My new acrylic wet mold for lock-blade sheaths

[Toddo]

Every type of wood that I used before cracked and/or split.  Including layer-glued cutboards of various wood types.  This 3/4" thick acrylic board won't be getting any splits!  It's basically bullet proof.  Extremely hard to file with a metal file to round off the underneath edges smooth.  It's like trying to file granite.  A belt sander worked really well to take an 1/8" off the over all 3/4" inch thickness to get the middle inset piece down to 5/8.  And the HF belt sander has a round side-mounted sanding wheel on it also that was good for getting the bottom rounded form of the sheath done.  Right now I just have the acrylic inset piece just taped down to the back portion of the mold because I haven't decided if I'm going to glue down the middle inset piece to the backboard with acrylic welding glue or drill and tap holes for machine screws to secure it down to the backboard.  Finally a permanent solution.

 

Edited Thursday at 10:19 PM by Toddo
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[DieselTech]

Nice work. Looks great. Should last a lifetime plus some. 

Is that for a Buck 110 folder?

[Thadrick]

Where did you buy it? I'm still using wood and yeah, it doesn't last long. Is it too hard to use a router to round the edges?

I also like that you can see the leather and view any wrinkles before letting it dry.

Edited Thursday at 11:44 PM by Thadrick

[DieselTech]

17 minutes ago, Thadrick said:

Where did you buy it? I'm still using wood and yeah, it doesn't last long. Is it too hard to use a router to round the edges?

I also like that you can see the leather and view any wrinkles before letting it dry.

Yes you can cut & shape it with a router & good bits. The trick is to get your router rpm right, so it don't melt=too fast, or bit chatter= from too low of rpm.

I shape 1/2" bullet proof glass with a router to make molds occasionally or jigs.  

[Toddo]

18 hours ago, DieselTech said:

Nice work. Looks great. Should last a lifetime plus some. 

Is that for a Buck 110 folder?

Yeah it's a lot of elbow grease getting the square hole cut out on the top piece and finished to a fine glass smooth finish but it's worth it because it's permanent.  And the rest of the entire surface of the acrylic is perfectly smooth so no unwanted impressions. 

I'm not sure about the specific Buck 110 knife but it's the right size for a 5 inch (closed) lock-blade knife.  I've also got an idea to also make an "adapter" block that's either made out of wood or rubber that'll fit snugly inside the sheath that would allow smaller 4 1/2" lock-blades to fit it.  It would be shaped exactly like the sheath but hollowed out in the center with like a half inch more wood left at the bottom so that the knife would sit 1/2" higher.  I would drill a hole through the side of the adapter block so that you could pull it back out of there with the short end of an allen wrench by sticking the allen wrench in the hole and pulling it out.

 

17 hours ago, Thadrick said:

Where did you buy it? I'm still using wood and yeah, it doesn't last long. Is it too hard to use a router to round the edges?

I also like that you can see the leather and view any wrinkles before letting it dry.

You can get various thickness and various sized sheets of acrylic on ebay.  I think I got 8in x 10in  3/4" thick pieces for around $20-$25 with free shipping.  It's way worth it in the long run.  I do have a dremel tool that I could get little router attachments for.  I have thought about it but not tried it yet.  I need to make about 3 more wet molds for a project idea I'm working on and I planned on trying to come up with easier ways to cut out the holes and get the fine finishing done on the edges and the inside of the holes.

Yeah it's pretty cool to see the leather under the clamped mold.  I just keep cranking the clamps down till I can't crank them no more and any wrinkles will absolutely squeeze out with that kind of pressure.  That worked on my wood molds too except the wood molds always wound up cracking somewhere. 

[Thadrick]

That's a good idea, I didn't think about e-bay. I found it, ordered a 2x4 foot sheet and will replace my old molds. 

[Toddo]

On 1/17/2025 at 9:16 PM, Thadrick said:

That's a good idea, I didn't think about e-bay. I found it, ordered a 2x4 foot sheet and will replace my old molds. 

I wish you good fortune getting the center holes cut out haha.  I used a round drill bit in the four corners and then a jigsaw on the one I showed up top. That one is my first and only mold as yet but trying to think of a better way to get it done I got some diamond “cut-out” bits for the dremel tool that I’m going to try on the next one and see how that works out.  Additionally i bought a 100T (100 tooth) triple ground tooth saw blade for my 10” blade miter box that’s gets really smooth cuts for acrylic and will also cut aluminum.  I used that blade to cut out the sheath form inset piece and it worked really good.  Nice glass smooth cuts.  Definitely wear a dusk mask though. I learned the hard way on that.

I got this blade on amazon for about $50..

Edited 7 hours ago by Toddo

[Thadrick]

Cutting the center out will be easy enough with a flush cut router bit. I used to have a huge cabinetry shop and the routers are the heart of every project I do. I can even use my worn out wood molds to build the new ones. I've cut lost of plex in the past but acrylic will be new to me. Surely it can't be harder than the micarta scales I've been Cutting can it?