Do some of you of repair your sails yourself? In my location, there is no option but to do it yourself, unless you want them to mess up the job.
I have a Singer 677G sewing machine of which I have repeatedly been told that it is no good for heavy duty stuff, and in fact, the machine misses stitches in zigzag mode.
I tried everything, from trying all sizes of needles to adjusting timing to factory settings and to my own settings, trying different threads--the darn thing just won't work.
Are sewing machines to stitch sail cloth specialized? Does any of you have a machine that works fine? Is doing it by hand an option? (See how desperate I am?)
edited by: catdan, Jun 09, 2010 - 05:51 AM
Sail material is TOUGH. I thought I could sew it with a canvas needle... not even with a pair of vise grips. It looks easy... NOT! My wife educated me on industrial sewing machines vs the store bought units... like a tank to a VW bug.
Find a good canvas boat top maker... they might be easier to locate than a sail loft. Usually it is cheap... under fifty.
yes sailcloth / tramp / bimini etc machines are high qual/super strong. the industry standard is the Pfaff and they are extremely expensive (used ones start around 2k).
even then... these machines struggle to get through thick layers and often break.
I do have a friend that purchased a machine online for under 300 and we have done some repairs with it with success. i dont know the brand but it was a Japanese model.
Sailrite sells units for around 1600 that seem to work ok.
My last gf was a fashion designer and she did a repair on my luff by hand. she used a regular needle and she did an incredible job. it took her about an hour and it was a 2" repair.
I recently purchased a used Pfaff 139 from Ebay for $150
shipped. It does a good job sewing sailcloth. I even used it
to convert and old Prindle tramp to fit my Venture cat. I use v69 thread from sailrite. I think your best bet is to find an old heavy duty machine like I did. I expect that I will recover the cost of the machine if I ever resell it.
I expect that I will recover the cost of the machine if I ever resell it.
I will give you $165. let me know when your ready to make a 10% profit! (few if any stocks have that type of return these days)~ 🙂