Slots in kydex

[dericdesmond]

The pea sized brain isnt working tonight. Can someone please give me some ideas on how to add slots to kydex say for a belt
A jigsaw? Trying to envision it but I cant see a safe way of making it happen on my work bench. Get a vice to hold the sheath securely while sawing maybe?
Made due tonight by drilling a line of holes with my drill and cleaning it up with my sak awe and dremmel, works good but sloppy/hardly a clean 180 degree cut. When drilling holes I set a 2x4 on top of my work bench, set the sheath on top, and drill into it. Kinda ghetto but it works. However, if I use a jig, it will eat through the 2x4 and into my bench Im thinkin and with the jig can I start from the top (penetrate it directly into the kydex) or do they only work well when starting from the end, (like a bandsaw) No experience with jigs so please pardon my ignorance.
Many thanks in advance.
Eric

 

[theHobbyist]

Drill your start hole, then your end hole.
Draw a line from your start hole to your end hole on either the outside or the knife side,
Draw another line opposite the one you just drew
Stuff your jigsaw blade in the start hole and aim it and your end hole
make sure you're off to one side, either the knife side, or the outside.
cut... follow the line... cut... follow the line... cut... follow the line... take your time, make it straight
repeat for the other side of the hole.

provided your slot is to be straight you should be alright.

I'd take pictures but I don't have a sheath I'm working on that is going to have a slot...

EDIT:
Assuming you're doing a pancake sheath like the ones in your pic... Drill your holes first (through both sides) then draw your lines on the inside. From there you can just clamp it half of it to your bench with the part your doing surgery on hanging off of your bench... just watch out when you're running your saw your sheath will bounce like hell you'll probably want to clamp something to it... I'm sure you'll figure that part out...

Edit 2:
Made a quick and dirty in paint of the hole/line bit

The red bits are the lines you want to draw and cut along, make sure you stay INSIDE the lines.
you can file/sand the rest straight.

If you have a router, I can suggest how to make a jig...

 

[sonil]

[video=youtube;JnyXjbU3cJs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnyXjbU3cJs[/video]
since i made this vid i "upgreded" it to a router/dril press table:

the dremel has a tiny bit of "kickback" so i have to lower it slow on the work piece

 

[Tinbasher]

I use a sheet metal punch it has a back stop and you just punch half holes until your slot is long enough

http://roperwhitney.com/punching/2-45.cfm

Richard

 

[dericdesmond]

Drill your start hole, then your end hole.
Draw a line from your start hole to your end hole on either the outside or the knife side,
Draw another line opposite the one you just drew
Stuff your jigsaw blade in the start hole and aim it and your end hole
make sure you're off to one side, either the knife side, or the outside.
cut... follow the line... cut... follow the line... cut... follow the line... take your time, make it straight
repeat for the other side of the hole.

provided your slot is to be straight you should be alright.

I'd take pictures but I don't have a sheath I'm working on that is going to have a slot...

EDIT:
Assuming you're doing a pancake sheath like the ones in your pic... Drill your holes first (through both sides) then draw your lines on the inside. From there you can just clamp it half of it to your bench with the part your doing surgery on hanging off of your bench... just watch out when you're running your saw your sheath will bounce like hell you'll probably want to clamp something to it... I'm sure you'll figure that part out...

Edit 2:
Made a quick and dirty in paint of the hole/line bit

The red bits are the lines you want to draw and cut along, make sure you stay INSIDE the lines.
you can file/sand the rest straight.

If you have a router, I can suggest how to make a jig...

Thanks for taking the time to post that. I like that. Seems simple enough, now I gotta go buy a jig and vice and test it out. Thanks again man.

[video=youtube;JnyXjbU3cJs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnyXjbU3cJs[/video]
since i made this vid i "upgreded" it to a router/dril press table:

the dremel has a tiny bit of "kickback" so i have to lower it slow on the work piece

AWESOME, that looks to work really well but man that seems like an eleborate setup (im a simple man ). Gonna have to think about how I can rig/stabilize my dremmel now. Thanks for taking the time to post the vid.

I use a sheet metal punch it has a back stop and you just punch half holes until your slot is long enough

http://roperwhitney.com/punching/2-45.cfm

Richard

I like this a lot, may take a little longer but it seems safe and easy. Thanks for the link man.

Like all the ideas guys thanks! Beers on me

 

[sonil]

the first set up i had mounted on the bench, was very stable,no kick back or is it backlash....i think i have it somewhere in the garage ...i`ll see i can find it and get a pic up...

 

[theHobbyist]

For my way, you don't really need a jig per-se, just something to hold everything in place so it's stable.

You probably already have everything you need, maybe some new blades for your jigsaw (smaller ones).

Sonils setup is awesome, but if you're only doing a few it might not be worth the cost if you're getting into more production work his is definitly the way to go!

A note about "my way", I only make sheaths for myself so I tend to do what costs the least, and in a way that I already know how... This is a carry over from having to make slots in balsa... and again, since it wasn't a big production it was the easiest way to go.

 

[sonil]

ok here it is the first set up very simple:

 

[dericdesmond]

Thanks again guys!!

Patience is zero at the dd household so I went out and bought this thing for my dremmel yesterday. Not only will it make it easier to do slots (hoping) it can also double as a drill press. Didnt even consider it until I saw Sonils router setup and realized my dang dremmel has router bits, derrrr. Gonna test it after work tonite, if it doesnt work out How I like Im gonna fall back onto the other options. Thanks again fellers

 

[sonil]

Thanks again guys!!

Patience is zero at the dd household so I went out and bought this thing for my dremmel yesterday. Not only will it make it easier to do slots (hoping) it can also double as a drill press. Didnt even consider it until I saw Sonils router setup and realized my dang dremmel has router bits, derrrr. Gonna test it after work tonite, if it doesnt work out How I like Im gonna fall back onto the other options. Thanks again fellers

It should work good, only thing is try it on scraps first to see if it has any backlash(?) and make sure all the set screws are as tight as you can without interfering (?) with the up down motion...Let us know how it goes...

 

[sonil]

i forgot to say you will need some type of fence to but the kydex against ...

 

[sonil]

found this, works good...
[video=youtube;kHIzOKqCjhc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHIzOKqCjhc[/video]