tkguppies Posted October 30, 2016 Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 I've been silently building a FreeB in spare time off and on for past few months. Now that the weather has cooled and rain season has passed, I've got the itch to finish the boat. It's my first skin on frame and I love this process much more than epoxy stitch and glue. Quick question. I have two places at the rear of the coaming where I tried to manage the slack and hoped the wrinkles would shrink out. I'm not sure how taught the 8oz skin should be after ironing. I made several slow passes and it definitely is more taught to the point of removing fold creases and a coin will bounce on the skin. I tried the iron and heat gun on low. The stitch points are taught but the slack won't cinch up. Any recommendations on how to improve? Pre-shrink Post-Shrink This is the worse of the two sides, but both have visible wrinkles from slack. PS, I know the coaming fabric sewing looks like sh*t. I'm painting it and then covering with strip of wood or foam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchmellow Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 I built a FreeB 14 and had similar problems around the coaming with the recycled poly. The thread is here: http://www.messing-about.com/forum/topic/8680-heat-shrinking-question/ . You might benefit from calibrating your iron to be sure it is hot enough. Bcone1381 described how to calibrate an iron in the thread. The iron I used was way too cool at a low setting. After getting the iron hot enough I was able to get all the wrinkles out. The only caveat is that the recycled poly really shrinks well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchmellow Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Sorry. For some reason I can't copy and paste an address here. So here goes: http://www.messing-about.com/forums/topic/8680-heat-shrinking-question/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 There is no better teacher than experience. I doubt you will get those puckers out around the coaming. There is just to much excess fabric. Sewn in coamings are sometimes a real pain the butt and wrinkles happen regardless what you do. The best way I have found is installing the coaming with some nails in the stitching holes, getting it all lined up and wrinkles out. The start sewing and removing nails as you go. Good news, it will not effect the way it paddles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trakka Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Jeffs nail in sewing hole to position fabric gives a great result. Also try using an welting cord and fold fabric under as you sew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abyssdncr Posted October 31, 2016 Report Share Posted October 31, 2016 Another little tip that may help is to whip stitch the inner coaming. Where there is extra fabric to take up, you can take a bigger bite into the fabric and pull that fabric up and in. Looks good and cleans up some slack in the process. Check out my Tadpole thread for some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted November 1, 2016 Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 Jeffs nail in sewing hole to position fabric gives a great result. Also try using an welting cord and fold fabric under as you sew. I did something similar but without the chord. I folded the material and clamped it in place with finger clamps such that the entire perimeter was slightly snugly set in place by clamps. Then I snugged it a little more during sewing and removed clamps as I got to them. Seems a bit like Jeff's nail method. Hmm, maybe set in place with clamps and tighten a bit as you add nails, then sew/remove nails? Thinking out loud, haven't done one in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Tiger Posted November 1, 2016 Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 I think the key on freeb is to really crank tension on the coaming, too. I didn't crank the tension quite enough, and so ended up with a little wiggle and some wrinkles. Dave, your clamp/nail combo sounds like a good idea. I stole the nail thing from Chris Cunningham years ago. Drywall nails are what I use, because they are wicked sharp and have big, flat hand heads. Freeb is a short, fat boat with a big hole in the middle. I've really got to reskin mine. The recycled poly has gotten very baggy over the last few years of near constant use and exposure. Well, not VERY baggy, but it ain't quarter bouncing tight, anymore. Gosh, I love my freeb. Thanks again, Jeff. Peace, Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkguppies Posted November 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Thank you everyone for your help. I ended up getting most of the slack wrinkles out. Here's how. First, set the iron on the highest setting and kept it moving. That help tighten up the entire skin a bit more. Second, on that same hot setting, I flipped the boat on its side and ironed the worst wrinkles from the inside of the coaming. This really helped. Third, using your advice for whip stitching, I went around the inside of the coaming. I love that it help pull in some slack but also left a nice finished edge in the coaming. Here's some pics. Compare from my original post above. Next up is to make my seat out of some closed cell foam I have. And then on to finishing. If curious, I'm planning to use Spar Urethane for a translucent, kevlar look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hirilonde Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 I don't know that you could have done much better regarding wrinkles. The FreeB is a short fat boat, which defies covering with flat cloth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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