jeff wrote in
:

Richard Casady wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:01:46 -0700 (PDT), Mark
wrote:

On Jun 7, 3:55 pm, Gordon wrote:
On the subject of sewing and sunbrella in particular, how do you
cut
the stuff and work with it without the edges unraveling?
I thought about trying a soldering iron to cut it.
Gordon
Pinking shears; if you don't want to invest in a hot knife.

Go to Radio Shack and buy a pencil soldering iron. They make a hot
knife blade that screws right on. Get some rosin core solder while
you are at it. Get a gun as well if you have the bucks and storage
for it. Consider lead free solder, 95% tin and 5% silver, twice as
strong, melts at 375. Less melted insulation. More flavor, less
filling. They might have some tinned wire big enough to be useful. 14
awg will handle fifteen amps. They got the heat shrink tubing. You
can spend some bucks, but you need to have it already if the boat
breaks offshore. A small inverter is all you need for the hot knife.

One of the more useful tools I carry is the butane powered Weller
soldering iron/hot knife. Its perfect for small soldering (not enough
BTUs for large cable) and also the hot knife easily cuts and seals any
line or synthetic fabric you might use. And, of course, its cordless,
but you will need to carry a small butane canister for refills. Used
on almost every trip.
http://www.amazon.com/WELLER-PORTASO.../dp/B000WOHSHM

I have one and it's great, but I don't think that they provide the knife
any more. At least you can't buy a replacement knife blade the last time
that I checked.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org