www.buckleguy.com
This would be a pre-made Cadillac.
knifemaking.com
The "readymade" equipment for kydex isn't very expensive. I made my own press and used a toaster oven to heat it. I have switched over to a T-shirt press that I bought very cheaply on Craig's list and I like that a lot better for heating.
I like that fancy press you got there Ed.I would recommend sticking with the 1/4" eyelets, simply because it's more or less "standard", and using them means a client will likely NOT be contacting you, asking you to build another sheath when they try to use any of the available "fixtures"/"mounts".
As far a setting up for kydex, I too use a toaster oven, that I've wrapped in kawool. Here are images of my kydex press, built from a "hardwood floor jack" from Harbor Freight. The hard part is finding foam for a press.... the stuff that most outfits offer as "kydes press foam" is a joke..... anything even a tad over 350F, and you it will melt to your kydex......not only wrecking the kydex your working on, but also requiring you to purchase new foam. Personally I use silicon foam......it's pricey, but I've only had to buy it once.
Something I feel that is VERY important with kydex, is realizing that not every knife design lends itself to a kydex sheath! Kydex holds a knife via "pinch points", and that is usually the plunge cut areas or a part of the handle when a knife is designed to be use with kydex. If a knife has a large guard, be it oval or single finger guard, it's usually not a got candidate for kydex.....time/experience will teach which designs are good for kydex, and which are bad. Painter's masking tape is your best friend when molding kydex...... a layer or two on the item you're molding will give it the "wiggle" room needed when the kydex cools and shrinks.
Looks a lot easier that using four clamps.
I did learn an important lesson though.... you can only reheat a piece of kydex so many times before it either pulls apart, or simply won't mold anymore. Another thing that my press allows me to do easily is make kydex holster for handguns/pistols! That was something I'd never considered until somebody local came to me, asking "Do you know anybody local who builds kydex holsters?" and the light in my mind went off and I said......"Why yes I do!" And since, just through word of mouth, I've made a ton of kydex holsters.
Wasn't thinking, was I?
A question, Ed: I'd like to do a couple holsters for my Glocks, but cringe at the fifty dollar dummy guns to use for molding. I've seen some videos using the composite firearm and saying the heat won't hurt it, but I can't make myself risk it (with the composite frames). What you say? Have you done any holsters using a composite firearm like a Glock to shape the Kydex?I did the same thing (clamps) until I wrecked enough kydex to frustrate the puddin outta me, and built that thing.
By the way....here's the foam (the orange, that Mcmaster/Carr calls "red"): https://www.mcmaster.com/silicone-foam-sheets/high-temperature-silicone-foam-sheets-and-strips-7/
The biggest thing with holsters is making all the "forms" you need..... to create channels for the sights, to fill the ejection port so the kydex doesn't mold down into it and get the gun stuck in the kydex, etc.
I have considered making holsters and I have thought about the dummy guns. The upside to them is all of the channels are made for you including the mounted light if you wish. I thought about how I would address the cost. Obviously I would buy the Glock form for me because i love Glock. But if someone wanted a SIg what would I do? My current line of thinking is either to require a minimum number of orders for a "new" form I do not have so I can cover the cost. Or require a "set up fee" for new weapons that covers the cost of the form. Still working on it though...I've done all sorts of composite firearm holsters..... lots of Glocks, S&W Shields, SIGs, and a bunch of other composite frame guns, and to date have never had an issue. I'm with you, because those "dummy guns" are so expensive, I tell folks that I will only do a holster if they bring the firearm to me, and leave it till I'm done....that's because with something that bulky, forming the kydex doesn't always work right the first time......
