Crispin Report post Posted September 19, 2018 A few more works in progress. The elbows were my first try at a Kydex leather hybrid. I think next time I will use 3 Kydex inserts in the elbow to allow for better forming. Two "triangular" pieces on the sides of the elbow and a strip running down the center. On the gorget I have sewn through the Kydex and leather on the Cobra class 4. I like this. Gives the look of leather but the back side is ready for padding. It also acts as a sweat barrier. This gorget is going to be set up so I can sew a coif onto it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJole Report post Posted September 19, 2018 That's a nice looking gorget piece there. As a person who wears a gorget (I got stabbed in the throat just last week -- hurray for throat armor!), I like the protection of this one more than your previous one. I envy your use of the machine to stitch all this together! Also, for the elbows to really work, they probably need to be dished if they're going to protect all three points of the elbow. That dishing is what I'm working with on a gorget project of my own: . I'm doing articulating lames -- this is the front. Using the heat gun, and my fingers, I bent the lip of the top lame over. Just like dishing metal, I had to go back and re-work the C-curve of the lame. I still need to go back and fine-tune some flatter spots. But I found the articulation would be better if I could also dish the Kydex: It's a subtle dish, but the lames curve into each other. It sure takes a long time, though! This is where a form would be useful. I know that Kydex can be dished into a deeper bowl shape, but I don't think I want to try doing it by hand! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crispin Report post Posted September 20, 2018 I wasn't super happy with how it dished and would have to add lames. With the thickness of the kydex it just does not do complex curves very well. I am going to give it one more shot and change my molding process. If that does not produce the result I am looking for I am going to try sewing in three kydex bracers into the leather similar to the picture below. That way I can get a good shape and still have the protection and rigid kydex structure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DJole Report post Posted September 28, 2018 On 9/20/2018 at 4:38 AM, Crispin said: I wasn't super happy with how it dished and would have to add lames. With the thickness of the kydex it just does not do complex curves very well. I am going to give it one more shot and change my molding process. If that does not produce the result I am looking for I am going to try sewing in three kydex bracers into the leather similar to the picture below. That way I can get a good shape and still have the protection and rigid kydex structure. Those are some hefty leather elbows! Do they have three pieces of Kydex on them? I think I am going to do something similar these elbows I made, but putting the Kydex inside: 1) The leather alone isn't stiff enough to protect the 3 important bone points. 2) Once could, of course use cuir boulli, but then the nice carving would be lost, and the natural finish on the leather would be lost too. 3) So I'm going to install Kydex inside them. I don't think I can do it with one solid piece -- Kydex doesn't dish like metal, and I suspect that I would end up with wrinkles. But I'm thinking one piece with relief cut to form the curves, or two pieces, mirroring the leather pieces sewed together here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
