Best supplier for Kydex

[RMB Custom Leather]

Does anyone know of some good suppliers of Kydex. Also what is the best thickness for knife sheaths and gun holsters.

[troop]

hey Rob, i use knifekits.com. they have the best prices and biggest selection i have found. i only use the stuff for internal parts in holsters and paddles, but as far as thickness for sheaths and holsters themselves i am guessing about .093 to .125.

Tony

[nancyg]

Okay, I'll admit I'm clueless here. What do you use kydex for? I see it comes in sheets and is different thickness. Just curious.

[troop]

well Nancy, kydex is normally used to make holsters and knife sheaths. you cut out a pattern heat it up, usually in the oven and it becomes soft like a thin layer of playdough. you can mold it, like around a gun for a holster or knife for a sheath. i use it as support pieces in my paddles for my paddle holsters because it tough and sturdy and i can mold it into any shape i need. i also use it as stiffeners for the top of some of my thumb breaks on my holsters. if you go to springfield leathers web site, they have a video of how to use kydex as they sell it now. hope i made sense.

Tony

[RMB Custom Leather]

I think that Kevin at Springfield leather has the best price here is their website http://springfieldleather.com/store/ Also check here for free shipping on orders of $50 or more http://www.interstateplastics.com/pl...lter+%3E%A0%A0

[Denster]

Can anyone tell me at what temperature Kydex becomes pliable? Thanks

[troop]

hi Denster, i put it in my home oven at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 min depending on thickness. then it is ready to mold. wear gloves though cause it is hot.

Tony

[KDHolsters]

My experience has been that there are different levels of quality of the kydex, same as with leather. The choice of the right thickness for the job factors into the durability. Other factors with respect to durability are the severity of the bend vs thickness. I know one kydex holster company that uses .125 in thickness of kydex for the clips on their holsters and they break in pretty short order. I use .125 thickness in the making of the clips for our holsters and I have yet for one of them to break. YMMV.

[RMB Custom Leather]

Can anyone tell me at what temperature Kydex becomes pliable? Thanks

You need to get one of these heat guns I bought the orange $19.99 one and it works fine. Just a few seconds on the Kydex and you can go to molding. http://search.harborfreight.com/cpis...+gun&Submit=Go

[Sharpshooter]

We make a few kydex sheaths here, about 3000 a year so I can speak from a bit of experience.

If you plan on doing more than just a couple, go ahead and buy the stuff in bulk, I buy 4 x 8 sheets, usually 5 at a time. Call Piedmont Plastics, they will cut the sheet down to 2 x 4 sections for shipping.

Unless the knife is huge, I stick with .060 and have great results.

The .090 and thicker stuff seems to me to be an extension of the "if a little is enough, too much is just right" school, common in the tactical knife world. The Chairborne Commandos that buy most of those type of knives figure that the "real" guys want big and beefy. One of my most common sheaths is made for a knife designed by a training command for Marine Force Recon; they requested the sheath to be light weight, thinking that were it to break they can simply get another one. We've replaced very few so .060 seems plenty strong.

As for heating Kydex, I never bothered with a heat gun as it is too uneven in real use. I quit using the oven a few months back when I discovered "THE GRIDDLE".

One of those $20 electric griddles from Wally World sold for making breakfast. Plug it in,set the temp just below 300 degrees and lay the kydex flat.

We're really not as concerned about temperature as we are about HEAT. The Kydex absorbs heat and becomes flexible, as it loses the heat it becomes less flexible; I don't care about the intensity of the heat (temperatire) as I do about even distribution.

The Griddle is perfect for that.

If there's enough interest, I'll put together a bit of a tutorial on Kydex Sheaths including plans of the presses I've used for the past four years (cost about $30 for a pair) and resources for eyelets, dies and such.

Reid