DIY Kydex Holster

[Jskaanland]

I wanna get a few things out of the way. I cleared this firearm before starting. Remember to obey firearm safety rules… and don’t blame me if you shoot yourself/ruin your gun.

Also, there are much better guys out there but here is my holster. For guys who are up for watching some long videos, I learned most of this from watching PhillyEDCs videos a few years ago when I made my first holster.

DIY Kydex Holster How-To Part 1 - YouTube
DIY Kydex Holster How-To Part 2 of 2 - YouTube

Stuff you need-
Kydex sheet .80 (4’x4’)
White Pencil from fabric store
Straight edge
Toaster oven
Heat Gun
Razor knife
Press- There are much better designs out there. I used part of my longboard press.
Kydex forming Foam
Rivets/Die
Jigsaw
Sander - I love my random orbital it does great for this.
Bench Vise(for jigsaw and sander)
Drill

I started by trimming off a 8” piece from my sheet. Just score it lightly over and over. Kydex will snap if scored well. I then cut it down to two 8” by 7.5” pieces.

I like a little cant on my holsters usually. So I traced it out on the piece of kydex. I left a fair amount of kydex by the muzzle of the gun to make sure it will wrap all the way down. Here is my rough trace

This holster will be riding on my pack belt. I would usually run the inside higher for an IWB when I’m concerned about pinching my love handles. My main concerns for this one are keeping the muzzle clean/free of debris and protecting the trigger from accidental discharge.

Now that I have it trimmed out and traced, I will start heating up the kydex. Take it slow on heating the kydex up. If you go too fast it will shrink they kydex. I try and get my kydex to 340-350. I bring it up to 280*, flip the kydex and then keep going slow to 340-350. My toaster oven, I set it to 150 and leave it for 5-10 minutes, then start checking and turning it up. If it jumps up in temp fast I turn it down to 120ish. Keep checking the temp and turning up. I think it usually takes around 20 minutes.

While the kydex is heating I also heat up the foam a little, by putting it on the toaster oven.

I’ll tape my gun up to prevent any marks and smooth out the definition a little. I fill in the ejection port with wood or plastic, otherwise it you will have to use a heat gun to adjust that retention later. I put a pencil on top of the slide to give me plenty of clearance, if I switch to a set of tall sights for an RMR. I wrap the trigger guard a few times in tape so the kydex doesn’t push in to far. I’ve had to adjust the retention there when I haven’t taped the trigger guard.

Once the kydex hits around 320, I start heating the slide a little. If you have a polymer receiver DO NOT HEAT THE RECEIVER! My buddy not only didn’t listen but he really heated up his receiver and jacked it up. All I’m doing it making sure the slide isn’t 40*. My hope is to give the kydex time to get better definition than if it hits cold metal.

Once your kydex reaches 340-350, toss on some gloves place your kydex on your foam. Place your gun and put it in your press. Leave it in to cool. Rinse and repeat…

A note, kydex is pretty forgiving, as long as you don’t jack the heat up too fast. I screwed up the second lay and it was off. Far enough I decided to redo that side.

Once you are happy with your formed kydex it’s time to draw and trim. Decide what type of curves/shape you want and trace it out on one side. Make sure you leave about ¾” between the curves of the gun to the edge of your kydex for the rivets.

Because I don’t own a bandsaw, I put a jig saw in my vise upside down. It’s beyond “OSHA approved.”

 

[Jskaanland]

I had to break this post in two... so here is post two...

I like to play with rivets a bit. Sometimes I do groups of 3 at ½” spacing. Sometimes spaced 1”. This will also change on what style of loops I’m using. I’m going to be using malice clips for this, so I will adjust to those.

To make sure they are well spaced and my drill bit doesn’t walk I like to start with a small bit then switch to a larger drill bit. After you have drilled all the holes on one side, place the gun between your two pieces of kydex and pinch it with a clamp and drill through to the other side.

Once you have nice clean holes, I use a ½” drill bit by hand to kinda countersink the holes for the rivets. I would put rivets in all the holes without punching them down and then take a sander too the match up the edge.

Once you have the edges matched up nice, clean the shaving outs and wipe down the interior of the kydex. Then pound your rivets in.

Once your rivets are in, add any contour you want/need. I do this by placing the rivets evenly in a bench vice and slowly heating both sides until you get the flex you want. I like to keep the gun in the holster for this.

Sand to straighten the edges, as they will shift when you bend the kydex. Once they are even, buff to smooth out the final edge.

I wasn’t satisfied with the retention so I tossed another river near the trigger guard. As you can see in this picture. I also ran out of black chicago screws, so I used one aluminum.

Here it is with a medium belt pouch attached as well.

 

[coop2424]

Very nice work and great write up. I really need buy something or make one. Thanks for the write up!!

 

[colonel00]

Looks great. Taking orders? I'd love to get one for a G20 and my .44. I just don't know that I'd make enough holsters or sheaths to justify getting everything necessary to make my own. Seems like a very simple way to attach a sidearm to a pack which many are looking for.

 

[Jskaanland]

Looks great. Taking orders? I'd love to get one for a G20 and my .44. I just don't know that I'd make enough holsters or sheaths to justify getting everything necessary to make my own. Seems like a very simple way to attach a sidearm to a pack which many are looking for.

Thanks for the interest, but I just do it for fun(also per site rules I don't sell these as I'm not a sponsor). I had thought about trying to do this as a side gig but realised how much effort it would be. The dummy guns for molding add up in cost. My wife would also kill me if I started taking orders. If someone is local to me and they cover materials and bring some beer for my fridge, I'll teach them.

Most of the tools I already had, just had to do some creative thinking on how to make it work. The things outside of what I would consider most people have isn't too bad.

This is what the dies and foam ran me(this is copied from an old order so prices may have changed) https://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index.php
1 x CKK Rivet/Eyelet Flaring Dies - Journeyman Series - #8 - (1/4) (KYRDJS-8) = $24.95
1 x CKK Rivet/Eyelet Flaring Die Guide - Journeyman Series (KYRDJS-DG) = $12.95
2 x Sheath/Holster Making Foam - Thermoform Molding - (Standard Form) - (12x11.5x1) (KKSMF12) = $21.90

If I was going to remake a press, I would do this style, this guy says it would cost around 20 bucks - Simple DIY Kydex Press - YouTube

Here are some ideas on replacing some of the tools I used:
Belt or palm sander would work well instead of my orbital.
Dremel with a buffing wheel could replace the bench grinder with a buffing wheel.
You could use a hacksaw instead of a jigsaw
Kitchen oven instead of a toaster oven(10 bucks from Value Village is worth not having to try and sneak this past my wife)