GaryMinor Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Jeff, I've viewed the three part videos Skinning Polyester and the video on the double cord stitching. I noticed that the double cord method is demonstrated with heavy fabric, but you mention that it will work well with lighter fabric also. Is this restricted to nylon or will it work well with 8 oz. polyester? Gary in Wake Forest Quote
Kudzu Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I have not done one with the 8 oz. yet, but others have. So if you have speak up. I am sure I could do it but I have skinned a lot of boats! Quote
kayak278 Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I used the double cord method on the 8oz polyester for my son's kayak and it worked great. I used regular para-cord. Quote
vttramper Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Gary I just finished skinning my Ravenswood using the double-corded method with the 8 oz fabric. The lighter fabric has a fairly loose weave and you have to be careful when stiching so as not to create "pull holes" as you tighten up the seam. If you are careful about working the material (rolling it betwen thumb and finger) to get it tight (but without the gap shown in the video), and then stitch, it works well. If you create gaps and then try to pull the seam tight with the thread you will have problems. This is true in general, but I think the corded technique makes it a bit trickier, mostly because those cords give you real leverage! After finishing sewing, my cloth wasn't as tight as Jeff shows with the heavier cloth, but the 8 oz stuff really responds to heat shrinking with an iron and the final result was nice and tight. With the heavier material, the weave is much tighter (at least that is how it looks in the video) and you can really pull the seam together snugly as Jeff shows in the video. I think that would make the sewing process go better and also make it possible to pull the material really tight overall without requiring much heat shrinking. I am happy with my final results (see my earlier post Skinning Ravenswood for some pics) but I think I will use the heavier cloth for future builds. I realy like the corded method and I think it works to best advantage with a tight weave that lets you pull the fabric. My 2 cents. Steve Quote
Bcone1381 Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 Last summer I built a cast-a-way and sewed her up using 8oz. and the double corded stitch. I used Jeff's Artificial Sinew for the stitching and liked the heavier cord with this fabric. I would not want to stitch it with finer thread. You might reference the thread below and look at entry #3 and #10, as I talk about the stitching and methods and have some photos using one piece of thread and two needles. http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/8777-cast-a-way-fishing-kayak-build/?hl=bcone1381#entry76169 Quote
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