Marine Upholstery Book Information

[Buoybill]

Looking for some advise on a good book showing information on Marine upholstery. Purchased a Industrial sewing machine and venturing the task of making seat covers, mooring cover, and houseboat porches. Appreciate information on books available.

 

[jbcurt00]

Youtube has lots of great videos

Sailright I think is one vendor that has some @ youtube.

Woodonglass will likely be along and may be more helpful then either a book or youtube

Good luck.

 

[bruceb58]

Go here:
http://www.upholster.com/upholstery-forum/

They can make recommendations for books and you can ask questions from the pros that post there.

What machine did you get?

 

[Woodonglass]

Yup that's a Real Good Site. Look for Mike. He's kinda the Marine Upholstery Guru on that site. He know's his stuff. I'm also curious as to what machine you purchased.

 

[Buoybill]

Was not going to spend a fortune. Rex 607z walking foot

 

[Woodonglass]

One of our members has one of those. He's done some nice work with it...http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...ine-reliant-barracuda?p=10101687#post10101687
I have it's big Older Sister the Rex 11-155r. I also do a LOT of work with my Singer 15-91. It's a "Home Style" machine however it's extremely heavy duty. It will sew thru 6 layers of vinyl with NO hesitation. I can use #69 bonded upholstery thread and #18 needles with it and it never misses a stitch. I paid $50 bucks for her. The Walking foot is nice but a lot more finicky than the Singer. I've recently made and installed a Speed Reducer for the Clutch Motor and that has made a BIG difference. Haven't had a big project to really put her to work yet. I'd like to try the 607z just to see how it performs. The small "Throat" on it would make it difficult to do large pieces but for seats etc... it should do just fine. We have several members that are really good "Stitchers" sooo just post some pics and ask your questions. I find the best way to learn is to practice on scrap material and experiment until you get it figured out on your machine. Each machine is different. YouTube has a LOT of helpful videos that will teach you a LOT on various techniques and projects. I think I've viewed ALL of them at least a half dozen times. I learn something new everytime. I posted an ad on Craigslist and got so busy I had to take it down. When I retire I will re-post it. I think there's still room for upholstery work if you don't try and get rich at it. New seats are getting cheaper and cheaper so why reupholster when you can buy new???? Makes it tough on the upholsters. The more you do the faster you'll get and less mistakes you'll make. Then you can start making money IF that's what your intent is. If it's just to save the money to do your own work, well heck you'll do that easy!!! I paid for all My machines with the money I saved doing my own work.

 

[Buoybill]

My cuddy has only one original captains seat and the other a generic. I am going to try to duplicate it. The main reason I am going to try this, is I need a mooring cover for the cockpit. Then the wife wants a porch enclosure for the houseboat. I am not the type to pay someone to do the things I can do myself. Found out I am spending a small fortune in hardware etc, but I imagine what they wound charge me for all this.

 

[bruceb58]

I would never use any thread smaller than 92. Can the Rex handle that?

69 is fine for interior furniture but no way would I use it for outside. It is more likely to tear out of vinyl and won't last as long.

Rex is an OK machine. They aren't that heavy duty and are basically the same machine as the Sailrite LZ-1. Some people on the upholster.com site do not like them at all because you end up working on them all the time. I have no personal experience with them so I go by second hand info.

 

[Buoybill]

The book says for best results use 69 bonded nylon. Ordered a spool, it seems thin. They say to use 135x17 needles size 18 to 23. My original thought was 92 till I looked at the book. Probably will have to try it. Will play with it for now. Wife wanted her garage back so now both are up at the marina.

 

[bruceb58]

The book says for best results use 69 bonded nylon

You never use Nylon for anything outdoors. Bonded polyester is what you want to use!

http://www.canvas-boat-cover-and-repair-advisor.com/marine-thread.html

I have a 1lb spool of SolarFix PTFE thread that I will be using from now on for most things. Problem is its $200/lb.

 

[Buoybill]

Was looking at that on e-bay. Will be a couple of months till I start that task. Will practice with the nylon. Hope we don't have a spring like last year if so it will be summer.

 

[bruceb58]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SolarFix-PTF...IBXrGHyWAt1yzw

http://www.miamicorp.com/PRODUCTS/MARINE/MARINE ACCESSORIES/THREAD/SOLARFIX.aspx
http://www.miamicorp.com/default.asp...&catlist=34912

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

I have been using V92 with heavy vinyls from sailrite on a Rex 607z --- Works great -- The machine is still new fairly new but runs quite dependably --

2 issues since new

- Had to set the shuttle to needle gap as it was not to factory spec and skipped a few stitches until that was corrected.

- Had to debur the throat plate once from a needle strike but it was my own fault for reversing when the needle was not in the full up or down position. ( routine maintence )


The gents above are offering good advice IMHO on the videos -- I find them much better than books for learning this sort of thing as they can show all the steps in more detail.

 

[bruceb58]

but it was my own fault for reversing when the needle was not in the full up or down position. ( routine maintence )

That's a pain..most machines you can reverse at any time.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

For the Rex 607zits not recomended to reverse unless your running at over 25% of full speed or when the needle is up or down as the material / feet shift a little. Not a big deal once your used to it.

 

[bruceb58]

For the Rex 607zits not recomended to reverse unless your running at over 25% of full speed or when the needle is up or down as the material / feet shift a little. Not a big deal once your used to it.

Must be a pain starting or ending a run when you are locking down your stitches.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Bruce--- Your the only person I know that's really bothered by that -- To each his own I guess

 

[bruceb58]

Bruce--- Your the only person I know that's really bothered by that -- To each his own I guess

When you do a boat cover, you will see what I am talking about. I am actually surprised that manual actually states that. Would be the first sewing machine I have ever seen where that is a limitation. My mom was a seamstress and she has had many machines.

Just my observation based on my experience. If it works for you then it is fine.

 

[Woodonglass]

Yeah, that's puzzling to me too. Never heard of a machine that won't let you do a reverse stitch from a dead stop. My REX works just fine doing that. Can you adjust the Height of the Feed dogs on that machine?

 

[bajaunderground]

All great advice. I do agree with Bruce on the reversing. I can reverse my juki at any speed, flawless lock stitches! Anyway not to beat a horse to death...using a sewing machine is a lot like dancing...there's a rhythm and you have to know your partner's limitations! Search YouTube for John Cavco. His videos are great for covers and such!

Bruce, if you wanna unload some tenara, I'm thinking of making some new sunbrella mooring covers as mine have shrunk to a point that getting them on is a hassle (Cobalt not Chris Craft ones)?