´t cause slightless movement of the knife

Detail of the mouth, where you can see I had to sand a little to fix the error not covering the top part of the ricasso... with one pass of the Dremel the problem is solved

Only remains the details: coating the nuts and screws, last sanding, last dye, etc

Here it is finished:

Back side, where is evident the assimetry, necessary to follow the lines of the knife

Details of the adjustment of the mouth

Detail of the coupling of the nylon belt, which is being restrained by pressure and two pins (the same screws).

Semi holes are there to permit access to the upper sleeve screws without having to first remove the belt so that everything is removable independently

Here you can see that the sleeve holds the weight of the knife perfectly in the air, shaking it will cause no effect, you need to hang around 400 g on the tail of the knife to cause it to slide out slowly, which was my goal.

And that's it

To summarize:

PROS: The material seems good, and very workable

Very good resistance to cut and piercing, I would say better than Kydex, and much better than leather. Still hold these properties at -10 degrees C, which is the lowest my freezer can reach... removed from the freezer, I tried
to stab/cut it with all my strength both with an A1 and with the Bussé, and it laughs at my efforts to break through ...

I like the visual and tactile appearance, but that´s me...

CONS: It weighs a lot, the finished sheath goes to 190 gr, but with fewer layers (minimum five, I bet) the problem is solved in part

The epoxy hardening continues for 2 more weeks, minimum, and it seems to crystallize or something.
Laminated plates creak slightly when bended, which was not before. This seems to weaken the fibers of the tissues, and in bending tests I've done with narrow strips (about 4-5 mm), the fabric de-laminates and brokes when pussed too far (45 angle?)

I would like to try to laminate using phenolic resin or other adesives, to see if they allow more flexibility in the final stage. I have the positive feeling that the strength of the laminate is reduced over the course of the final hardening of the epoxy

Hope you find it curious!

 

[leatherman]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting that, I look forward to your further adventures in sheath making.

 

[kdstrick]

Hey that looks great! I think I'll just be lazy and stick with Kydex... it is a bit easier...

 

[Blairdoc]

that is pretty awesome, first time I have ever seen a micarta sheath great job can't wait to see what else you do with the stuff

-BlairDoc

 

[popedandy]

Great job! I've never seen a sheath done like that. It turned out really well.

 

[Guyon]

Way to think outside the box. Looks great.

 

[shunsui]

The epoxy hardening continues for 2 more weeks, minimum, and it seems to crystallize or something.
Laminated plates creak slightly when bended, which was not before. This seems to weaken the fibers of the tissues, and in bending tests I've done with narrow strips (about 4-5 mm), the fabric de-laminates and brokes when pussed too far (45 angle?)

I would like to try to laminate using phenolic resin or other adesives, to see if they allow more flexibility in the final stage. I have the positive feeling that the strength of the laminate is reduced over the course of the final hardening of the epoxy

Hope you find it curious!

I'm not an expert, but I seem to recall from working with vendors that the better the press, the better the lamination results, all else being equal. I'd try something that develops more pressure than clamps.

+1 nice stuff. :thumbup:

 

[lukus]

Very nicely done. Now you need to try to do it all in one glue-up so you have no screws.

 

[Wovoka]

Very Creative!

 

[Nobbs70]

Thanks for the appreciation, guys

Shunsui: you are rigth, of course. The handle of the knife itself provides good contrast between a properly done Micarta, at 5 Tons of pressure (I think I recall so...) and the "thing" that I have done with 4 shitty clamps...

I have a friend who has a little press, maybe I can pay a visit to his workshop sometime

Lukus: I have been thinking about that too, maybe I can make a long and narrow U frame with two blocks and a stripe of wood, put a piece of half pipe in the inside bottom to make the shape surrounding the spine, insert the laminate in U, insert the knife in the center, and then press all together...but extracting the knife and the sheath of the U frame can be a pain...I don´t know, maybe doing the frame with screws?

Sewed together has to look nice too, I think...

 

[Swivelknife]

Nobbs70, you started this fantastic posting with an apology for your poor English. My gawd! I have been using, or abusing, the language for over 80 years and I stand in awe of your mastery of a second language.

Although leather is my medium of work, I must compliment you on what you have posted here in very clear, concise, easily understood terms. People of your caliber are what makes these forums so fascinatiing. That we can approach the end product from different directions, different materials and methods does tend to increase our choices. Thanks for your input!!! ---Sandy---

 

[Nobbs70]

Sandy, after your last post, I feel obliged to post the photo of my ego, present state:

Thanks, mate!

 

[Frank Barron]

Dear Nobbs70

Wow you did a great job on the sheath. I agree the compression of clamps may not provide enough pressure. I did this once to experiment with squishing a pattern in leather. I sandwiched the material, pattern material in between two pieces of plywood and then taped the edges. Then I drove my van on it and left it over night. I did a great job at squishing the pattern in. Do you own a truck?

Frank

 

[Nobbs70]

Great idea! I have a a mini-van, I can park it above the sandwich all night long, and I bet that´ll do the job

Thanks a lot!

Victor

 

[zhangmaster12]

Wow, I was just wondering about a micarta-esqe sheath!!! Great job!