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#21
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Sewing machines again?
Since the group is interested in sewing cushions, etc. What good sources of
foam for cushions and mattresses have people found? What's worked for them in terms of thicknesses, firmness, open or closed cell? Thanks for any info ! Ed "Dennis Pogson" wrote in message ... Mark wrote: Glenn Ashmore wrote: I need a machine for making cockpit cushions, canvas items around the boat and minor sail repairs. I know I need zigzag, enough power to make it through 5 or 6 layers of Sunbrella and maybe a walking foot but that's about it. Might be worth looking into an ancient home machine. I bought a used all metal 1950-60s ziz-zag two speed no walking foot Viking-Husqvarna 21E home machine for $80 15 years ago for a cabin cushion project, figuring if it blows up I'm still ahead of the game. It was over $1000 new in 1960 dollars. Many sail repair, canvas, flagmaking, camping gear and clothing repair projects later the thing is still chugging along, needing only light bulbs (hard to find) every five years or so. Five or six layers of Sunbrella in low gear is doable, multiple cloth + leather-foam-adhesive-plastic window type sewing requires "helping" with the hand wheel, broken needles, swearing and lots of time but is also doable. The key is the right "denim" or "ball point" type needle, swedish are best, Singers suck. The downsides: - It's slow - The stitch length and zig-zag width aren't as large as commercial sail machine - The small bobbin means you're endlessly refilling the bobbin on 30+ foot seams - No walking foot means you're "helping" the cloth through on thick stuff - Thread tension controls weren't meant for big thread-thick cloth jobs, touchy - Small work surface means keeping things organized requires lots of pins - Small throat means creative stuffing on large things, middle of sails being near impossible Upsides: - It's an $80 throw away - Only 30 pounds or so - Compact, easy to store - Fairly low wattage, works fine on a 1000 watt inverter, because of intermittant load - No computerized crap or plastic, all mechanical, screwed together fixable - Has attachments that will do lots of non-manly sewing, double needle, rolled, edge, flat felled seams, darning, buttons, fancy zig-zagging, and I lot of stuff I don't understand. The ladies love it; I've had SailRite equipped boats borrow mine so the better half can make, repair and enhance delicate things. Bought mine at a sewing machine repair store; Ebay might not be such a good idea as you may get a clunker. Probably more than $80 now, but the codger told me women turn in their 60's machines for the latest feature laden Singer, even though the old machine still has a lot of life in it and is a hell of a lot tougher. P.S., sewing is a skill and there's a learning curve involved; I'm just marginally competent and have a lot of respect for the experts. Some things to key on a finished outside surface vs. inside surface, lay, seam allowance, thread tension control and shrink. I still rip out about 10% of my seams and redo because of goofups. Worst stab is when you make a mirror image of the item you wanted to make, you know, seams on the outside and such. Automobile factories use lots of sewing machines, and replace them regularly, long before they are worn out. You need to find somone who knows someone who knows someone else....................... Dennis. |
#22
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Sewing machines again?
Ed wrote:
Since the group is interested in sewing cushions, etc. What good sources of foam for cushions and mattresses have people found? What's worked for them in terms of thicknesses, firmness, open or closed cell? Thanks for any info ! Ed A foam and fabrics warehouse is your best bet; A1 Foam and Fabrics is my favorite in San Diego. They'll cut and glue foam to match your old ones, and you can test sit and lie on the various densities, types, etc. Also provide a lot of good advice, they convinced me to got with higher density for seats and lower density for seat backs. |
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