hello breezey people,im looking for a capabale sewing machine, hand or elec powered,basically ive got a guy on fleabay who's got loads but he is unsure about how tough the going can be with w/surf sail modification,and has asked me to find out what in comparrison a machine in the singer range would most reccomend? just so he has an idea how strong a machine im after. (if you get my drift lol,) cheers,greenE.
Im using a singer 20U which is really a professional thater than industrial.
what you need to look for is something with wide zig zig and capable of taking the larger needle,and a foot that lifts high,4-5mm.
in an ideal world you want to put some sailcloth through it.
I usually make a pile of strips from 3-8 layers and start sewing to see how far it will go
i spoke to the seller and they said yes it will handle the job but on some of the very heavy eyelet areas may have to give it a helping hand by turning the wheel,but for me its great because i get my electric from a generator and its only on few hrs a day,i can sit n sew all night and get blisters on my right hand! lol, (not what ur thinking there! breezy peeps ;-)
greenE
Select to expand quotegreenE said..
me thinks so to ;-)
when you get set up , please do some test runs with various materials and post the results.
dont forget that ,if theres a mrs greenE she will now no longer do repairs for you. you will have intruded on a ladies sacred territory" the mystery of the sewing machine" that us males are not supposed to understand
haha lol,no theres no mrs greenE thank fook ;-) ,im fairly competent with sewing machine anyway,just never sewn anything heavy duty only couple bits of webbing. landyacht if i posted couple pics of my sails i have would you please help me on deciding where to cut,i have a tushingham 5.8 series 5sri, luff 4.68,max boom 1.83, mast range 24-28, i have a 2 piece mast by fiberspar sportcarbon 460/25/25, and also 2 art wave flash sails,one being a 4.5 and the other a 6.5m (the 6.5 is a bit 'holey' and bodged with tape on a couple of pannels at top and bottom but can replace monofilm with sailcloth.) i have unpicked the tushi 5.8 pocket but im scared to chop the sail! i think it need a lot off it because its sooo wide,lol. regards greenE
landyacht,i just discovered a pic you put up in another topic on where to cut to reuse the downhaul eye etc,so thats sorted now,but do u know the sails im onabout? can u say by memory which is better? longshot i know lol. and they have cams on bottom 2 battons too,i take it i simply replicate a non cammed batten stop inplace of these as i understand they are not the best choice for what we need? correcto?
also have the same sail in 6.5m but few holes in monofilm,but i think ill leave that sail for a rainy day project as it needs too much repair etc. so ill concentrate on modifying the art 4.5 for windy days,and the tushi for not so windy days, but i just havnt enough floor space to photo the tushi,and outside its been raining and mud everywhere :-( .
being a surf sail ,its rather flat already , so I would trim only a small amount off the centre of the luff,say 50mm.. in an old thread I had a sketch and measurements to make a luff template that is a good allround curve. join the 2 pocket pieces to make 1 pocket. on the foot I would trim the front of the foot(tack) off and sew it to the back(clew to get just the right profile
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Sail-making/How-I-recut-sailboard-sails-to-suit-landyachts/
have a look at the foot of both sails in this thread. Also the thread has those measurements. both of the sails were similoar sized surf sail. I you can collect some trashed sacrificial sails you can pillage them for bits as required
lol,just seen ur reply on my other post,ok this thread is dead now,ill move to my other one ;-)
well,an update on my Reads sewing machine,i got it and did a bit of googling to find its not the 'sail maker' as advertised,i knew it only had a 50w motor too,but intended to make a hand crank for it,well i did a few experimental runs with bits of off cuts of sails,it performed well even up to 8 layers dacron/mono mix,but did have to help it now and then,it was fine as long as you had some speed comming into thicker stuff (max 9 layers). and then the inevitable............... the motor gave up working.
an ebay search and ?42 later, i recieve my new motor 150w! rated same rpm (nearly same,think mine was 5-6000rpm).
WOW! its got some punch now! yesterday it did 17 layers mixed dacron/mono/webbing, 17 layers! mighty impressed with it 
i bought 10 needles of size 16 (100) and ten in size 18 (110), the 18's work well in real heavy stuff but do have to be carefull not to push/pull sail through the machine as ive broken a few! lol, its hard to control the sail being so large and not so manoverable without pulling/pushing,all part of the learning curve i suppose. the thread im using is v69 bonded,i tried lots of other real strong threads but nothing else would work,i think its the mono film slices the thread on the sharp edges when it goes through. 1st sail nearly done,pics to come....... chassis later this week/next week when my steel arrives
your right about the monofilm. it needs to have some kind of stickyback against both surfaces. have a look at how the original sail is done.
if there is no stickyback layer the thtreads will cut and undr pressure the mono can tear
yes,i double side tape all joints,its fine with the v69 thread,but for other people's reference dont bother trying a non bonded thread regardless of how strong u think it is,mono will 70% the time cut the thread when the needle withdraws from it.
you might want to check your dogplate for spots where the needle has punched down and broken, also check the hook for damage. all theses places could have a little nick that will shred the thread
you banged the nail right on the head landyacht,my dogplate is damaged,and has a crack in it,hmmmmmm, ill get a couple of spare dogplates made at the water jet cutter. thanks for pointer there landyacht
as long as it isnt bent you can do a tiny bronze weld then get some tiny files and file it out. i rebuilt 1 of my plates 4 times!!!!!
they are cheap enough to buy and you get the set ,plate and feet.
. I usually open up and pull apart the thread area after making each sail to make sure there is no thread build up underneath and a good clean out down below before packing away or starting a new sail
Select to expand quotelandyacht said..
a good clean out down below before packing away or starting a new sail
Very important to remove the "beach" that accumulates underneath as it escapes from the other seams, it generates corrosion easily.
I always oil the machine before packing it away and leaving a couple of layers of cotton cloth under the foot, to absorb the excess oil that seeps down from the top. Remove the bobbin if there is any thread on it too as it wicks the oil really well.
I have had to gently sand (with wet and dry) some rough spots off my hook and foot plate where a needle has impacted and left a burr.
Don't be afraid to adjust the top tension for different thicknesses and types on materials. Makes a huge difference.
Fantastic to see you up and running. Looking forward to seeing it rigged ready to sail.
I've been doing some test sewing on my machine ane I noticed no matter where I set the thread tension it seems to not pull the top thread tight enough. Any ideas on the problem? the manual says to set the upper thread tension for
5/6 for heavy canvas. I have had it all the way up on 9. That's as far as it will go.
if you cant tension the top enough,release a bit of tension underneath to find a balance of the 2...
i had the same problem with mine,tried winding the top feed around the spool pins etc,then i released a little tension underneath and it works a treat..
Select to expand quoteWindcrazy said..
I've been doing some test sewing on my machine ane I noticed no matter where I set the thread tension it seems to not pull the top thread tight enough. Any ideas on the problem? the manual says to set the upper thread tension for
5/6 for heavy canvas. I have had it all the way up on 9. That's as far as it will go.
perhaps its not getting in between the plates on the tensioning dial properly, I give mine a tug to make sure. could be due to the heavier thread ?
How do you release some of the tesion on the lower part of the machine? It feels like there is alot of tension on the upper thread so I suspect it is in the lower tension. Wish we had a good sewingshop locally. We only have crafty & quilt places here, no repair or tune up shops (and the better half). Thanks for the advice.
on your bottom bobbin,there should be a small slot blade screw,lefty loosey,righty tighty
the bobbin adjustment is very small , so have a look at the tensioning on the bobbin winder.
when you pull thread from the bobbin in the bobbin holder is it tight,loose,jerkey or smooth
The bottom thread feels fairly loose and smooth. The top thread feels about the same tension between the 2 on the middle setting. I can feel the top thread get tighter when I change the tension setting but when I sew it looks like the bottom tesion is to tight no matter where I set the top tension. I will send pics as of my test peices after the 4th of july holiday.
