Hybrid Kydex/leather

[mattsh]

OH MY GOSH!!!!!...... Thanks for the laughter! I needed that.

[CitizenKate]

That was hysterically funny, Mike. I had tears in my eyes by the time I got to the part about the shrieking. Thanks for helping us learn something at your expense, I'm sure the karma fairies will reward you richly.

Kate

[WaG35]

Yes, I bonded the two before doing any molding. The glue softened up a bit, but remained tacky when heated. As it cooled, it reverted to its 'stuck' status. As mentioned I used Weldwood, and per the directions got a good coat on both pieces. Where I knew I'd be heating large areas of it (initial fold and press), I dampened the leather w/ water in a spray bottle first. Like a lot of good contact cements, if you apply heat to mostly dried cement, it regains it's tackiness. In the forming stage, there wasn't really any lateral shear to move the leather, so as the glue re-set, everything was where it needed to be.

Out of several things I've tried, the Weldwood has held the best so far. It's not a permanent bond, as the leather can be pulled off, but it takes some real effort. At the flat edges, I skived down the leather to reduce the chance of hanging the edge of it on anything. As it sits now, you can peel the leather off, but you have to have an edged tool to work under it. 90 degree corners could be lifted (with a tool), but I advocate radiusing all corners anyway, so I eliminated them. If you take a finger or thumb and try to roll/peel the leather from the flat areas (mouth of holster), all you get is some smudges and a sore spot.

If anyone has a suggestion for a better adhesive, I'd like to hear about it. Despite my little incident, I still see a use for this, and want to make it better.......................just no IWB holsters.

I toyed with the idea of doing this type of holster, and decided to try and stick a piece of leather to a piece of kydex. I used Barge and didn't scuff the kydex, it seemed to stick way better than I thought it would. I think I may have to do a holster like this. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Blackey Cole]

Thanks for the laugh, been the best laugh for months. I have a couple of the free sample pieces from Springfield leather and plan on using them as stiffeners for some CAS holsters in the future plus as the mouth stiffener on a pancake. I plan on sandwitching the kydex between two leather pieces much like I have used flashing in the past. I was going to use Barge cement to bond everything and sew the edges just like a lined holster which is what it is plus the stiffener.

[MBOGO]

TwinOaks, sorry to hear about your "love pinching", sounds like something I'd do.

I wonder if one constructed it with a sweat shield if that would help or create a rigid irritant that would dig in?

Bladetec IWB holsters have quite the "sweatshield", very well thought out and executed. Incredibly well thought out and executed IMHO, and not an irritant.

Edited September 3, 2011 by MBOGO

[TwinOaks]

Yeah, sweat shield / pinch shield.....it's in the plan NOW!!!!

[HeartlandLeatherWorks]

Not only did I read this twice, I went and got my wife, so I could read it to her as colorful as you are in your story telling abilities, A huge thanks from both of us, and thanks for the glueing tip as well. You rock mister. 

[DogBytesMan]

I'm brand new to this forum (I've lurked in several different types of forums over the years) but honestly even though this is a pretty old post, this is the first post I've seen that made me shoot coffee out my nose....well done. Thanks for a hilarious tale! Now I have to clean up my kitchen table.....