Posted: 6/23/2006 9:32:04 PM EDT
| Any tips on cutting, shaping and bending Kydex? |
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Cut with aviation metal shears or a jig saw with a fine tooth blade. Holes work better if they're drilled instead of punched, although you can punch with standard leather drive-type hole punches, as long as you press the "dimple" caused by the punch back out. Shape with various grits of sandpaper, and sanding drums in a Flex-shaft or Dremel. Be careful not to over heat with power sanding, the plastic will melt. Finish polish the edges with very fine sand paper. I used special sanding "film" that was made for working on plastics to give the edges a final shiny finish. You can buy very small sheets of assorted film in hobby shops where it's sold by Testor's for working on model cars. You can bend and form by either putting the plastic in an oven or by using a heat gun on LOW. You have to experiment with the oven to find the best combination of temp and time so the plastic can be formed easily, but doesn't melt. With the heat gun you have to be careful not to spot melt the plastic. For final fitting and forming the heat gun is best. |