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The Sheath/Holster Makers Forum This is the place to discuss all forms of sheath and holster making.

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  #1  
Old 01-31-2009, 06:40 PM
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spaknives spaknives is offline
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A Little Help With Kydex

Hey fellors,
Whats goin on?? I just purchased my first kydex & some kydex forming foam and some other parts and pieces. Now all I need is the know how to make it all come togethor. I plan to make a kydex press using the foam. I have the general idea of how to make the sheath, cut out the basic pattern, heat it up, wrap it around the knife, and put it in the press. The one thing that I'm not 100% sure about is the belt loop part. I also bought a couple of tek-locks. I hve seen some that were a cross draw style that I realy like. So please any help on kydex sheaths the belt loops and tek-locks and how its all attatched would be greatly apreciated. Pictures would also be awsome. Thanks, Shane
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Old 02-01-2009, 08:16 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I use one of those paint peeling heat guns to warm up the kydex. Do it gently, it doesn't have to be soft as a needle.

Use Chicago screws to attach the Tek-Lok and assemble the sheath. For most knives, I like a two part sheath rather than just wrapping the kydex around the knife....


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Old 02-01-2009, 08:32 PM
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6T7L71CPE 6T7L71CPE is offline
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Some tips:
http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/projects/projects2.htm
A tutorial:
http://www.northcoastknives.com/nort...ydexsheath.htm
As noted above, I got a heat gun at Walmart, it's the way to go.


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Old 02-01-2009, 10:51 PM
AcridSaint AcridSaint is offline
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I take a strip of kydex that the knife will fit in, just a rectangle of it and make sure it's got some room for error on both sides. If I had a final sheath of 2" x 4", I'd probably use a 4" x 10" piece of kydex, hate making them twice.

Heat up the kydex in an oven, somewhere in the low 300's you'll see it start to sag, you must pull it out when it starts to sag or you'll burn it. I wear some cotton gloves to pull the kydex out, center my knife at one of the narrow edges, bringing the tip halfway into the strip and then fold over at the tip. I only use a heat gun to make changes after the sheath is formed, it's too hard to evenly heat and get good control for me and I feel that I get a better impression with an oven. Lots of people use a heat gun though, different folks different strokes and all that.

Press it however you like, I stand on it with a board and foam on either side (an old cutting board works well). Once it's formed you can take the knife out and drill your holes for eyelets. I don't take the "sheath" apart until the holes are drilled and I can slip eyelets through. This way you don't have to worry about the sides being off when you reconstruct it.

I slip eyelets in all of the holes and rough shape on a grinder and then smooth it out with a de-burring tool. It's kind of an s-shaped blade on a swivel, sorry I may not have the appropriate name for it. You could use any number of items to reproduce this, including a smoother belt. The kydex will burn if you get it too hot, so take it easy on the grinder when you get close to final shape.

As far as using tec-locks, the thing to do is space your eyelets so that you can change the position from cross draw, to vertical, horizontal etc. To me this is the only advantage to using this sort of belt loop system. If you want to form a regular belt loop, then you can simply form it over a bar of steel close to the size belt you want it for.

Make sure that you have completely finished shaping your sheath before you put it together with eyelets, if you have to work it after, use bladed tools, not gritted tools, because you are just about guaranteed to get grit into the sheath and scratch your blade otherwise.

One quick note on using pvc adhesives - some folks will say that chemically welding kydex is enough, some will also tell you that your knife will cut right through brass eyelets. The thing is, there's no kydex on this planet that is harder than brass (or stainless if you can find those rivets), your may eventually push through one side or another and, although I'm sure that weld will not fail, the knife can just cut or pierce right through it. Having rivets in your sheath serves to trap the blade before it comes all the way through, weather you use an adhesive or not.


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Old 02-02-2009, 11:32 AM
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spaknives spaknives is offline
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Hey Thanks for the help fellors. Now I just need to wait for my stuff to arrive and give it a try. I'm sure after the first time I try it I'll have some more questions. If any one else has any tips lets hear them. Thanks, Shane
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Old 02-02-2009, 11:44 AM
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I pretty much follow Cap's procedure with the exception of using button head screws and barrel nuts - allows the sheath to be disassembled and cleaned.

Just remember to use pieces of Kydex that are oversized for how big you want the final sheath. It's cheaper to cut off some extra, than have to start over because the edges are too narrow to fit an eyelet or screw into.


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Old 02-02-2009, 11:50 AM
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I have this video from Knife Kits and it covers the basics from several angle and configurations.

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/produc...roducts_id=288

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