I asked my wife to restitch my bimini on her '70's era Singer 2000. 2 trips to the Singer repairman and approx $250 later, I finished the bimini by hand...
Charles
Charles
Anyone use their wife's sewing machine for sail repair?
- Thread starter kito
- Start date
I suffered through 2 years struggling with something less than an industrial strength machine for sail and canvas work. First machine, new Heavy Duty Machine Singer in a week it was out of time. New machine lots of plastic parts, I was able to return it for a full refund. Second machine, I bought an old machine on craigslist for 60$ all metal frame but some of the gears were plastic, it was a pain in the neck, I finally broke teeth off some of the gears after I put the thing out of time It lasted longer than the new plastic machine but it was a pain in the ass. I finially broke down and bought a Sailrite machine, Its what you need. It does everything you want it to with out the problems you will have with a lesser machine. Also, With the heavy use, your giong to ruin your wifes machine, If she sews she aint gonna like it, and if its an expensive nice machine like a Bernina your going to pay a lot to fix it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Yep I bet you could buy one, use it for a project or two and turn around and sell it and maybe loose $200. So instead of spending $200 on something that might or might not work you were able to use a good machine for the same.
Chances are that once you get that Sailrite machine you will find more and more uses for it
. We started with an....
... older industrial grade Singer 99 and it worked fine and as you can see would punch through anything but since we (mostly Ruth) started doing more and more projects bought the Sailrite and love it. It saved us thousands for the projects that were completed for both boats and the walking foot made sewing easier than on the Singer. The LSZ-1 we bought also has the zigzag stitch but to be honest haven't used it that much. Two parallel stitches are as strong or stronger, it just takes more time to lay them down vs. one zigzag stitch.
Here are most of the projects that were completed for both boats ....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-canvas/canvas-index.html
No matter what you buy, old, new or whatever you are going to need some parts and service sooner or later if you use it. Sailrite has videos and any part you need for their machines and will help you on the phone and by e-mailing you good service instructions. With all of that help you can do all your own service, adjustments and repair on the machine.
I know you don't want to spend the money now but maybe at some point or maybe someone else reading this will. There is good reason the Sailrite machines have been mentioned a number of times on this thread.
Good luck with the project,
Sumner
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I've got a heavy duty Kenmore machine that dates to the late 60s. I used it to do a luff conversion for a jib on my MacGregor 26. The jib was not a heavy sail and the luff conversion kit came from Sailrite. The Kenmore was barely up to the task and for some of it I used my old Singer 20K60 which is a machine made for shoe repair and will sew anything I can get under the foot. If I decided to do any serious work I'll pop for something like the Sailrite zigzag machine.
I thought I would post an update. I got my Reliable Barracuda machine yesterday. Seems like a quality machine. It was all oiled up and tested with a test piece left under the foot. I just bought some cheap upholstery thread at Walmart to practice with. It sewed great right out of the box and was extremely happy......that was until the factory bobbin thread ran out. After I wound a bobbin and installed it, I was getting massive rats nests and no actual sewing was going on. The manual showed the basic operation and was pretty limited in information for the complete newbie. After a couple hours of being disgusted, I quit and went to bed. I thought I would search Youtube for help. Come to find out I was not threading the bobbin correctly. I just had the thread coming out the slot and not under the little presser plate first. I was basically trying to sewing with zero tension on the bobbin thread. Sewing great now. All is good.
If you search the Internet I think that you will find that the Reliable Barracuda comes out of the the same factory as Sailrite Ultrafeed machines. Apparently Ultrafeed machines have features missing from the Barracuda, but Sailrite documentation should be helpful as described in the link below.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/95124-sailrite-ls-1-lsz-1-a-3.html
Thanks Tejas. Although the Barracuda has some upgrades from the other clones I believe the LSZ-1 is the better deal with case etc. I would have went with the Sailrite but needed the 18 months no interest at Best Buy. The Barracuda comes with a carry handle and a removal base. It also has the same upgraded foot control that Lsz-1 offers in the premium package. No regrets so far
Kito, et.al.
If you are going to do work on the corners of your sail you will need one of these. This tool makes LOCK STITCHES just like the stitch on a sewing machine. On the corner of a sail you typically have 5 or 6 layers of sail cloth, plus maybe a luff tape with two layers, then possibly a couple layers of sunbrella, and then you have several (two or more) layers of nylon webbing, and to top it all off there is a big ole' grommet or ring to attach your sheets or for the tack of the sail. So no machine will help you, you need to do a little hand sewing. This tool is the secret, you can buy the same thing at West or other marine places but this is the Harbor Freight version for 6 bucks. I keep one at home and one on the boat for emergency repairs. The big old handle makes it easy to push through the material and no sewing palm is needed. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=sewing+awl
If you are going to do work on the corners of your sail you will need one of these. This tool makes LOCK STITCHES just like the stitch on a sewing machine. On the corner of a sail you typically have 5 or 6 layers of sail cloth, plus maybe a luff tape with two layers, then possibly a couple layers of sunbrella, and then you have several (two or more) layers of nylon webbing, and to top it all off there is a big ole' grommet or ring to attach your sheets or for the tack of the sail. So no machine will help you, you need to do a little hand sewing. This tool is the secret, you can buy the same thing at West or other marine places but this is the Harbor Freight version for 6 bucks. I keep one at home and one on the boat for emergency repairs. The big old handle makes it easy to push through the material and no sewing palm is needed. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=sewing+awl
I've had situations where it was not all that easy to push the needle through real thick, tough materials and used a mallet and 1/4' scratch awl to make pilot holes.
http://www.amazon.com/Malco-A2-Scra...573868&sr=1-1&keywords=malco+1/4'+scratch+awl
Excellent input Tejas. Looks like a great tool to put in the box. The sewing awl often has to be "worked" back and forth a bit to get it through really thick stuff. Maybe an electric drill with a really small bit would also do the trick? Never thought to try that but you got me thinking.
I'd be real careful with the drill as you drill through some fabrics and the drill will catch a thread and it will spin on the bit and unravel way back. How do I know
. It wasn't sailcloth so maybe it is different,Sumner
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better yet just take the pointed steel out of an awl and put it in the drill it will make the hole and you won't snag any thread in the process...its and old picture framers trick they used to cut the head of the finishing nails and drill the corners wit the same size nail the were driving in to the mitered cornerI'd be real careful with the drill as you drill through some fabrics and the drill will catch a thread and it will spin on the bit and unravel way back. How do I know
Sumner
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Sailrite has a good post here, http://sailrite.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/can-my-sewing-machine-sew-canvas/
It gives some tips on using a home sewing machine for canvas.
Bob
It gives some tips on using a home sewing machine for canvas.
Bob
Here is another Sailrite link with tips for using a home sewing machine.
https://sailrite.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/using-a-home-sewing-machine-for-sail-and-canvas-work/
https://sailrite.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/using-a-home-sewing-machine-for-sail-and-canvas-work/
Yes, Sailrite has some great videos on their site and on Youtube. Just a heads up to those that may be wanting a sewing machine. Do yourself a favor and get the Monster wheel upgrade. I had trouble with the standard wheel keeping a nice slow speed. The heavier wheel gives me more control and punches through the thicker stuff with ease. I got my port curtains finished already. Just waiting for my order from Sailrite for the curtain track tab tape to sew on.
The wheel helps and ....
... I also modified the foot control to the point where now it is easy to just do one stitch at a time if you want. A simple mod that is nice. More about it here...
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-canvas/canvas-14.html
... and some other tips, like installing ....
common sense fasteners here (go to bottom of the page)....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-canvas/canvas-index.html
Sumner
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Our MacGregor 26-S Pages
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