Does any one know how to repair a sail? I riped my main last weekend. The loft around my house said it would cost around $100 to repair. I'm a po boy so I don't have the money right now and besides I know how to sew even got one of those machines that can make like 20 different types of stitches. I even sewed a headliner together, the one with the bows on a 48 Plymouth. but that's another story so if any one knows how or has had one repaired and could post a pic of the repair so I could see what they did I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
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Easy way .....
Get some 3 inch wide 4 oz. Dacron Sail Tape (www.sailrite.com ... you can buy the 'tape' by the foot) and a tube of *fast cure* 3M 5200. Mask the sail with masking tape, etc. where you dont want the 5200, carefully 'work' the edges of the tear together (perfectly), apply 5200 to the tape. Apply and let cure. Do both sides of the sail. No stitching necessary and the repair is permanent !!!!
Get some 3 inch wide 4 oz. Dacron Sail Tape (www.sailrite.com ... you can buy the 'tape' by the foot) and a tube of *fast cure* 3M 5200. Mask the sail with masking tape, etc. where you dont want the 5200, carefully 'work' the edges of the tear together (perfectly), apply 5200 to the tape. Apply and let cure. Do both sides of the sail. No stitching necessary and the repair is permanent !!!!
I'm a po boy too but I would pay the $100
to the local sail loft to stitch it up for me right the first time. If you want to try doing it yourself I would get a book on it. There is one by Don Casey at http://www.amazon.com/Canvaswork-Sail-Repair-Don-Casey/dp/0070133913 . I checked his website on under BoatUS and could not find the nice short article on how to do it I was hoping to post here. A sail maker will generally apply some extra material for reenforcement around a tear like that that (on both sides) and stitch the whole thing together. They also use a special kind of thread that may or may not work well with your machine - it is pretty thick. What shape the patches should be? I do not know. A cheap temporary fix involves stitching the tear together after using sail tape on both sides to secure it in place which can be done by hand sewing as well. I did find a website of some surfer dude's that talks about repairing sails however dude. http://www.windance.com/info_source/assistant/repair_assistant/sail_repair.asp Also a site that carries the sail tape I mentionedhttp://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|5948|296197|297679&id=78188 So you could use dental floss and sail tape to really do it on the cheap. Do it before it rips some more. On a lighter note, have you found any open positions for 'Pool boy with Extra Duties' yet? Good luck with this repair down in NOLA.
to the local sail loft to stitch it up for me right the first time. If you want to try doing it yourself I would get a book on it. There is one by Don Casey at http://www.amazon.com/Canvaswork-Sail-Repair-Don-Casey/dp/0070133913 . I checked his website on under BoatUS and could not find the nice short article on how to do it I was hoping to post here. A sail maker will generally apply some extra material for reenforcement around a tear like that that (on both sides) and stitch the whole thing together. They also use a special kind of thread that may or may not work well with your machine - it is pretty thick. What shape the patches should be? I do not know. A cheap temporary fix involves stitching the tear together after using sail tape on both sides to secure it in place which can be done by hand sewing as well. I did find a website of some surfer dude's that talks about repairing sails however dude. http://www.windance.com/info_source/assistant/repair_assistant/sail_repair.asp Also a site that carries the sail tape I mentionedhttp://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|5948|296197|297679&id=78188 So you could use dental floss and sail tape to really do it on the cheap. Do it before it rips some more. On a lighter note, have you found any open positions for 'Pool boy with Extra Duties' yet? Good luck with this repair down in NOLA.
RichH snuck in a reply before I posted
and I found it interesting. I suppose if you only use a little 3M 5200 evenly spread out once it was dry would still have some flexibility? For that matter I suppose you could still stitch it with a thin layer of 3M 4200 (which is more flexible and more of a removable caulk whereas the 5200 is permanent and hard) to help seal the patch. I prefer my sails to have some rigidity but I question whether a hard spot in the sail will not potentially cause more rips? Think longevity of the sail. What will help it or hurt it? Your sail looks a little old like some of mine (no disrespect intended) so I feel your pain and wish that I had a sewing machine to do this with but there is an alternative. It is called hand sewing. They sell a kit that is mostly enough to get you started from WM http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/42966/0/0/sewing/All_2/mode+matchallpartial/0/0 I have used this kit to re-attach a sail car's strap to our mainsail. The thread is a bit more substantial than dental floss and it works pretty well if you can figure out how to use it. The instructions that come with it are pretty good but I will tell you that it works like a sewing machine, so pull out 3' of line through the needle to do 1' worth of sewing as you thread one side through the loops made on the other). RichH seconds the idea of sail tape. I second the possible use of some adhesive or caulk once properly sewed. L'aissez les bon temps roulez!
and I found it interesting. I suppose if you only use a little 3M 5200 evenly spread out once it was dry would still have some flexibility? For that matter I suppose you could still stitch it with a thin layer of 3M 4200 (which is more flexible and more of a removable caulk whereas the 5200 is permanent and hard) to help seal the patch. I prefer my sails to have some rigidity but I question whether a hard spot in the sail will not potentially cause more rips? Think longevity of the sail. What will help it or hurt it? Your sail looks a little old like some of mine (no disrespect intended) so I feel your pain and wish that I had a sewing machine to do this with but there is an alternative. It is called hand sewing. They sell a kit that is mostly enough to get you started from WM http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/42966/0/0/sewing/All_2/mode+matchallpartial/0/0 I have used this kit to re-attach a sail car's strap to our mainsail. The thread is a bit more substantial than dental floss and it works pretty well if you can figure out how to use it. The instructions that come with it are pretty good but I will tell you that it works like a sewing machine, so pull out 3' of line through the needle to do 1' worth of sewing as you thread one side through the loops made on the other). RichH seconds the idea of sail tape. I second the possible use of some adhesive or caulk once properly sewed. L'aissez les bon temps roulez!
Phil, the Battleship guy, I just uncovered an
answer to your website's problem with people trying to post certain links. I tried posting the WM website showing the product linked below and it did not work. The PATH is too long for your buffers to get it all and so is truncated. Please forward this to your IT gurus as the previous posts show what happens when a long WM address is attempted to be compressed into a 'Link submitted by author' or Want to add a link to another ... text areas. The 'object' that is trying to grab the PATH does not seem be able to handle the long PATH names of the WM website. Anyway the PATH to the website (defender) that has the same hand sewing tool is (I hope) shown below.
answer to your website's problem with people trying to post certain links. I tried posting the WM website showing the product linked below and it did not work. The PATH is too long for your buffers to get it all and so is truncated. Please forward this to your IT gurus as the previous posts show what happens when a long WM address is attempted to be compressed into a 'Link submitted by author' or Want to add a link to another ... text areas. The 'object' that is trying to grab the PATH does not seem be able to handle the long PATH names of the WM website. Anyway the PATH to the website (defender) that has the same hand sewing tool is (I hope) shown below.
Invest in tools and books
Get the book "The Sailmaker's Apprentice, A guide for the Self-Reliant Sailor" by Emiliano Marino ISBN 0-07-137642-9 $25.00 Read the first chapter then go buy the tools you need. It has everything; sail repair and restoration, maintenance, buying new/used sails, sailbags and covers, sail handling, sail making..... A must have book at sea. This is how I got started and it has saved me so much time and money. I can hardly believe folks charge $100 for the 5 minutes of work required for your patch job.
Get the book "The Sailmaker's Apprentice, A guide for the Self-Reliant Sailor" by Emiliano Marino ISBN 0-07-137642-9 $25.00 Read the first chapter then go buy the tools you need. It has everything; sail repair and restoration, maintenance, buying new/used sails, sailbags and covers, sail handling, sail making..... A must have book at sea. This is how I got started and it has saved me so much time and money. I can hardly believe folks charge $100 for the 5 minutes of work required for your patch job.
Patch It
I had a sail repair once and they did a great job by adding a piece of sail cloth on both sides and sewed it real good. It needs to be done right or else it will rip worst when using it in some heavy winds. Nick
I had a sail repair once and they did a great job by adding a piece of sail cloth on both sides and sewed it real good. It needs to be done right or else it will rip worst when using it in some heavy winds. Nick
If you plan to hand sew it then you need a palm
and needle and some polyester # 92 thread and a piece of the same weight sail cloth at least 2 inches larger than the tear. Then you will still need the Sailmakers Apprentice to tell and show you the proper technique.
and needle and some polyester # 92 thread and a piece of the same weight sail cloth at least 2 inches larger than the tear. Then you will still need the Sailmakers Apprentice to tell and show you the proper technique.
speedy stitcher
The speedy stitcher that Caleb shows is a pretty good thing. You can buy them on e-bay for about $9.95 if you don't need it right away.
The speedy stitcher that Caleb shows is a pretty good thing. You can buy them on e-bay for about $9.95 if you don't need it right away.
Caleb
Plenty of flexibility with thin applications of fast cure 5200 to repair patches. I've been making sails for about 35 years and find this a very good way of making small repairs and assembling non-stress concentrated sections such as reef cringle reinforcements, batten pocket ends, etc. ... and then over-stitch with V69 or V92 thread. This would equate to some of the newer double sided 'assembly tapes' (PECO, etc.) that allow assembling light sails almost without any stitiching at all. Most of the ultra-high tech laminates are simply glued-together nowadays with no stitching at all. I used to lug around my big sewing machine when on long voyages but since the advent of fast cure 5200 I leave the sewing machine at home and simply use fast cure 5200 and sail tape for any repairs. That rip that he's got is in an area of highly concentrated stress on the area of the rip (apparently between the tack and the clew) and the repair should be done so that the repair 'equalizes' all the appled stress. Hand stitching, etc. is going to apply threads with unequal tension (unless he's got a few years of hand sewing experience that results in all the stitches all put in at equal tension) ... and if not exactly and uniformly equal in stitch tension will actually make the repair MORE vulnerable to further ripping by uneven thread tension. Even if I were to sew this back together Id lay down a few strips of double sided PECO tape between the patching material and the sail material before sewing. All my new (dacron) sails for the past 5 years have been essentially 'glued' together before over-stitiching. Hand stitching such a repair in a stressed area ..... will probably be an eventual total disaster unless one REALLY knows how to or has the experience of how to hand-sew a sail repair ... and is probably REAL BAD advice to tell someone to do so and certainly not based on any actual experience, etc. other than conjecture.
Plenty of flexibility with thin applications of fast cure 5200 to repair patches. I've been making sails for about 35 years and find this a very good way of making small repairs and assembling non-stress concentrated sections such as reef cringle reinforcements, batten pocket ends, etc. ... and then over-stitch with V69 or V92 thread. This would equate to some of the newer double sided 'assembly tapes' (PECO, etc.) that allow assembling light sails almost without any stitiching at all. Most of the ultra-high tech laminates are simply glued-together nowadays with no stitching at all. I used to lug around my big sewing machine when on long voyages but since the advent of fast cure 5200 I leave the sewing machine at home and simply use fast cure 5200 and sail tape for any repairs. That rip that he's got is in an area of highly concentrated stress on the area of the rip (apparently between the tack and the clew) and the repair should be done so that the repair 'equalizes' all the appled stress. Hand stitching, etc. is going to apply threads with unequal tension (unless he's got a few years of hand sewing experience that results in all the stitches all put in at equal tension) ... and if not exactly and uniformly equal in stitch tension will actually make the repair MORE vulnerable to further ripping by uneven thread tension. Even if I were to sew this back together Id lay down a few strips of double sided PECO tape between the patching material and the sail material before sewing. All my new (dacron) sails for the past 5 years have been essentially 'glued' together before over-stitiching. Hand stitching such a repair in a stressed area ..... will probably be an eventual total disaster unless one REALLY knows how to or has the experience of how to hand-sew a sail repair ... and is probably REAL BAD advice to tell someone to do so and certainly not based on any actual experience, etc. other than conjecture.
glue?
Glue ? I didn't think the sail shop would use glue but ok. so its just a glued on patch on both sides and then you sew it for extra strenth. sounds good . I'm going to have to get one of the books and Get r done. Got a date with the Lake next weekend.O and buy the way CalebD Haven't got that poolboy job yet still hoping.
Glue ? I didn't think the sail shop would use glue but ok. so its just a glued on patch on both sides and then you sew it for extra strenth. sounds good . I'm going to have to get one of the books and Get r done. Got a date with the Lake next weekend.O and buy the way CalebD Haven't got that poolboy job yet still hoping.
Do It Right The First Time...
...pay the $100 and let a pro do it. I've tried the 'home remedies' most don't work, and no way would I put 5200 on a good sail.
...pay the $100 and let a pro do it. I've tried the 'home remedies' most don't work, and no way would I put 5200 on a good sail.
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