M14 Forum

led boot

I need a new sheath for a knife, and have been thinking about picking up some kydex off ebay. Have a heat gun, and small rivet tools.

Anyone ever work with it? Tips, appropriate thickness, pics?

Dave P

I used Devcon Plastic Welder epoxy (Walmart) instead of rivets. Great glue! And metal belt clips at knife supply shops. An old toaster oven is nice to have.

led boot

Don't have a toaster oven, got a regular tho....but would a heat gun pull it off, or would it not be uniform to get a good shape?

What thickness did you use?

Malfeitor

For thickness in Kydex, we use one size thicker than the required finished part when thermoforming to account for the stretch . Standard thicknesses, I believe, are in 1/32 incrememnts. I know they are for the material we spec, but not sure about commercial specs. EX: If I design a .063 finished part, I spec for .093. Thickness uniformity depends on complexity of the part. A hard bend or deep draw will thin Kydex out fast.

led boot

Good info, thanks!

MesaRifle

Hmmm... the Kydex sheath that came with my Dozier knife...

http://www.dozierknives.com/index.ph...=article&id=78

...has cracked twice. (It's the horizontal orientation sheath, which tends to catch on things in tight quarters. I'm also going to have him make me a more secure & deep vertical sheath for carry in the rough bush country. Walking through the willows in bush Alaska is kinda like having a dozen Rome pickpockets "working" your belt!)

I sent it back the first time and, as I recall, it cost me ≈ $20 plus shipping to & from, to have him replace just the cracked part. You mention that Plastic Welder though; will it actually soften and then "weld" this material enough to consider the crack solidly repaired?

(Of course, your blade should always have a lanyard fitted when you're out in the bush...)

BTW, I've dedicated a tiny part of my day-to-day life to wearing this blade out, and so far, I can't. I do not baby this knife, and I use it for pretty much any actual cutting/knifing duties, opening packaging materials, trimming small branches around the garden (no hacking, NO PRYING, no abuse.), and as a non-firearm self-defense "device" when walking the mean streets? Excellent choice, and very reasonably priced! One day Doziers will be classified like Randall collector's blades, I guarantee it!

That D2 tool steel Bob Dozier uses? Fantastic knife stuff, let me tell you!

As a cutting edge artist, dang, Bob! YouDahMan!