Here's an exerpt form an e-mail I sent to someone not too long ago. It should help:
OK, first things first, acquiring materials. Check out Blade-Tech's Web site and go to the "Sheath making supplies" page. Theres a phone number at the bottom, call it, and ask for Robert in sheath making supplies. Don't bother to E-mail them.......... they won't answer, trust me on this one.
Tell Robert you're just starting out and need a bag of mixed hardware. For about $10 you'll get a good assortment of screws, posts, and rubber washers to get ya' started.
The Concealex you'll want is the .080 in 24X16 sheets. It's about the perfect size and thickness for what you're going to be doing. The .060 is too thin, and the .93 and .125 is a bit heavy. Get yourself a few sheets so you can play around with it. It does take some time to get familiar with the "personality" of the material.
You'll probably also need a block of the Molding foam. This will need to be cut when you get it.
You should get all the above for about $50, depending on how much Concealex you order, and which shipping method you choose. I suggest you request THREE day, otherwise you won't get your order for 8 days or more.
................. moving on.
Other things you'll need:
~ Heat gun (Home Depot, or other hardware store)
~ Screwdriver
~ Drill
~ Gloves (regular leather palmed gardening gloves work well)
~ Tin snips or heavy duty scissors
~ Spring clamps (they come in VERY handy)
These come in handy but you can use a Dremmel tool as well:
~ Band saw
~ Belt sander
~ Buffing wheel (for cleaning up the edges)
In a nutshell:
~ The Tinsnips cut the Concealex to a workable size.
~ The heat gun gets the Concealex hot. You could also use your oven but the heat gun is a better method, especially when it comes to finesse stuff.
~ The gloves protect your hands from the above process.
~ Once the Concealex is at temperature (flexable, Don't overheat) place it on one piece of foam, position your Balisong on top of it, cover with the other piece of foam (or a board), then stand on it for about 3-4 minutes. Thats one impression. Heat up another piece and repeat.
**** the foam on top AND bottom method gives you two "impressions" equal in depth that can be screwed together.
**** The foam and board method gives one full impression that can be screwed to another flat piece.
The above method is what I call the Sandwich method: One piece of Concealex on top, another on bottom and your Balisong between them.
You can also do the Fold over method where you take a larger sized piece of Concealex, heat it, then fold it over the Balisong then squeeze.
>>>>>> You have about 5 seconds (from the time you take off the heat) to lay the Concealex down, place your Balisong, cover, and squeeze before it starts to cool............ so seconds are crucial as soon as you take the heat gun away.
After you have your impression (or impressions):
~ The Band saw cuts away the excess material.
~ The Belt sander shapes it.
~ The buffing wheel cleans the edges.
~ Rubbing down the edges using a rag with some Acetone on it will really clean the edges up.
------------------
Clay
www.balisongxtreme.com
Because......
getting 'em open
is half the fun!
psyche@
