Homemade Kydex Press?
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BlackKnight86
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From http://www.usaknifemaker.com/
"Tip: Go to Wal-Mart and buy the blue foam sleeping pad in the sporting goods department. It's what you use under your sleeping bag. Double up a couple layers and glue them to some boards. Attach these boards to a cheap wood vise and you have your Kydex press for under $30. To form this stuff, use a paint remover heat gun, around $20. Heat it on high setting moving the heat gun constantly. When the plastic gets as limp as cooked flat pasta, put the knife in, fold it over, put it in your press and squeeze. Allow it to cool for a minute and you got your first 'Kydex' sheath started. Throw in some rivets to fasten it. Don't bother trying glue. It just doesn't like it."
"Tip: Go to Wal-Mart and buy the blue foam sleeping pad in the sporting goods department. It's what you use under your sleeping bag. Double up a couple layers and glue them to some boards. Attach these boards to a cheap wood vise and you have your Kydex press for under $30. To form this stuff, use a paint remover heat gun, around $20. Heat it on high setting moving the heat gun constantly. When the plastic gets as limp as cooked flat pasta, put the knife in, fold it over, put it in your press and squeeze. Allow it to cool for a minute and you got your first 'Kydex' sheath started. Throw in some rivets to fasten it. Don't bother trying glue. It just doesn't like it."
BlackKnight86
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It's a vice with jaws that are padded in order to hold lumber without denting it. Usually grips over a larger surface area than a regular vise...you want that to put as even pressure as possible over the length of the sheath. Since the padding touching the hot kydex has "give", you want as large a surface area of pressure that you can get so that you have as much force against the entire area of the sheath without crushing anything. The plywood will do that to a certain extent; however, if you have all of the pressure on one spot at the point where a narrow vice's jaws meet, you could have quite a bit less pressure the farther away from the meeting point. It could affect the molding of the kydex.
Do you have access to a Black and Decker Workmate?
Do you have access to a Black and Decker Workmate?
I do not. I see the idea of wood vise. But I don't seem to find any cheap ones like the article says. They are quite pricey.
BlackKnight86
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Yeah, I know! The Black and Decker Workmate is my workaround...not a wood vise, per se; but it has the length, at least; and you can augment that with 2x4s for surface area. They range from $75 to $150 or so, depending on the model. Here they are:
http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/CategoryOverview.aspx?cPath=1496.1506
If you can't get ahold of one, try this: build your press on two 2x6 boards instead of plywood (the thickness is to make sure you get even pressure the whole length of the sheath and to absorb the pressure of the clamps; and the width is to make sure that you get pressure the entire width of the knife, sheath, and then some). Then, get some cheap clamps...depending on the length of the knife/sheath, maybe two or three? You can go with C-clamps; but don't get ones with overly skinny points of contact...when you put pressure on the clamps they'll bite into the boards. Maybe put a small piece of metal under each clamp to protect the wood? Then, when you're ready to close your press, the more clamps you have the faster you'll need to work to close them fast enough, before the kydex cools too much. Let that drive what type of clamps you buy; but that should be pretty cheap...I'm thinking under $50 at Home Depot?
You can also stand on the plywood? Perhaps not as exact (I'd be concerned with evenness of pressure); but it sounds like it should produce decent results...same principle as a vice; a little less precise?
http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/CategoryOverview.aspx?cPath=1496.1506
If you can't get ahold of one, try this: build your press on two 2x6 boards instead of plywood (the thickness is to make sure you get even pressure the whole length of the sheath and to absorb the pressure of the clamps; and the width is to make sure that you get pressure the entire width of the knife, sheath, and then some). Then, get some cheap clamps...depending on the length of the knife/sheath, maybe two or three? You can go with C-clamps; but don't get ones with overly skinny points of contact...when you put pressure on the clamps they'll bite into the boards. Maybe put a small piece of metal under each clamp to protect the wood? Then, when you're ready to close your press, the more clamps you have the faster you'll need to work to close them fast enough, before the kydex cools too much. Let that drive what type of clamps you buy; but that should be pretty cheap...I'm thinking under $50 at Home Depot?
You can also stand on the plywood? Perhaps not as exact (I'd be concerned with evenness of pressure); but it sounds like it should produce decent results...same principle as a vice; a little less precise?
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What im planning on doing is the following:
buy a foam sleeping mat thing from Campmore or walmart or whatever. Glue two layers on an plywood board.
Heat the kydex, fold the knive, put in between boards, and sit on top or drop a couple 45lb plates on it. Easier and cheaper!
buy a foam sleeping mat thing from Campmore or walmart or whatever. Glue two layers on an plywood board.
Heat the kydex, fold the knive, put in between boards, and sit on top or drop a couple 45lb plates on it. Easier and cheaper!
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the problem you may have with putting weight on the mould, or that I've had using clamps is that you only have several seconds before the kydex cools to the point which it will not form well. Its possible the reason your moulds were not coming out well is that you waited a little too long and it wasn't flexible enough.
What I do for my moulds is I take some pink insulation board (the solid panels you can get at home depot for $7 a piece), and cut a mold fit for the knife out of 2 pieces, so they close tightly. This allows you to make different parts of the mold tighter or looser, and it also gives a very tight form. If they are coming out a little too thick, wrap a piece of thin cloth around the knife, but don't loosen the mould. I heat my kydex in my oven, so i wait for it to get soft and then put the mould together in the oven so it stays soft, then pull it out and apply pressure between the floor and my foot. With bigger knives, I use just a piece of wood in between the foam and my foot.
The only problem with this technique is you only have one good shot because the heat from the kydex makes the foam expand, which ruins the mold if the knife isn't in place well, but helps when it is. They do make heat resistant foam in a few places but its expensive and I can do like 10 moulds for $7
What I do for my moulds is I take some pink insulation board (the solid panels you can get at home depot for $7 a piece), and cut a mold fit for the knife out of 2 pieces, so they close tightly. This allows you to make different parts of the mold tighter or looser, and it also gives a very tight form. If they are coming out a little too thick, wrap a piece of thin cloth around the knife, but don't loosen the mould. I heat my kydex in my oven, so i wait for it to get soft and then put the mould together in the oven so it stays soft, then pull it out and apply pressure between the floor and my foot. With bigger knives, I use just a piece of wood in between the foam and my foot.
The only problem with this technique is you only have one good shot because the heat from the kydex makes the foam expand, which ruins the mold if the knife isn't in place well, but helps when it is. They do make heat resistant foam in a few places but its expensive and I can do like 10 moulds for $7
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I made my own press out of a few hunks of 3/4" plywood ,I purchased a couple of big hinges I attached the hinges to one end and I use a fast close clamp for woodworking. The hardest thing to come by was the foam ,I found some knealing pads at a farm co-op near my work they sell them for milking cows they were $2 each but you could get some at any store with a garden center at a higher cost.