I know I promised a post about safety on board, but it hasn't happened because I got distracted working on the sails.
I originally started trying to modify the head of the jib with my Kenmore $100 sewing machine. But that was too much for it, so eventually that machine became de-timed when I forced it and a plastic gear slipped.
Last Monday I went trolling the local thrift stores for a replacement machine, and came home with a Singer Touch & Sew 648 for $30. I'm told these are affectionately known as the Touch & Curse or Sew & Throw, and now I know why. After waiting 4 days for the appropriate bobbins and foot to arrive from Ebay, and oiling and greasing the machine, it took approximately 5 minutes to destroy one of the top-end gears, which are made of nylon. Granted it was probably really old, and nylon ages badly, but even so, it would have been nice if that had all happened before I'd spent the extra $25 on manuals, accessories and oil.
So Friday night, minutes after breaking the Touch & Curse, Kitty and I headed to the thrift stores once more, and came up empty, so we stopped by Sears and picked up a new Singer Heavy Duty for $200. The reviews on Amazon are not stellar, but we figured, what the heck, at least we can return this one. Between the original Kenmore and this machine, we managed to finish the really critical bits of sewing, although not until after we hacked the HD. It turns out that it's common among low-end modern machines for the bobbin thread tension to have been set at the factory, and to not be tunable. To work on this heavy project the bobbin thread tension absolutely had to be fiddled with, so we broke the factory seal (a drop of glue on the setting screw) and did it. That's what allowed us to complete the job. In other words, as configured by the manufacturer, the HD was also useless.
Last night I decided to work on extending the mast climbing ladder. This project requires sewing bar tacks across two layers of webbing. The HD made three seams and then became de-timed on the third. I did not take it apart to see whether it had actually stripped a gear or merely slipped one. I unceremoniously boxed it back up and returned it for a full refund this morning.
The conclusion appears to be that to work on these projects we need a minimum of an all-metal-geared sewing machine, with zig-zag stitch, preferably a slow one. (One of the HD's most frustrating features was its extreme high speed!) The types of machines properly intended to sew sails on also have a walking foot. My research indicates that a number of old school Singer machines with all metal gearing would be able to handle some of our projects without becoming de-timed. These include the 237 (Fashion Mate), the Slant-o-matic 400, 403, 500 and 503, and the 306k and 320k. I'll keep an eye out for one of these, and if you know anyone who needs a Touch & Throw or Kenmore for parts, please let me know! It's beginning to look like a sewing machine graveyard in here!
I originally started trying to modify the head of the jib with my Kenmore $100 sewing machine. But that was too much for it, so eventually that machine became de-timed when I forced it and a plastic gear slipped.
Last Monday I went trolling the local thrift stores for a replacement machine, and came home with a Singer Touch & Sew 648 for $30. I'm told these are affectionately known as the Touch & Curse or Sew & Throw, and now I know why. After waiting 4 days for the appropriate bobbins and foot to arrive from Ebay, and oiling and greasing the machine, it took approximately 5 minutes to destroy one of the top-end gears, which are made of nylon. Granted it was probably really old, and nylon ages badly, but even so, it would have been nice if that had all happened before I'd spent the extra $25 on manuals, accessories and oil.
So Friday night, minutes after breaking the Touch & Curse, Kitty and I headed to the thrift stores once more, and came up empty, so we stopped by Sears and picked up a new Singer Heavy Duty for $200. The reviews on Amazon are not stellar, but we figured, what the heck, at least we can return this one. Between the original Kenmore and this machine, we managed to finish the really critical bits of sewing, although not until after we hacked the HD. It turns out that it's common among low-end modern machines for the bobbin thread tension to have been set at the factory, and to not be tunable. To work on this heavy project the bobbin thread tension absolutely had to be fiddled with, so we broke the factory seal (a drop of glue on the setting screw) and did it. That's what allowed us to complete the job. In other words, as configured by the manufacturer, the HD was also useless.
Last night I decided to work on extending the mast climbing ladder. This project requires sewing bar tacks across two layers of webbing. The HD made three seams and then became de-timed on the third. I did not take it apart to see whether it had actually stripped a gear or merely slipped one. I unceremoniously boxed it back up and returned it for a full refund this morning.
The conclusion appears to be that to work on these projects we need a minimum of an all-metal-geared sewing machine, with zig-zag stitch, preferably a slow one. (One of the HD's most frustrating features was its extreme high speed!) The types of machines properly intended to sew sails on also have a walking foot. My research indicates that a number of old school Singer machines with all metal gearing would be able to handle some of our projects without becoming de-timed. These include the 237 (Fashion Mate), the Slant-o-matic 400, 403, 500 and 503, and the 306k and 320k. I'll keep an eye out for one of these, and if you know anyone who needs a Touch & Throw or Kenmore for parts, please let me know! It's beginning to look like a sewing machine graveyard in here!
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