Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #11   Report Post  
Cindy Ballreich
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?

Glen "Wiley" Wilson wrote:
The standard answer to this question is to try Sailrite


Could these machines (the LSZ-1 for example) be used to sew clothes?

  #12   Report Post  
Steve
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?


"Cindy Ballreich" wrote in message
...
Glen "Wiley" Wilson wrote:
The standard answer to this question is to try Sailrite


Could these machines (the LSZ-1 for example) be used to sew clothes?


I've never tried it. I think they would be overkill for domestic fabrics.
However, for denim this machine would be great since it could handle the
multiple layers that would be encountered in blue jeans.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions


  #13   Report Post  
Steve
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?


"Cindy Ballreich" wrote in message
...
Glen "Wiley" Wilson wrote:
The standard answer to this question is to try Sailrite


Could these machines (the LSZ-1 for example) be used to sew clothes?


I've never tried it. I think they would be overkill for domestic fabrics.
However, for denim this machine would be great since it could handle the
multiple layers that would be encountered in blue jeans.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions


  #14   Report Post  
Dick
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?

Do you guys know of good sewing machines for sailwork, canvas work?
I'm thinking of getting one to make my own sails and canvas work. I would
love to hear from people who have done this and are happy or not with thier

purchase.



I have a PFAFF 130. It works well but not for everyone. It was made in the mid
1940s. You can still get parts except for the tensioner. In the past, I have
seen them for as much as $650, but you can get them for a lot less. I have not
had any trouble with mine in the seven years that I have had it. It can sew 6
to 8 layers of sumbrella with a 110 needle. It can also use the heavy thread
that some machines have trouble with.


Dick



  #15   Report Post  
Dick
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?

Do you guys know of good sewing machines for sailwork, canvas work?
I'm thinking of getting one to make my own sails and canvas work. I would
love to hear from people who have done this and are happy or not with thier

purchase.



I have a PFAFF 130. It works well but not for everyone. It was made in the mid
1940s. You can still get parts except for the tensioner. In the past, I have
seen them for as much as $650, but you can get them for a lot less. I have not
had any trouble with mine in the seven years that I have had it. It can sew 6
to 8 layers of sumbrella with a 110 needle. It can also use the heavy thread
that some machines have trouble with.


Dick





  #16   Report Post  
Doug Dotson
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?

It works fine. Nancy used ours to make a couple of shirts and
pants out of Androsia when we were in the Bahamas. You may
want to use a smaller needle and adjust the bobbin tension for
a finer thread (and of course the top thread tension). We also
used it to repair bed sheets with no problem.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Cindy Ballreich" wrote in message
...
Glen "Wiley" Wilson wrote:
The standard answer to this question is to try Sailrite


Could these machines (the LSZ-1 for example) be used to sew clothes?



  #17   Report Post  
Doug Dotson
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?

It works fine. Nancy used ours to make a couple of shirts and
pants out of Androsia when we were in the Bahamas. You may
want to use a smaller needle and adjust the bobbin tension for
a finer thread (and of course the top thread tension). We also
used it to repair bed sheets with no problem.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Cindy Ballreich" wrote in message
...
Glen "Wiley" Wilson wrote:
The standard answer to this question is to try Sailrite


Could these machines (the LSZ-1 for example) be used to sew clothes?



  #18   Report Post  
Steve
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?


"Dick" wrote in message
...

I have a PFAFF 130. It works well but not for everyone. It was made in the

mid
1940s. You can still get parts except for the tensioner. In the past, I

have
seen them for as much as $650, but you can get them for a lot less. I have

not
had any trouble with mine in the seven years that I have had it. It can

sew 6
to 8 layers of sumbrella with a 110 needle. It can also use the heavy

thread
that some machines have trouble with.


I agree, the Pfaff 130 is a cruisers favorite. In addition to the reason you
state, this machine is still common in small tailor shops in the 3rd world.

I had a 130 before my Sailrite. I did both sail repair and canvas work with
it.. I paid $350 for it in a showing machine repair shop and sold it, after
8 yrs, for $400 and spent about $30 for a tuneup and inspection before I
sold it.

The nice thing about the Pfaff or the Sailrite machines, is the ease of
adjustment and repair in the field (on the boat). In fact Sailrite doesn't
want you to send your machine in for repair and adjustment. Their manual is
a 'field service manual' and encourages the owner to learn how make
adjustments and repair. When I needed feed dog replacement, they sent it to
me and I had it replace in 20 mins. While I was doing this I discovered the
cause for the broken part.


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions


  #19   Report Post  
Steve
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?


"Dick" wrote in message
...

I have a PFAFF 130. It works well but not for everyone. It was made in the

mid
1940s. You can still get parts except for the tensioner. In the past, I

have
seen them for as much as $650, but you can get them for a lot less. I have

not
had any trouble with mine in the seven years that I have had it. It can

sew 6
to 8 layers of sumbrella with a 110 needle. It can also use the heavy

thread
that some machines have trouble with.


I agree, the Pfaff 130 is a cruisers favorite. In addition to the reason you
state, this machine is still common in small tailor shops in the 3rd world.

I had a 130 before my Sailrite. I did both sail repair and canvas work with
it.. I paid $350 for it in a showing machine repair shop and sold it, after
8 yrs, for $400 and spent about $30 for a tuneup and inspection before I
sold it.

The nice thing about the Pfaff or the Sailrite machines, is the ease of
adjustment and repair in the field (on the boat). In fact Sailrite doesn't
want you to send your machine in for repair and adjustment. Their manual is
a 'field service manual' and encourages the owner to learn how make
adjustments and repair. When I needed feed dog replacement, they sent it to
me and I had it replace in 20 mins. While I was doing this I discovered the
cause for the broken part.


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions


  #20   Report Post  
Doug Dotson
 
Posts: n/a
Default Good sewing machine for canvas work, examples? Results?

These are just standard needles. Nothing special about them.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Keith" wrote in message
...
Yea, what Glen said. I would add that Sailrite makes canvas needles for
regular machines. I've used these successfully on a regular home machine

on
light to medium canvas stuff.

--


Keith
__
My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she

stops
to breathe. -Jimmy Durante
"Glen "Wiley" Wilson" wrote in
message ...
On 01 Apr 2004 23:37:44 GMT, (MLapla4120) wrote:

Do you guys know of good sewing machines for sailwork, canvas work?
I'm thinking of getting one to make my own sails and canvas work. I

would
love to hear from people who have done this and are happy or not with

thier
purchase.

Thanks in advance,
Mark


The standard answer to this question is to try Sailrite
www.sailrite.com. I've had one of their Sailmaker machines for over a
decade (I bought it used) and I wouldn't swap it for most people's
boats. It's overkill for your stated purposes (and mine as well) but
they have a much more extensive product line now, with some reasonably
priced machines that look perfectly adequate for a single user. I've
found their customer support to be flawless. Their emphasis is
self-sufficiency and they stock all kinds of spare parts, along with
CDROMs that shows exactly how to disassemble, reassemble, and tune
critical parts of the machine. I've used it when I buggered something
up, with the result that I feel I could fix the machine anywhere.
Sailrite does most of the large boat shows, and they always seem to
bring along a couple of machines for shoppers to try out.

That said, I'm sure you could find a perfectly serviceable machine
elsewhere, possibly for less. You mileage may vary, but I find
several features to be important:

A) As large an opening as possible to pass rolled up sails/canvas
through
B) Smooth, powerful feed mechanism
C) Ability to handle multiple layers of thick fabric. It's pretty
easy to get up around 10 layers of fabric doing canvas work
D) Handles the big industrial spools of dacron thread
E) It was a surprise to me, but a machine that's easy to hand crank
is very handy. In the sail loft, the guy operating the machine has
assistants and equipment to support and feed long rolls of sailcloth
through the machine. You may not be so lucky. When you have to stop
every few seconds to realign the fabric, you might find it easier and
more controllable to just hand crank. I often do.

Even with a great machine, quality work takes practice and patience. I
haven't got enough of either, but I found that I could turn out
serviceable pieces from the very beginning.

Good luck;

Glen

__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/





Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
tyvek (long) William R. Watt Boat Building 2 June 30th 04 05:09 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:12 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 BoatBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Boats"

 

Copyright © 2017