Tools for Making Knife Sheaths and Holsters
Shop knife sheath and holster making tools sorted by the job each one does, from marking and molding a shell to setting eyelets and polishing its edges. Start with a combo kit that bundles a press, heat gun, drills and eyelet setters, or build your bench one tool at a time for KYDEX®, HOLSTEX®, Boltaron® and leather work.
Layout starts with the Hobart® soapstone holder from design and layout tools, used to mark cutout lines and eyelet positions on the sheet. Molding preparation protects the knife or gun with 3M masking tape and sets up the gun with dowel rods, retention plates, spacers and weapon light widgets, while its steel templates lay out holes for clips and loops. A heat gun and infrared thermometer in heat and forming tools handle the warm-up, and the shaping happens on a bench, taco or VacuForge™ press from molding presses and foam.
After the shell cools, cut clean holes with the #6 and #8 eyelet drills, punch sets and countersink tools in drilling and cutting. Eyelets and snaps go in next with Basic Series hand setters, Journeyman and Master Series dies or Line 20 and Line 24 snap setters from eyelet and snap setting. Adhesives include M-Weld™ and E-Weld™ solvents for fusing seams, Vibra-Tite™ threadlockers for knife pivots and Eco-Flo® glue for layered leather. Brass Black™ from finishes and dyes re-blackens worn eyelets and rivets.
Trimmed edges are smoothed with flap wheels, belts and discs from sanding and polishing, where buffing wheels and compounds also shine up metal hardware. For leather sheaths and holsters, leather tooling adds a stamp handle, 3D stamping dies, a wooden mallet, a burnishing tool and stitching needles. Combo kits pair a 12 or 24 inch bench press or metal taco press with a heat gun, drills and setters, and the starter kits and Basic Kit 1 bundle KYDEX® sheet, Journeyman dies and hardware. Deciding between a bench press and a vacuum press for your next sheath or holster? Get in touch with what you plan to build.