heat treatment ruined by kydex forming?

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LukeSaint

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Dec 30, 2018
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hi there. i just readjusted my kydex sheath for my bench made saddle mountain and had a thought after the fact. can the heat from the kydex ruin my temper on the blade? its s30v. i dont know if that information helps but any input and info would be great. thank you.
 
Someone more experienced will have to chime in when they wake up, lol... But I imagine you're fine.

Kydex is typically worked with at a temp around 310 - 320 degrees (with a max temp of 400 degrees) while I believe S30V is typically tempered at 400 - 750 degrees. You would have to heat the knife hotter than it was tempered at to ruin the heat treat.
 
Unless you form your kydex with a blow torch, you won't ruin the HT. Treated steel has to be kept at a high temperature (depends on steel and heat treat, but usually it's around 400-500°F if I remember correctly) for a period of longer than a few minutes. A quick search shows the working temperature of kydex up to 400°F, which would assume that is near the melting point. Unless you melt your kydex, you should be fine.
 
Depends on the steel and the heat treat. Some carbon steel is tempered at around 350, some tool steels can be as high as 1000 degrees f.

For s30v, 400 degrees should be okay. Here’s the tempering chart from crucible.
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LukeSaint said:
hi there. i just readjusted my kydex sheath for my bench made saddle mountain and had a thought after the fact. can the heat from the kydex ruin my temper on the blade? its s30v. i dont know if that information helps but any input and info would be great. thank you.
Click to expand...
I heat kydex in the oven* and then place that and the knife between two padded boards with clamps on them. Assuming you followed that procedure, I cant see you possibly ruining the temper of your knife.
*when making a kydex sheath making from scratch. Adjustment to an existing kydex sheath is done with a heat gun.
 
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You shouldnt have an issue.
Even at 400 degrees, which is too high in my opinion for kydex, you would need a longer heat to affect the Temper. Most temper cycles are for 2 hours, several times.
The short 2- 5 minute forming process shouldnt affect the heat treat.

I run my kydex at 300-325°F and it works great.
 
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