Sheath Newb Needs direction : Close up Secure-ex & Cut Drain Hole

[Wowbagger]

OK so I am in the one knife for a month pledge.
I chose my new "Project" knife and bought it just for the occasion.
This was a Project because I thinned out the knife blade by more than 50%; from 5mm (~.200 inch) down to 2.2mm (.087 inch).
Crazy No ?

So anyway to state the obvious . . . the blade is flapping around in the sheath now (though it still locks in very firmly in to the sheath thanks to the Krey-Ex handle). The rattle isn't a problem but the blade is getting dulled all to hell and I am thinking that if I form the sheath . . . using my heat gun ? ? ? ? . . . so that the sheath grips the blade in the middle of the blade but tending toward up near the spine that it will keep the edge entirely away from the Secure-ex material in the sheath.

I like the "plastic" sheath because it allows me to wash the inside of the sheath. Being full time EDC this thing cuts trash at work to break it down to fit in the dumpster then prepares food at home etc. I want to be able to wash the knife AND the inside of the sheath often.

Which brings me to the second half of my post :
I am planning on drilling a drain hole near the tip as I have seen in photos of other similar sheaths. Most of those are quite small, under 3mm (1/8 inch). Since I want more flow through for washing not just to let the rain out of the sheath I am thinking 6mm (1/4 ") or even larger.

Thoughts ?
I am thinking of using a woodworkers brad point spiral bit , at least to start the hole, but have very sharp metal working bits / you name it. I want to center it so it looks professionally done near the hollow rivets in the sheath. Prick punch the location and go with the brad point ? ? ? or use metal working bits and use a couple of sizes to work up to the larger size ? ? ? I am probably over thinking this but I get one shot and have never done anything with this "space age" material.

A side note :
I will be ordering a Cold Steel Peace Maker knife just to get the more round / tubular / more compact sheath because I prefer that style sheath for my hidden / in pocket carry demonstrated in photos. DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE Pendleton Hunter will fit in the Peace Maker sheath ? ? ?
I have asked and asked and cannot believe there is no one here who owns both and can just try it for me before I buy.

Thank you all for reading all this.

 

[sheathmaker]

Yep, sounds like a case of over thinking. Since I don't know you, a couple of stupid questions are in order. This deals more with the edge holding and sharpness of your knife. When you were thinning down the blade, did you consider the effect that grinding heat would have on the heat treat of your knife? I you got it fairly hot then there is a chance you altered the heat treat and it may never hold a decent edge for very long since you may have inadvertently annealed the knife.

Regarding the drain hole, just drill the thing! Any decently sharp drill bit should do, although I would personally confine the drain hole to the back of the sheath. You can chamfer the hole after drilling to improve the looks.

I don't work with Kydex, Concealex, etc. so you might be better served listening to one of the guys who specializes, but from what I do know you might well be able to tighten up the sheath with a heat gun and some re-molding. I would contact a Kydex maker directly for guidance if I were you.

Regarding sheath made for one knife fitting another knife.....that depends on how you define "fit". For my standards, I doubt it would ever happen, but if you are not too particular there's a chance it could happen. This is more probable with leather than with Synthetics.

Good luck!

Paul

 

[Wowbagger]

Thanks for your help Paul,

About the heat effect on the edge here is a quote from me posted a couple days ago :
I used a white bench grinder stone; runs pretty cool but you are right !

With the diamond file I file in three directions so I can keep seeing where the metal is coming off.
left diagonal, right diagonal and straight across the blade.

While power grinding dunk in water more than you think necessary. I got some brown marks on the blade when the bench grinder stone glazed a bit and I was pressing firmly. That means it was annealing the blade there. Luckily it wasn't too close to the edge and I was fine after I dressed the wheel. I only dressed it twice for the whole blade and I had done the Ti Lite with no dressing before that.

I held the blade with bare fingers just to sense if it was getting hot. So if anything I wasted time dunking it too often.

The rest of the posts can be located here.

depends on how you define "fit". For my standards, I doubt it would ever happen,

I hear you. However the Mora sheath I use for the Cold Steel paring knife (smaller knife in photos) works exceedingly well at being slick in the pocket for hand to clear knife (even handle) and keeps blade away from touching and dulling from constant motion while being carried.

I have heard the sheaths like on the Pendleton Hunter would dull edges but I didn't give it much consideration until now.

Thanks

 

[Kiah]

I think Secure-Ex is fancy speak for injection molded? In that case, you might be able to heat it like you want, just be very mindful as it'll scorch and melt on you before you realize it if it's anything like some Mora sheaths I've adjusted in the past.

The best advice on drilling the hole is that it should be drilled quickly. With the space between the sections you might get flashing on the inside if you take your time with it. If you're using a drill press, just punch through. If you only want the hole on one side, you'll wanna stick something down in there to stop the point from ridging up the other side. Bits made specifically for wood suck on plastic IME. A metal working bit (or just a general purpose bit) is a better choice. Just pick your size and drill. If you try to drill small and step up sizes you'll probably chatter the crap out of it. The hole size is fine. I just did some where I machined around 1/4" x 1/2" slots.

Of course I'm basing these thoughts on Kydex, so keep that in mind if things go horribly wrong.

Don't own either of those knives, but looking at pics I don't see one even sorta fitting the sheath of the other. That said, this one might fit considering they're based around kinda the same design (if the size is right). BladeHQ might check if you ask. ETA: Just noticed it was out of stock there. Maybe someone else has 'em with that sheath?

 

[Wowbagger]

Kiah,

Good info thanks.