Anyone familiar with Kydex?

[Brian]

I need to make a closure panel for the front of my GTD behind the upper shock mount. I don' have any aluminum working tools in my garage right now, so I thought I'd try a making the panel with a thermoset plastic and a web search turned up a material called Kydex, it's the stuff they make gun holsters out of. Is anyone familiar with this material? If so, can it be formed with a heat gun and hand tools as is claimed? If this is not the stuff to use, is there an alternative perhaps?

Can't use aluminum........don't want to use fiberglass..........want to make it myself without buying 1500 bucks worth of tooling.

Many Thanks

Brian

[Mark Charlton]

Brian,

It's not aluminum, but it does heat form reasonably well, especially with heat-bent folds. It has much better impact resistance than acrylics and if you like the funky texture, you're all set. You don't have much to lose by trying it out since it's fairly cheap. More info can be found on the manufacturer site (if you haven't been there already) at: http://www.kydex.com

Good luck.