telekinetic

I have made a few of these now, and decided to write up a tutorial.


Materials:

• Kydex, any thickness, I used .060
• Grommet long enough to go through 2x kydex plus extra for forming (optional)

Tools:

• Something to cut kydex--bandsaw/utility knife and ruler/dremel with cutoff wheel and steady hand.
• Something clampy--jeweler's vice or other?
• Something hot--toaster oven or kitchen oven, it won't smell it up unless you burn it
• Something Drilly--Drill press is best, hand drill could work if you're careful, drill slightly larger than your grommet
• Dremel with cutoff wheels and sanding wheels (optional for finishing)
• Shop vac with tube clamped vertical (optional for tidiness of finishing/heat deformation prevention)
• Good leather Gloves (optional but highly suggested)
• Safety glasses

Cut a square or rectangle of Kydex big enough to cover your trigger guard as much as you want. For the PF9,omgI used .060 kydex, and I tried each of 3.5", 3", and 2.7" squares. omgI suggest a 3" for a gun this size, but the one I made for a Glock took a lot more. I didn't measure it, though.


You can cut this on a band saw or with a dremel, but the cleanest I've found is with a utility knife, scoring it repeatedly (10-20 times) with light pressure to stay in the same cut. omgOnce you have one side cut, you can cut the other side about half way and snap it.

Heat the kydex to 375 degrees F. omgI use a toaster oven I bought on craigslist for $5 specifically for this purpose.


While your kydex is heating (it will only take 90 seconds or so), prep your clamp/vice/whatever. omgI use a little leather 'softjaw' pad on mine so it doesn't leave tool marks on the soft kydex.



Like so:



From here on out you have to work fast, you have about 30 seconds to get it right.

Once your kydex is as floppy and rubbery as a sheet of neoprene, pull it out (with gloves or quickness tough fingers, your choice), fold it carefully in half, and clamp the bottom tight, with the open side flush with the edge of your vice/clamp (I totally made my vice in shop class a decade ago by hand on a mill and lathe--even threaded the shaft!--by the way...never put any finish on it, I should really blue it or something.)



Still working fast before it cools, put the pistol perfectly centered in the remaining open part of the kydex, making sure it's even on both sides. omgStart to use your hands to form it generally around the sides, pretty even and close to the trigger guard, grip, and sides of the gun. omgOnce I have a part like I want it I'll blow on it...it just has to drop below 300 degrees or so to get completely solid again, so you can 'freeze' parts with a good puff of air.



Take it out of the vice once it's cooled (a minute or so), and this is what you'll have. omgIf you're not happy with it, put it back in the oven on it's side...it will flatten all the way back out to a square and you can start over! omgKydex rules!


Take a heat gun (I have a paint stripper gun that I didn't remember to take a picture) and form one little feature at once. omgIf you watch carefully you'll see the section you're heating start to billow out slightly, then it's soft. omgUse your finger (I took my glove off and sucked it up to get more detail, it's not THAT hot) to form the features you care about--in my case, i formed a bit at the front of the trigger guard and a bit at the bottom of the trigger guard right in front of the grip, one side at a time. omgYou could also use a bic lighter and just flick the flame on the part you want to adjust until it's flexible, but you'll overheat it and it will look all shiny. omgStructurally it will be fine, though. omgYou can form the 'lock' as mild or aggressive as you want. omgForm something, let it cool, try it, adjust...repeat until perfect.


Measure the shaft of the grommet you're going to use, and drill a hole as close to that size as possible. omg If you don't have a grommet, just drill a nice smooth hole and smooth the edges.


If you do have a grommet, use the grommet tool to spread the grommet, then pound it flat. omgDo this against something small and hard so you don't dent the formed kydex.


Forming kydex with a dremel to get the final features in it has two distinct disadvantages. omgOne, it blows kydex dust EVERYWHERE. omgTwo, and more importantly, it will cause enough heat to melt and deform the features you've just carefully made. omgTo solve both of those problems, I clamped the tube for my shopvac to the post on my bench, and I do all my forming directly on top of it. omgThis is a mockup picture as I had to have a hand free for the camera. omgI use both cutoff wheels and sanding drums to form the shape and round all sharp corners.



I made three different sizes starting with known-sized squares--3.5", 3", and 2.7"--I started large and measured any excess, then went smaller. I'm not sure now that they are done how I like the fit on them.

3.5":

3":

2.7"


There are two thoughts about the mag release--cover it or clearance it. I like to have it clearanced, because then you can actually drop the mag and clear before you even unholster--a unique feature to this style. If you are worried about magazine drops, you could make it cover it to prevent that. Your call.



Now that it's done, use this however you want...I use a piece of leather lanyard cord tied and looped around my belt. (sorry for the hairy belly)


Tuck it into your pocket, making sure the whole lanyard is on the inside of the gun:



With a minor cover garment it's pretty well concealed. Even with a shirt tucked in, it's not bad, and almost noone would identify that string as meaning 'gun'.

__________________
twisted no more

citadel

That's awesome. A great alternative to putting on a whole carry rig for the times you just want to run down to the corner store.

Is the string so long that you have to get the gun really far out of your pocket before the trigger is exposed?

I want to play around with some Kydex, I like how slim you can make a holster with it. Until then I just use store bought.

Zeraph

Err why not just use the safeties on the gun? Or don't put one in the chamber?

telekinetic

I choose not to own guns with external safeties (the XD's grip and trigger safety not included), and carrying without one in the chamber varies from pointless to dangerous in a self defense scenario, based on who you talk to.

Guns in my home are either empty with a chamber flag in or the slide locked and no mag in the well if they are just being stored, or loaded with one in the chamber (and all safeties off, if I absolutely had to own a gun with a safety, for some reason) if they are prepared for use. There are too many possible conditions, so by narrowing it down to those two, I never have to wonder what state the gun in my hand is in.

__________________
twisted no more

KirStang

*WARNING* GRAPHIC

Here's what happens when you carry without one in the chamber.


Most experts discourage the practice.

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citadel

Do you mean stored with the slide locked back, or with the slide closed, but locked?

telekinetic

Locked back, and in the safe.

__________________
twisted no more

Walt

Why locked back? Just a "peace of mind" thing?

I have absolutely nothing to base this on but it seems like storing a handgun with the slide locked to the rear - essentially keeping the recoil spring compressed - would cause your spring to go south a lot faster than usual.

__________________
Calmer than you are...

Plan9

According to the various "studies" * conducted on magazine springs:

Compression doesn't ruin springs, repeated compression ruins them.**

Having the slide locked back is just stupid, not bad for the springs.

* Endless threads on every gun board about this exact topic. Google that shit.

** Assuming they're good quality springs designed for the task. YMMV. METT-TC.

...

If I get the time, I'll summarize the points from these "studies" and post.

...

Also: Have I mentioned how much I dislike this type of device? Yeaaah.

Plus the pockets on jeans are awful as far as easy access when seated, etc.

I would never concealed carry a pocket holster in jeans. That's totally suicide.

Let that pistol roll in your pocket and try to draw. Kinda defeats the purpose.

If the device isn't supporting the gun vertically with retention, it's not a holster.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

citadel

Like Walt, I'm also curious why.

Those studies may not directly translate, since most mag springs are coil, and most pistol recoil springs are flat. See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creep_(deformation)

I'm not one of the people who thinks they need to swap out their mags every 2 weeks to prevent spring damage, but I don't see the point in keeping a spring compressed if I don't have to.

telekinetic

All of my recoil springs are coils. Recoil springs are cheap anyways--due to an upgrade and a 'maintenance downtime elimination' spare parts buy, I actually have spares for both of the semi auto pistols currently in my safe. And I do it for the pragmatic reason that if a gun isn't obviously unloaded, it's loaded and chambered. I only have one safe at the moment, otherwise I'd have a storage safe and a 'ready' safe. Revolvers get their cylinder's propped open if they're unloaded.

The other reason is my wife can open the safe when I'm not home and pull out any gun without the cylinder open or the slide locked and use it without having to brass check. She knows this. Sure, she *should* check (and as guns go in and out of the safe from trades and acquisitions, she may not have fired them all), but if she doesn't have time, she doesn't have to.

__________________
twisted no more

Plan9

Yeah, the factory replacement for the recoil spring / guide rod assembly on a Glock 17 or 19 is like $5. And +1 to the "you should always have spares."

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

citadel

telekinetic, makes sense.

Plan9, in the past I've called Glock for serial number service or other questions and gotten a recoil spring and guiderod assembly sent to me for free when I mentioned it. I have plenty of spares now so I don't even bother, although I haven't called them lately.