Pics of my first sheath... For my RS6 WSK

[hikeeba]

Hi all. I thought I'd share my first attempt at a kydex sheath. The knife I made it for is a RED Scorpion Six-Blades WSK. Go easy on me...

Sheath on person (Duh! I didn't realize where I was standing at the time!):

The sheath and belts are .080" Kydex. I put the straps on with the shiny side out to give them some contrast and to maybe grip the belt better:

The straps are held in place with a screw/snap combo. They can be removed and moved to different holes if needed (mostly the second strap from the sheath opening). I tapped on the snap nipples a bit to give them a little more of a flare, so they would grab firmly. By doing this, I hope to minimize unintended snap disengagement. I apologize about the blurry pic:

And here's the piece out of its sheath:

I originally heated the kydex in our kitchen oven for the basic forming, and then fine tuned the fit with a heat gun and repeated trips into my homemade press. I may or may not touch up the hardware with some black paint.

Lanyards went on the knife and sheath after these pics were taken. Thanks to all who have inspired me here on BF!

 

[Mirror-Saw]

Looks pretty good, i'm not a fan of kydex, but i love me some DIY. How's the RS6 blade holding up? there was a bit of controversy over them when they came out.

 

[hikeeba]

Thanks Mirror-Saw. I've had the RS6 blade for about a month, but haven't had a chance to use it in the field. I have a few extended-weekend trips coming up this month, so I will try it out then. I have used the saw to cut notches when creating my kydex press, and it worked fantastically. Fortunately, based on what I've read, the controversy has been all about the design rights, and not materials, workmanship, or poor business practices. Fit and finish on the knife are top notch. Aaron at RS6-B was great to deal with.

 

[darkestthicket]

Very nice!

 

[tarmix101]

Hikeba-

Like the sheath design. Seems to be a good rig and comfortable to actually use.

 

[hikeeba]

Thanks for the compliments. It seemed comfy wearing it the little bit I did last night. It'll get really worn next weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. It'll be my first experience with a horizontal carry. I am contemplating making a standard thigh rig for this sheath, too. We'll see.

 

[visionsect]

Looks great bro...much better than my first attempts at leather sheaths...what a horror story that was...keep up the nice work -Damion

 

[SkunkWerX]

Hikeeba, very nice!!

So, as far as forming the kydex, how easy is it?
(Scale of 1 to 10, 1 being super easy, 10 being nearly impossible)

Did you do the forming with the knife inside or did you use a surrogate like a piece of plywood?

I've got a couple hunks of heavy duty foam just waiting for my first effort.
If it comes out half-as-good as yours, I'll be happy.

Good job you did.

Any hints for the first timer?

 

[redscorpion6]

Looks fantastic! Let me know how the knife performs too. Awesome job on the sheath.
Good to see new comments and discussion about our gear.
RS6-BLADES
Aaron

 

[hikeeba]

Thanks for the comments guys! Hi Aaron! I am anxious to actually use the knife next weekend! It's a wonderful piece, thanks again!

For SkunkWerx:

So, as far as forming the kydex, how easy is it?
(Scale of 1 to 10, 1 being super easy, 10 being nearly impossible)

For my very first attempt, I'd say it was a 4, just because I used oven temps that I got off a 'working with Kydex' site, and I burned the Kydex. After playing with temps and learning that the best temps for the .080" in our oven is 270-280, I'd say the ease of forming dipped down to a 2 - fairly easy.

Did you do the forming with the knife inside or did you use a surrogate like a piece of plywood?

I did the forming with the knife inside. I covered the knife, blade and handle, with blue painter's masking tape. I thought about making a wooden blank, but decided it would have been too time consuming for this particular project.

I've got a couple hunks of heavy duty foam just waiting for my first effort. If it comes out half-as-good as yours, I'll be happy.

You'll do fine. The nice thing about Kydex is if you don't get your sheath formed just right, you can heat it up and start over with the same piece.

Any hints for the first timer?

Sure. Tips for a first-timer from a first-timer. This ought to be good :

• WATCH THE KYDEX IN THE OVEN AT ALL TIMES. It doesn't take long to heat up. It'll also burn/scorch/melt pretty easily, too. I have a nice baseball-sized chuck that started melting and stuck together when I tried to save it.
• USe a piece of Kydex that will be a bit larger than the sheath you intend to make. My piece started out on the small side, so I had a smaller margin for error, and fewer options as far as trimming and shaping go.
• Experiment with fitment. At first I used one layer of tape on the knife. This caused the sheath to really mold to the contours of the knife. The sheath looked really cool, but the fitment was waaay too tight. Next, I used 4 layers of tape on the knife, and the fitment was too loose. I ended up using different thicknesses of tape in different areas of the knife, and fine tuning sections of the sheath with a Milwaukee heat gun and repeated pressings.
• Plan your project. I was going to just slap something together with pop rivets, but after thinking about it (after I molded the basic sheath), I decided to do the horizontal carry thing. My carry decision involved hardware I didn't have.
• Acquire your hardware ahead of time. This goes along with the last point. There was a lot of time lost on this project while waiting for rivets and figuring out exactly how to assemble the snaps, etc.
• Take your time, and have fun!

Here are a few pics of my press. I used a scrap 2x6, blue closed cell foam from a Kmart sleeping pad, and black open cell foam used in some of the gear bags we manufactuer.

The press is currently hinged with paracord on one end, but can be easily configured into a sandwich-type press for longer pieces. I made the press this long as I have a Becker Patrol machete that I'd like to make a sheath for someday. At least I thought that part out ahead of time!

Side note, I used the RS6-Blades Predator to cut the cord notches in the press. Woo hoo!

 

[TIZWIN]

Impressive. I've pondered making my own kydex sheath. How do you finish the edges?

 

[hikeeba]

Impressive. I've pondered making my own kydex sheath. How do you finish the edges?

I used sandpaper by hand, and a Dremel tool with a sanding drum. I recommend wearing a mask when using a high-speed rotary tool for sanding/shaping.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Thanks for the advice hikeeba. Sounds do-able.

I have a plastics supply house close by, they don't stock the kydex on hand, but they can get any thickness, and all the colors.

Gonna hafta grab a sheet of it and start working this fall.