Home made sheaths and holsters! Clear kydex and leather

Riz!

Riz!

Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
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Just wanted to share a few pics of some of my most recent kydex work...

I dabble in sheath making and recently got some holstex (kydex) in "mirage" aka clear. I made these sheathes in my kitchen/workshop.





So to start wrap the blade in painters tape. This helps prevent an extremely tight fit, which lessens scratching from insertion and withdrawal of the blade. You can see I bent a piece of coat hanger and ran it along the spine and off the point to create a drainage channel. Then heat the plastic and mold the knife in a press. I use washers to eyeball the spacing for the rivets. I ended trying something new which you will see in a minute.



Here is the drainage hole.



The mouth.



The finished product



On the belt...



And the complete set...




I like to use leather for the belt loops...








I am really loving the hybrid Kydex sheath with a leather belt loop. Its sort of become my trademark style. This is a new design of loop for me. I took the idea from the old kbar leather sheaths.





 
I am having some trouble uploading the pics of a holster I made. Once I get it working, I will post them.
 
Heeey that's pretty cool! Not sure if I'd seen clear Kydex before. It's not exactly stealthy, but I love different, and that's pretty different. Black is nice, but everyone uses it. That would look pretty sweet with an aggressive blade, or damascus too. I also like Kydex/leather hybrid sheaths. :)

Nice work. Looking forward to the holster shots.
 
I'm a leather guy for sure. But this clear kydex is interesting. Very nice and creative work. I had the same thought as Strig about the damascus. I was thinking of this little knife I call the Vaquero Ultralite, its 5.25" overall.



I normally make a small leather "Slotted" sheath for these. So guy can just stick it in his pocket or wear it on his belt, (the belt goes through the slot and over the body of the sheath, so the sheath is actually worn under the belt). This sheath will go 360 on the belt. Something like that in your clear kydex might be pretty darn cool.

 
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Fnally figured out the upload problem. I didnt have enough clear left to make the entire holster out of it so I made stealthy belt hooks. Yes I got the design concept from a company that makes holsters. I saw their product and said "I can make that easily and for way less than $80. So I did. This a full sized Glock Model 22. It caries really nicely and is extremely comfortable. It does a great job concealing the gun too.
















Now its true my arm is up in the last photo, but the pistol is under there. I had to hold the camera in that hand to get the pic.
 
That little damascus necker would look cool in the clear kydex. It would let you show of the blade!
 
Cool deal on the holster. It doesn't seem to print at all. Yep that was what I was thinking on that little damascus blade.
 
Dude that's a silly cool design for the holster. One thing I really hate is having a sheath ride up when I pull out the knife. Those little hooks a great idea. :thumbup:

Dave, that's gotta be my favorite knife of yours thus far. Really neat that one.
 
Thanks buddy. Was just profiling 8 more of those little guys today. Getting em ready for heat treat. Damascus starting to spin its spell on you? 58-60 RC, ht done by Peters. They are slicing sons of guns cause I grind em thin.
 
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...i would not use mirage for belt loops or hooks....it breaks very easily FYI
 
Ugh... Yes, a little. I *like* not liking Damascus though. :mad: Why isn't the pattern in the countersinking? Do you counter sink the holes after the fc dip? Wish you lived just a couple of towns closer. I'd love to see your work irl.

Riz have you considered dyeing the leather backers? Of course there's no need, but they might look nice with a color that compliments the knife/gun. Also, what kind of eyelets do you use? I was about to buy some the other day at Hobby Lobby but I wasn't sure about the right size. Do you use a hand setter to set them, or some sort of press?
 
On my sheathes I use a little hand setter that has a bracket to hold everything in alignment. Then a hit with a 3 pound hammer and they are perfect. I found that a squirt of WD40 help them set nicely. The holster is held together completely by chicago screws
 
The pattern is there just hard to see because the angle of the bevel is so steep.I use a 3/8" bit to create the bevel and the hole is an F. If I used a larger bit for the counter sink maybe it would spread the pattern out some and be more visible. don't have a lot of canvas to work on though with this little guy.
 
Dave, I don't think it's necessary. I probably notice stuff that others don't, especially now that I'm looking at pics on a laptop instead of my phone. :)

Thanks Riz. I'll look for a setter like you describe. I need an arbor press anyway, maybe I can find something to do eyelets with using that.
 
Oh yeah that definitely looks better than the setters I was looking at (like the ones at the bottom of that page).

The press looks nice too. I don't plan on making Kydex sheaths to sell (?) but it'll be nice to start with good tools. I've gone down the other path with leather tools and it just ends up costing more in the long run.
 
My initial thought was to buy the little tool and get a real press later. The thing I bought has worked so well I hve yet to buy the press. I have had the tool for maybe 4 years
 
Here is the cross-draw belt loop I made for the Tops War Bowie sheath...





 
That knife is bananas. At first I thought the sheath was oddly shaped but it makes sense. Cool rig.

I think the press is very well priced if you can set snaps and use it as a makers mark press as well. :)
 
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