Is Kydex actually useful for making things and other makers are missing out, or is the firearm community missing out on other better materials for diy holsters/sheaths? Fire arm folks use kydex as a generalist material for anything and everything. Others don't use if for anything, at all.
I happen to have a huge amount of kydex when I bought some in bulk when I was younger. It's slightly handy when I need a sheet of plastic more generally or if I need some plastic where I have control over its dimension because it's a score to cut material. But in looking for excuses to use it up I haven't found it very handy. Searching for what things others have made out of it not too many other people have found it useful besides gun enthusiasts.
For those completely out of the know kydex is also a thermal plastic, meaning if you heat it up to around 300F you can bend and shape it. You can also score it on the "wrong" side to make angled bends without heating.
Basically in the analogy between metal and plastic, sintering would be 3d printing while kydex would be sheet metal. But no one besides the firearm community finds that useful to have the plastic equivelent of sheet metal and with my own experiences I find you have to think pretty damn hard to find an excuse to use it. Do you think there is anything fundamentally wrong with the idea of a plastic equivelent to sheet metal?
Is Kydex actually useful for making things and other makers are missing out, or is the firearm community missing out on other better materials for diy holsters/sheaths? Fire arm folks use kydex as a generalist material for anything and everything. Others don't use if for anything, at all.
I happen to have a huge amount of kydex when I bought some in bulk when I was younger. It's slightly handy when I need a sheet of plastic more generally or if I need some plastic where I have control over its dimension because it's a score to cut material. But in looking for excuses to use it up I haven't found it very handy. Searching for what things others have made out of it not too many other people have found it useful besides gun enthusiasts.
For those completely out of the know kydex is also a thermal plastic, meaning if you heat it up to around 300F you can bend and shape it. You can also score it on the "wrong" side to make angled bends without heating.
Basically in the analogy between metal and plastic, sintering would be 3d printing while kydex would be sheet metal. But no one besides the firearm community finds that useful to have the plastic equivelent of sheet metal and with my own experiences I find you have to think pretty damn hard to find an excuse to use it. Do you think there is anything fundamentally wrong with the idea of a plastic equivelent to sheet metal?
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