Ruined Kydex Sheath?

C

candlelight001

Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
764
I was trying to tighten the kydex sheath for my Bark River PSK. So I put it in boiling water and now it's all rounded out and loose. I'm screwed, I need to take this on a trip in three days. Is there a home fix? Could improvise a press, but not up for making a nice one... Please help!
 
You could try making a wooden blank of your knife, insert into the sheath then heat on low temp in your oven (I don't remember the specifics, but I believe its under 200dg F).When kydex becomes plyable(+), place on a clean cutting board, cover with a handkerchief or other fine woven cloth and place a heavy, loosley packed bag of sand over the works. It may help if the bag-o-sand was made of cloth and was heared as well.

Allow the whole thing cool, and repeat if necessary. Let me know how this works if you try it.

Jim L.
 
Get a cheap camp mat from Walmart. Cut it up into squares and have about 3 thick on both sides. So six pieces total. I would suggest gluing the mat pieces together. Take any wood you have and use that for the outsides of the press. Heat the kydex up in the oven. Wouldn't use more than 200 degrees. Wrap your actual knife in duct tape or masking tape in a couple layers. Take the sheath out of the oven, place the knife in it, and sandwich it in your press. You can either put it in a vice or stand on it for about 5-10 minutes. Make sure to spray the camp mat with PAM cooking spray before you put the hot kydex in. The camp mats usually cost about $9. Hope this helps.
Andy
 
Heat it with a hair dryer until you can press it back into shape with your fingers. Wear cotton gloves.
Bill
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Heat it with a hair dryer until you can press it back into shape with your fingers. Wear cotton gloves.
Bill
Click to expand...

What Bill said... :)
The hair dryer/heat gun route is very controlable, and you can see what you're doing as you do it...unlike "blind" presses made out of camping mats.
 
Thanks for the tips folks. Put it in the toaster oven at 200, put some socks on my hands, pulled it out, reshaped it. The trick was to let it get good and soft. Took some tinkering to get the shape of the opening right so that there's enough but not too much resistance, but in the end got it close enough. Saved me time and money, thanks! Any tips on getting the tension just right? Which parts should pinch?
 
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