Kydex Sheath Masterclass

nice work

Do you have a website, I'd like to buy a knife from a homestater.

Edit; i found it. Gonna check it out now.

Interesting

Thanks so much for the video.

Interested on the blade and the Sheat.

Outstanding! Indeed, a Masterclass. I appreciate your attention to detail, and of course I appreciate you sharing this great information. I have been on the fence with Kydex. I have made many sheaths for knives, hatchets, and axes with leather. I use a food saver vacuum to wet mold the leather similar to your tight squeeze vice. I think the Kydex has that tactical look and feel that where the leather has a more earthy look and feel. Glad I saved that little oven that my wife threw out. I use it to dry and harden finish leather. new sub

You do know they make Chicago screw pliers to make that part way easier instead of your 2 screwdriver method.

What knife is the one you used to cut the tape on the other knife?

Great Video. Concise, to the point, and explained thoroughly. I will be bookmarking this video.

What thickness of Kydex do you use for your knife sheaths?

That’s a super nice sheath!

I don^t usually comment, but this is some quality content right here! Full of knowledge, thank you for sharing your passion!

Links, what links?

What knife is that?

Master class are the Discreet Carry Concepts Clips. 1980 called and wants their suspender clip ulticlip back ✌️. With that being said, great video.

Beautiful knife. I would scout carry that bad boy.

How can I purchase this exact knife? Exactly what I’ve been looking for

Great video.
The press I want to make, pushes straight down from the top, versus at an angle.
Also, ive never heard people using duck tape before. Interesting.
Why did you only put rivets where the clip will go, and not further down the blade? Those washers are meant to go between the clip and the rivet, so the clip sits flush with the flat of the blade.

For that last bit of sanding in the gap, ladies emery sticks work really well. I got more consistent results than with folded sandpaper. You can also use an electronics hot air station or an embosser's heat gun for more directed heat. A piece of heavy leather or silicone is helpful to shield the parts of the sheath you don't want getting hot.

That is a beautiful Knife! needs a good pocket sheath.

Ok one screwdriver in the vise and then it's easier

Hey my brother, try a set of wally mart thin cotton gloves with silicon rubber gloves on top. You can still use your fingers but won't burn yourself. Good vid!

Kydex is plastic, plastic is shit.

That's a great looking sheath and an even better looking knife. Everything is super clean, I love it. Great job!

Great tutorial. From someone who has made a few of these with several 'learning moments' making errors, this is very clear and concise. Wish I would have found this channel a couple of years ago.

Great video! I was hoping you'd line up the slots on the Chicago screws!

Man I've been making kydex sheats for 15 years, and I still got a couple of tips out this. Thank you, great video!

The beard alone earns a sub. The content, seals the deal. 🤙

That looks nice

You're worried about calling the two types of screws male & female? Why? That's the correct name. Did you know that any type of screw where a male threaded screw screws into a female threaded screw is technically a type of “sex screw?” A Chicago Screw like that is the most common type of sex screw. But if you're into knife making, you're probably familiar with Corby bolts & Loveless bolts that are used to attach knife scales. Those are also types of sex screws. So just call it what the correct name is without any embarrassment.

This is one of the most straight forward vids I've seen about making Kydex sheaths. Many thanks for this, I'm subbed!

Thank you so much for this. Always wanted to learn and a knife is a good start.

You can use emery boards for the inside stuff. They are going to add a bit of cost but you have much greater control than with sandpaper and you can get them in many grits.

You may be able to protect the kydex from burning in the toaster oven if you can put another rack & tray above the sheet. The tray would protect the sheet by blocking the infrared radiation from the top heating element so it would only be heated by conduction from the hot air in the oven.

Fun watching a master at work. Wonder if those hook utility blades would be handy to use for you shop utility knife for clean up work. Just a thought.

One thing I would suggest on whom ever is doing the final height placement on the clip is to put a drop of high strength loc-tite on the threads. And 2 as a idea for you to make it easier to put in those belt clips put in your top one first as you can swing the clip up or down l or even swing it a180 Dgs and then put in the bottom one it will give you a bit more finger room to get it together :) .
Very Nice video and thank you for the walk very helpful * Two Thumbs UP !! *

Great video,
instant subscriber !
Love your style keep up the good work 🔪

Super helpful video. I wish I would have watched this before my first attempt. Can't wait for round two.

Whet if you want it length wise on your belt

Investing in an arbor press to press the rivets is so worth it.

I add a dab of blue locktite upon final assembly to keep the clips secure.

Should use breathing protection for sanding Kydex.

EYELETS, NOT RIVETS!

Nice, sliding the kydex into the mold...I never thought to do that, mostly because I keep my press horizontal. I kind of fumble around getting it just perfect with gloves on and then holding tension while closing it up without getting my glove caught in there and pulling the kydex out of place. The thing I'm always particular about is to have the spine of the blade tucked into the fold as much as possible so there's as little "overhang" as possible with a taco sheath. Sliding the kydex into the mold with the blade under tension would work well in that situation, provided you're pushing the knife down with that in mind.

I always do the final retaining tension with at least a clamp over the portion that would have the eyelets to mimic what the kydex will do when it's finished. I've had sheaths end up too tight because I was using my fingers to hold the split together and it separated an imperceptibly small amount, but it was enough to make the tension feel just right. When I set the eyelets, the tension was way too tight and I had to end up hitting the retaining area with a heat gun to let it loosen up. After that damage control, I ended up making a habit of either adding the eyelets before the final tension or using a tiny c-clamp instead of pinching it together with my fingers. To that effect, I also don't set the tension with a taped blade, as that little bit of extra material can make it rattle around or just be loose in general. That final bit of trimming and sanding is done gently with an uncovered blade so the result is exactly what you want in the end product.

For the eyelets holes, I've found using a slightly undersized drill and bringing it up to the right diameter with a reamer leaves almost zero burrs and swarf to clean up. I guess the way the reamer cuts perpendicularly compared to a spiral is the trick, I don't really know why it works so well. I like the hole to have enough friction to hold the two halves together in place, so that nothing moves around when I squeeze the eyelets down.

One of the things I like doing with kydex is adding a small drain hole at the bottom to prevent any water from pooling up inside, ideal for bushcraft destined knives. It can be done after the fact at the very bottom going between the two halves so there's not a visible hole going through the sheath, but you can also tape a toothpick or thin rod to the tip of the blade so it's molded into the sheath itself. This saves you from having a visible hole in the sheath that looks like an afterthought, as you can only see it from the bottom.

And for anyone doing the thumb ramp or just molding a part of the kydex with a heat gun for the first time, take your time heating it up and make sure you evenly heat both sides! It's really easy to melt a spot on the surface with high heat and still not have it hot enough to be moldable. Do that and you've basically ruined the consistent rough texture, or worse. It may seem thin, but kydex is a poor conductor and heat transfers through it very slowly, so think of it like cooking a thick steak...it's all too easy to turn the outside into charcoal with the inside still raw, so you apply low heat slowly and even on both sides to allow the heat to transfer into the center. It doesn't need to be noodle soft, just pliable enough to bend into shape.

Great video. Best part is when you said "just get it done" . People have to learn to suffer alittle sometimes to learn and get better at things.

Very nice. Good tutorial!!!

Very good video to learn
Thank you men
Big hug from spain

Fantastic video! Great explanations, especially of all the details that could be dorked up (rivet holes, thumb ranp, etc.) Very well done!

Great video 😊

Good work! Thank‘s