what happens when you boil/steem kydex?

Josh Muller

Josh Muller

Joined
Jun 22, 2003
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im going to be making a few kydex rigs soon, and im low on funds for tools, so i need to do parts of it pretty ghetto... i'll be cutting it with a hacksaw, and sanding it the sand canvas rolls from harbour freight....

the one thing i wish i had that i dont, is a heat gun.... soooooooooooooooo.....

i was thinkin, if i could project some steem on it from a boiling pot of water, or boil select parts, i could help loosen form peices without killing the entire form....

so what happens when you boil kydex?

or, probably more appropriate, what can i do to heat up just parts of it? example, in the upper portion of the rig, near the spine of the knife, i want to curve the kydex out to make a place to put your thumb to help witdrawing the knife...

im having the hardest time coming up with a way to attach a belt loop to an edge only sheath...
 
What happens when you boil kleenex?

Dunno, I've never tried. I suppose it would kill all the germs, allowing you to reuse the kleenex after you picked out all the yellow and green bits.

Ummm... yeah... :rolleyes:

BTTT
 
Don't know what happens when you boil. I'd say if it worked, it would go up in the sheath and ruin its form. To start out, you can stick it in the oven on a cookie sheet at 200-degrees to make it workable. To do select parts, you can use a lighter, but don't get it too close. If you want to make the mouth "open" you can stuff some aluminum foil in the mouth below the edges you want done and heat the lips up with your lighter to get the roll.

If you've got acetone around, a little dab on a shop rag smooths the edges nicely.
 
Pop the whole thing in the oven and then form it to your knife. Use ice cubes to quickly cool areas that don't need much "pinching".

If you wear gloves, use ice, and keep your hands moving, you don't need a press.

Once you have it "roughed in", you can go back with a hair dryer and "touch up" spots that need better forming.

I've done this with kydex that was 1/8" thick. Doesn't take very long at all. Plus if you screw up, you can just heat it up again and start over.

Answer your questions, Seth?
 
Mike - never heard that acetone trick...I'll have to try that. It dissolves it, right?
 
Yup, makes for a pretty slick edge. Can't take credit though, I think read that Normark does it somethere.
 
That Normark dude knows everything!

Seems like every time I hear a good kydex tip....."Got it from Normark"...:eek:
 
Cool stuff.... I was going to suggest a heat lamp or work lamp but the oven sounds even better. Funny, it reminds me of those little cut outs we colored as kids and put into the oven to shrink.....now we're doing it with kydex.....

They were right, everything we need to know we probably learned by 6yoa :)
 
"Shrinky-dinks"

That's what I had as a kid....loved 'em.

But make no mistake, kydex does not shrink. Just get's soft and pliable.

It's actually a building material....:confused:
 
pendentiveIt's actually a building material....:confused:[/QUOTE said:
I did not know that.....heaven help us if we all got together for Trival Pursuit game!!

Shrinky-Dinks.....yep, that's them, wonder if they still make them?
Click to expand...
 
I don't recommend boiling it. I had some cooking for hours once, and it never did get al dente. Smelled funny and tasted bad, too. :( ;) :p
 
I put the insert (kydex I think) for my BK 9 sheath in the microwave and it warmed it up enough that I could form it to the blade to stop that annoying rattling.
 
pretty much...

i'll probably end up using a lighter...

id like it to be a pretty tight fit, so im going to be using a vice


my one of ther question is - i noticed on the few step by step pictorials around that the blade is often taped up before the molding, is this necessary? why?

also, i noticed that pen taped up the foam for the khukuri sheath in his step by step, again, is this necessary?

just want to make sure that i dont ruin a good blade...
 
I oil and tape the blade because I also use ice cubes to cool the kydex (this has no negative affect on it, by the way) and the water will rust the blade.

The tape or saran wrap or foil or whatever is to keep it from forming too tight of a fit - which actually can be a problem.
 
thank you :D

that answers pretty much all of my questions :)

now its just a qeustion of belt loop design... stupid single row riveted skeletonizing.... makes it very difficult to attach a seat belt belt loop.... we'll see how it turns out...
 
when you run into a snag, give me a holler.

Dan
 
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