Buying Kydex Sheets to make holsters

H

Hose-Zay

Inactive
Has anyone tried it, where is a good place to buy single sheets, etc. After buying a couple of supertucks and noticing the simplicity of the design I would like to try and make some holsters based on my own design.
According to this PDF document the layman can work the material themselves. Who knows?
http://www.kydex.com/briefs/144.pdf
 
I make some motorcycle accessories from Kydex and I always get my sheet Kydex from Knifekits.com. They have a great selection and the best prices on the net. Of course, if you're only buy one or two square feet, the shipping is almost as much as the Kydex itself. I'm going to be making a few holsters myself, and I bought everything but the Kydex from Tandy leather. They have a store near me, so I didn't have to pay for shipping.

Yes, Kydex is EXTREMELY easy to work with. Just go get a heat gun from the hardware store and you're set. You can also heat entire sheets in your ovento soften them for forming. I usually just lay the sheet on a flat surface and run a heat gun over it until it softens to the point I want it. (Also, make sure you have some heavy gloves to protect your hands from the heat.) You can soften it just enough to take a bend or you can get it really soft so that it will conform around almost any curve. Be conservative with the heat, though. You can always reaheat it and add more bend, but once you've actually stretched out the material, it's hard to fix a mistake.
 
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Due to shipping costs you are almost always better off buying local. Check with plastic wholesalers in your area. Mine works out to about $1.25 per square foot but that's a full sheet price so expect it to be higher if your not getting that much. The real fun is coming up with more things to make with it once you start playing with it.
 
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