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 16 hours ago by Toddo
info

[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 15 hours ago 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.