Vacu-Forming Kydex?

AntCaps

AntCaps

Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
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Hey guys so from my quick search i didnt find any results for this topic but im still very curious.
Has anyone tried this? From what iv read and watched making a forming table and frame would be very simple, the only issue i can see is there would me a lot more material used.
Anyone have any experience with this method or any ideas about it?

Thanks!
Anthony
 
Now that is an interesting idea. If you had a lot of kydex to turn out then it might be a worthwhile endeavor, but I wonder if kydex can get to malleable enough temps to do this? Definitely an interesting idea though. I say go for it if you are able.
 
After some you-tube research i found out there are guys doing it for guns.
It seems it can defiantly get pliable enough and i think they even solved the waste problem they use a silicon skin to form smaller pieces of kydex.
I dont have a lot of kydex to produce im just not very good at doing it with the foam.
but since the vacuum table could be used for a lot more than just kydex i may try this out, but i think you'd only be able to make flat back sheaths.
 
You don't need to use any more material if you use a membrane. If you wanna make sheaths where only one side is formed it may work fine depending on your setup. The only real issue there is that the knife edge would drag, so that would have to be worked around. If you wanna do ambidextrous sheaths, you're gonna need to make molds, split 'em, build the difference back up, ect. which is a lot of time and work unless you're doing a lot of the same sheath.

There's a few vids on Youtube you can look at that show good definition on pistols. I've been tempted to fiddle around with it myself one of these days, but haven't gotten around to it. If certain issues could be worked out and you had a really strong vac, it might be pretty cool.

ETA: Typing while you posted. Looks like you've got the limitations covered. Please post pics if you do try it. I'm interested in the results.
 
If i position the knife so the edge is flat on the table i think that would eliminate the dragging but if i do attempt this maybe ill put an edge guard on it while forming just in case.
I dont mind the flat backed sheathes either. I dont intend on mass producing sheaths but the knife that got me thinking of this is massive and the fact is that for the cost of the sending and returning shipping alone i could build one of these (since i already own a shop-vac).
If i do eventually go forward with this ill deffinatly make a thread on it to give other guys that might be in the same position some ideas.
Thanks for your input Derek and Kiah any other thoughts?
 
i think for guns is pretty good method but for knife sheaths i do not know, i am on the fence about it...if you want more insight on this check this forum out:
http://kydexforum.com/ it`s mostly gun guys but there is allot of good info there...and there are few threads with vacuum set ups in there
 
I think im going to try this out anyways for the really low setup cost i think this will be worth trying out. If it works awesome i can make my own sheathes and if things go really well maybe i can make a few bucks too thanks for your input guys.
 
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