My Cab V1 handles need repair. the plastic former has come through webbing, best way to fix?
thanks.
Do you want to do it yourself or just get a professional to do it? I refurbished my handles, mainly because I could do it after destroying a strut in the surf.
If you use a professional make sure they do a lot of wings and/or kites. Some sail makers specialise in big stuff and are not equipped to sew delicate and relatively complex things like wings.
In Melbourne Lindsay Irwin is very good. He prefers you leave the repair to him. He doesn't like owners to unpick things to "help". www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057398564110
The process I used was:
- remove the strut bladder
- unpick the seam holding the strut to the wing infill panel (3-step zigzag sewing)
- open the strut seam. There's two rows of straight stitch. The fabric is folded so unpick the first row of stitching that holds the fold closed, then unpick the second row that holds the strut closed.
- unpick the sewing holding the handle onto the strut.
- replace the damaged bit. I assume a piece of tube webbing will do.
- sew everything back together in the reverse of the previous steps.
Most of the seams will be glued. Clean off the glue residue with alcohol wipes. Use Seamstick tape to line everything up and hold it while re-sewing.
You need to use bonded polyester thread. It's strong and UV resistant.
A domestic sewing machine will do most of the sewing with no trouble. It can be difficult to get something thick to pass under the sewing machine foot. The only thick part will be the reinforcing patch and the end of the webbing on the handle.
You can do a bodgy cave man fix. Push the plastic tube back into the webbing. Wrap the damaged portion with tape. Put neoprene over the tape and hand sew it with baseball stitch.
kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=107&t=2412130
Select to expand quoteGorgo said..
Do you want to do it yourself or just get a professional to do it? I refurbished my handles, mainly because I could do it after destroying a strut in the surf.
If you use a professional make sure they do a lot of wings and/or kites. Some sail makers specialise in big stuff and are not equipped to sew delicate and relatively complex things like wings.
In Melbourne Lindsay Irwin is very good. He prefers you leave the repair to him. He doesn't like owners to unpick things to "help". www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057398564110
The process I used was:
- remove the strut bladder
- unpick the seam holding the strut to the wing infill panel (3-step zigzag sewing)
- open the strut seam. There's two rows of straight stitch. The fabric is folded so unpick the first row of stitching that holds the fold closed, then unpick the second row that holds the strut closed.
- unpick the sewing holding the handle onto the strut.
- replace the damaged bit. I assume a piece of tube webbing will do.
- sew everything back together in the reverse of the previous steps.
Most of the seams will be glued. Clean off the glue residue with alcohol wipes. Use Seamstick tape to line everything up and hold it while re-sewing.
You need to use bonded polyester thread. It's strong and UV resistant.
A domestic sewing machine will do most of the sewing with no trouble. It can be difficult to get something thick to pass under the sewing machine foot. The only thick part will be the reinforcing patch and the end of the webbing on the handle.
You can do a bodgy cave man fix. Push the plastic tube back into the webbing. Wrap the damaged portion with tape. Put neoprene over the tape and hand sew it with baseball stitch.
kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=107&t=2412130
Thanks that's really good advice, appreciate it. Will get to work with my diy skills as prob not worth cost of sending it away for repair.
will leave strut in tact and do what I can.
Why not just leave the strut area alone, cut the undamaged strap, repair/ replace where the handle goes through & resew onto the cut strap piece. One of those speedy stitcher devices would work in an area that tight. www.speedystitcher.com/
You can do that but you lose a heap of webbing in the overlap for the sewing. The handle ends up a bit floppy. Also Speedystitchers can be a bit difficult to get through multiple layers when you're working in a confined area.
We have had good results covering the damaged handle with plastic tubing or EVA bicycle grip then binding it with self-fusing tape. I gave up on that because the tape tends to break up with abrasion and wear.
