after wearing out all the nylon sheaths i got with several fenix lights i decided to try making something out of kydex. i hope my experiences with this might prevent some other newbies from making similar mistakes or atleast offer some help or insight for someone trying this
i got the thickest kind i could find in ebay (bad move) and i tried making a bezel down 2 piece sheath. a simple fold around the flashlight and the belt loop.
i measured out my design in paper, giving me 1 centimeter play in every direction. it worked but i had to reheat and remold and retry 8 times not counting final heatings and tweakings.
i grabbed a ruler and utility blade and tried cutting the kydex. all it did was scratch. well no problem i thought i'll just grab my dremmel and cut it.
i wouldnt call it a bad move but im sure its not the best option out there. the dremmel was set to the lowest mode and would burn, fluff up and throw hot pieces of kydex onto my arms. not to mention the kydex was to thick to cut thought but i had a big cut where i needed it. hack saw it was. i used the gutter i got from the dremmel and oiled up the saw and slowly and carefully (with proper lighting!!!!) cut the pieces, i still had some wobbly edges but i corrected it with sanding. yuo need to sand everything, all the edges and make sure theyre rounded off. not just free of barbs. the rounded edges will make it easier for clothing and arms sliding and moving past it
i heated up the kydex and used thick rubber work gloves to shape it. leather gloves work fine but they let in a bit more heat, atleast the pair i had. i held a glove in between my gloved hand and the sheath and pressed HARD
after several tries of bezel down the anti roll feature on the pd30 would mess up the kydex, it would either end up way to lose and rattle and or fall out or i could suspend myself from the light because it was in so tight i could not remove it from the sheath.
handshaping like this does work but it takes several times like i found out.
the belt loop was simple, i own a 2 inch wide thing leather belt and heated up a long thin strip and folded it over, i ended up with a straight piece that i later on would heat up again and curve a slight bit to follow the edge of my hip
sick of remolding and retrying over a total of 8+ hours over the course of several days i tried a bezel up carry, the kydex would hold the button and wouldnt have that 'lump' that would mess up the retention
after i finally got something i thought was oke i drilled 2 small holes with a 3mm drill bit and then going to a 6mm for my nuts, i had smooth headed but square anti twist lugs on it. i tried filling down the kydex to get this square shape but i found that filling in a folded piece of kydex is a no go. i gave up and drilled a larger hole.
i inserted the bolt into the sheath and belt loop and tried fiddling with it. still either to loose retention or to tight, i ended up reheating it to make it fit better and adding 2 washers to the sheath to give it some open flex/play this worked, with the nuts i used i could adjust the kydex to some form of retention i liked.
after some test tries i found out that i had to saw off 1 area off the kydex to prevent it from poking into my pocket and other edc items. i found out that eventhough i sanded everything i still needed to sand my belt loop so it wouldnt feel rough on my arm, i sanded it to where i could see the 'flat/front' area and not the sides of the kydex were sanded and tried it again
its no where near what i expected to do but since this was my first try i cant say im disappointed in my result. having done this i can see why people like kydex and can recommend it to people who are handy, having said that i would not regret paying someone 50 bucks to do this work for me knowing how frustrated i got at times.
here are the pictures of the end result i got
front of sheath
side of sheath showing the curve and the washers
the sheath with the light inserted
the way the sheath carries on my belt
i got the thickest kind i could find in ebay (bad move) and i tried making a bezel down 2 piece sheath. a simple fold around the flashlight and the belt loop.
i measured out my design in paper, giving me 1 centimeter play in every direction. it worked but i had to reheat and remold and retry 8 times not counting final heatings and tweakings.
i grabbed a ruler and utility blade and tried cutting the kydex. all it did was scratch. well no problem i thought i'll just grab my dremmel and cut it.
i wouldnt call it a bad move but im sure its not the best option out there. the dremmel was set to the lowest mode and would burn, fluff up and throw hot pieces of kydex onto my arms. not to mention the kydex was to thick to cut thought but i had a big cut where i needed it. hack saw it was. i used the gutter i got from the dremmel and oiled up the saw and slowly and carefully (with proper lighting!!!!) cut the pieces, i still had some wobbly edges but i corrected it with sanding. yuo need to sand everything, all the edges and make sure theyre rounded off. not just free of barbs. the rounded edges will make it easier for clothing and arms sliding and moving past it
i heated up the kydex and used thick rubber work gloves to shape it. leather gloves work fine but they let in a bit more heat, atleast the pair i had. i held a glove in between my gloved hand and the sheath and pressed HARD
after several tries of bezel down the anti roll feature on the pd30 would mess up the kydex, it would either end up way to lose and rattle and or fall out or i could suspend myself from the light because it was in so tight i could not remove it from the sheath.
handshaping like this does work but it takes several times like i found out.
the belt loop was simple, i own a 2 inch wide thing leather belt and heated up a long thin strip and folded it over, i ended up with a straight piece that i later on would heat up again and curve a slight bit to follow the edge of my hip
sick of remolding and retrying over a total of 8+ hours over the course of several days i tried a bezel up carry, the kydex would hold the button and wouldnt have that 'lump' that would mess up the retention
after i finally got something i thought was oke i drilled 2 small holes with a 3mm drill bit and then going to a 6mm for my nuts, i had smooth headed but square anti twist lugs on it. i tried filling down the kydex to get this square shape but i found that filling in a folded piece of kydex is a no go. i gave up and drilled a larger hole.
i inserted the bolt into the sheath and belt loop and tried fiddling with it. still either to loose retention or to tight, i ended up reheating it to make it fit better and adding 2 washers to the sheath to give it some open flex/play this worked, with the nuts i used i could adjust the kydex to some form of retention i liked.
after some test tries i found out that i had to saw off 1 area off the kydex to prevent it from poking into my pocket and other edc items. i found out that eventhough i sanded everything i still needed to sand my belt loop so it wouldnt feel rough on my arm, i sanded it to where i could see the 'flat/front' area and not the sides of the kydex were sanded and tried it again
its no where near what i expected to do but since this was my first try i cant say im disappointed in my result. having done this i can see why people like kydex and can recommend it to people who are handy, having said that i would not regret paying someone 50 bucks to do this work for me knowing how frustrated i got at times.
here are the pictures of the end result i got
front of sheath
side of sheath showing the curve and the washers
the sheath with the light inserted
the way the sheath carries on my belt
