Quick! Kydex Sheath Question

E

Evolute

Joined
Mar 19, 2001
Messages
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I just received a kydex sheath for my desert tan Pepper Shaker. (Thank you, Jerry, for expediting this!) It is just loose enough to rattle, and I want to tighten it so that it doesn't rattle. I'm thinking of doing this:

1) Run my mini-blow-torch over the kydex for a couple seconds, to heat it up and soften it

2) Stick the knife it the sheath

3) Put on an oven-mitt and squeeze tightly until the kydex cools and hardens.

Do any of you kydex experts have any warnings, and/or other suggestions, before I execute this procedure?

Please answer quickly, I'll be leaving in a few hours for a several week trip.

Thanks.

--Mike
 
Your plan sounds ok....just be careful.

1.) Extended soaks at even 325 F can hurt kydex.

2.) I love the smell of mydex in the korning.



(seriously, be careful...)
 
Mike, IMHO optimally use a heat gun instead of the torch. Second best is a hair dryer.

If you do use the torch, keep it well back from the kydex. I don't know how far back (in inches) to keep it because I use a heat gun. You're looking for a slow heating process so the kydex can soak up and absorb the heat into the depths of the material. Avoid melting the surface kydex material before the core of the sheet is soft enough to readily mould. IME kydex gets real shiny patches where it's been over-heated instead of merely heated enough to be pliable.
 
I've dipped kydex in boiling water then squeezed it a little to get a better fit on factory sheaths.
 
Originally posted by RokJok
Mike, IMHO optimally use a heat gun instead of the torch. Second best is a hair dryer.

If you do use the torch, keep it well back from the kydex. I don't know how far back (in inches) to keep it because I use a heat gun. You're looking for a slow heating process so the kydex can soak up and absorb the heat into the depths of the material. Avoid melting the surface kydex material before the core of the sheet is soft enough to readily mould. IME kydex gets real shiny patches where it's been over-heated instead of merely heated enough to be pliable.
Click to expand...

I have to go with Rok Jok here. Open flame is not the way to go with kydex. You need hot air more than anything. I use the oven, but a hairdryer is a good way to slowly bring the material up to temp.
 
What these guys said :D
 
Well, first I tried Ed Tank's suggestion of dipping it in boiling water. The kydex instantly loosened far too much, and I wasn't able to squeeze it hard enough, fast enough, over a large enough area, to fix it. Then I used the torch method I originally mentioned--carefully, very carefully. (I don't have a heat gun, and I didn't have time to get one.) It worked great.

Thanks, everybody, for the help.

--Mike

P.S. Bravado, this is the only desert tan Pepper Shaker.
 
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