Spray Pinting Kydex

Infi-del

Infi-del

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Apr 6, 2009
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I've got a kydex sheath that is tan... and I hate tan. So I got the idea that I will just paint it. Any suggestions on painting kydex? Should I rough it up with 100 grit sand paper first? Should I prime it? I was gonna go with OD green outdoor paint which should be flat and durable. Any info would help a lot.
 
Infi-del said:
I've got a kydex sheath that is tan... and I hate tan. So I got the idea that I will just paint it. Any suggestions on painting kydex? Should I rough it up with 100 grit sand paper first? Should I prime it? I was gonna go with OD green outdoor paint which should be flat and durable. Any info would help a lot.
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Normal spray paint won't stick to Kydex. Your best option, that's readily available to you, would be OD Krylon Fusion. Clean the sheath with alcohol and get any oils and dirt off. Don't use a primer or adhesion promoter. Follow the directions on the can, but ignore the wait time. Hang the sheath in a warm place with good airflow, and forget about it for a couple of months.

At that point, it's about as durable as you can get. OD, for whatever reason is more durable than the other colors.
 
That's kind of funny. I have a black Kydex sheath that I wish was tan. OD would be fine too. So I take it that Kydex is resistant to even Krylon Fusion? Thus the long wait time?
 
Kiah said:
Normal spray paint won't stick to Kydex. Your best option, that's readily available to you, would be OD Krylon Fusion. Clean the sheath with alcohol and get any oils and dirt off. Don't use a primer or adhesion promoter. Follow the directions on the can, but ignore the wait time. Hang the sheath in a warm place with good airflow, and forget about it for a couple of months.

At that point, it's about as durable as you can get. OD, for whatever reason is more durable than the other colors.
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Kiah, thanks for the info. Will kydex take dye? You think I could rit dye that bad boy. I know some polymers will take it. I have an HK USC carbine that I converted to a UMP Clone and it was gray polymer and I dyed it black. I just made a boiling hot bath of water and rit dye. I wouldn't get the water to 212 Degrees for kydex as I'd be afraid that would warp it. But warm water shouldn't hurt it.
 
Infi-del said:
Kiah, thanks for the info. Will kydex take dye? You think I could rit dye that bad boy. I know some polymers will take it. I have an HK USC carbine that I converted to a UMP Clone and it was gray polymer and I dyed it black. I just made a boiling hot bath of water and rit dye. I wouldn't get the water to 212 Degrees for kydex as I'd be afraid that would warp it. But warm water shouldn't hurt it.
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Yes and no. While I do have dye for Kydex, I have to make it myself and I don't sell it or share the recipe.

As far as Rit, kinda. Two problems. One is getting the color you want, and the other is actually getting the dye to work. Kydex is made to resist staining. To make Rit work at all, you will have to get it hot enough that it will deform the sheath IMO. Kydex will start losing its form enough to hurt it at well under 200 degrees if left long enough. You can try it for a long soak at a low temperature, but it may not work. Also keep in mind that Kydex doesn't take fabric dyes the way fabric does. If you want OD, you'll probably need to use black. The color will change from light green, to puke green, to almost OD, to OD and then stay there (this is on white, so tan may actually turn it brown). If the long soak does work at all, you probably won't get it past the puke green stage (or brown). In the end you'll have a very thin dye on the surface that's about the same scratch resistance as cured Fusion either way.

I'd personally go with the Fusion or just get an OD sheath if it were me. That said, if you try the dye and it doesn't work or looks like crap, it won't keep you from painting over it.
 
HoosierQ said:
That's kind of funny. I have a black Kydex sheath that I wish was tan. OD would be fine too. So I take it that Kydex is resistant to even Krylon Fusion? Thus the long wait time?
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Yep. Fusion is weird stuff. Colors act differently. Black is useless on Kydex, OD and Tan are pretty durable compared to most things, and most other colors are hit and miss. Even when it works, it needs serious cure time. It just has to be tested on and off till it's usable. A couple of months seems to be the only way I can get it to be halfway decent, but even then it'll scratch easily enough that you want the coating to be fairly close to the base color. I have Fusion sheaths that have been sitting a year or more, that seem to still be curing. I do have paint I mix myself that's better than Fusion, but only slightly, and it's a royal pain. At least I don't have to fight with colors on it though.

That said, I did this sheath in Fusion (in an airbrush), with a short cure period, and I believe it's held up decently so far. Like I said, hit and miss.

100_0552.jpg


And before anyone asks or wastes money on it, Vinyl Dye is useless on Kydex. It just falls off with a brush of the fingernail.
 
Ok, I got an idea. My buddy refinishes pianos and one thing he does for certain brass or copper parts is he'll mix powdered brass or copper with epoxy thinned out with mineral spirits. Has about the same consistency as paint and goes on nice and even and when it dries... it's bullet proof. I may try to find some OD Green pigment from his suppliers and try that. I mean... epoxy sitcks to anything. Surely it'll stick to kydex.
 
BTW, Thanks Kiah for all your professional advice. I really appreciate it.
 
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