should i jump on this kydex purchase?

amcardon

amcardon

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, I have a short window to buy some 1/8" kydex for about $4 per 9x12" sheet (i can also have him cut it larger, he has 15 4'x8' sheets he'll cut to any size). Should I jump on this? This is way more than I will EVER use, if this is a good price would anybody else be interested?

At 1/8" this is much beefier than your typical EDC kydex (usually 0.090" or less) so this is more for camp knives or those big suckers some of you like to make!
 
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For the last few years I've been purchasing my kydex from an outfit called Port Plastics. The last time I purchased was about a year ago. I purchased 2, 4'X8' sheets of .093 for $89 each, plus shipping. I've not checked prices since, but like everything else I'm sure it's gone up.

In my experience, 1/8" kydex has very limited uses. When I first start using kydex I remember thinking... 1/8" is what I want! I want my sheaths to be "beefy". What I found was that because it was so thick, it was difficult to work with, and I wound up wrecking more than I got right. I still have several pieces of that stuff around the shop, and tend to use it for templates or tooling patterns.

I had to smile when I read the last sentence of you post....those were almost my exact thoughts when I got the 1/8" kydex....I found out differently.
I would suspect that whomever is selling it for that price has discovered how difficult it is to work with, and it's limited uses compared to thinner grades of kydex. My suspicion is that they are trying to get rid of it without loosing too much.
 
Thanks for your comment, Ed! I can definitely see why 1/8 is a little overkill (okay, a lot overkill). I actually formed my first kydex sheath last night with it. I have never owned a kydex sheath and haven't handled more than a couple (but I have dozens of pictures of sheaths I like) so this is a learning process for me more than anything; if they are thicker than I would like that's okay for me right now because I'm learning as I go.

I know that 1/8 is too thick for many knife purposes, I just didn't know if some people use it in their own shops. Never thought about using it for a template but I was just thinking yesterday that I need to make some templates so I think this will work great!

Thanks again.
 
If you're doing two part sheaths rather than folding one piece in half, could you use a thicker piece for the back?
 
I've made only a couple of kydex sheaths, and for average sized knives with 3-5 inch blades, even the 0.09 is a bit thick.

Remember--the thicker the kydex, the stiffer it will be, so it will flex less when drawing/returning the knife from the sheath.
 
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