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Sage
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I'm not looking for advice. So, that wasn't you that wanted to sell the machine. OK. Sorry I bothered you.
Sage
Well-known member
I'll keep that in mind when looking for one. Thank you.
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For all those vintage sewing "machine" questions................Try the ISMACS digest
https://ismacs.net/
https://ismacs.net/
I sewed a canvas tent with flat-felled seams on my Featherweight once. No, the motor was often not up to doing what I was asking it to do. The nice thing about a belt-driven machine is you can hand turn the wheel. (I went through several needles as I recall.)
Get a belt-driven machine - see my post above. I do know that people into long distance sailing sometimes carry hand-cranked belt-driven machines for mending sails. As I recall, pffaf had a couple of models that were desired for this use (Pffaf 30 was one.). But I'd think that any full-size hand crank machine would be up for this kind of job.
Or you could get an industrial machine.
Or - there used to be at least one Amish business that would convert electric machines into hand cranks or treadles.
I hand turned my vintage Bernina 830 through the intersections of heavy seam buildups. I did canvas work with it now and again. I did have a walking pressure foot attachment for it. That vintage Record 830 was the sewing machine body that Bernina made into their industrial sewing machines by putting into tables with big platform foot pedals and powering it with large motors.
Some of the newer Phaffs have a walking pressure foot. My workshop partner in Seattle bought one. He had me do some canvas work projects for his sailboat using heavy fabrics from Sunbrella. But that Phaff was not up to sewing that heavy of materials so I had to use my Bernina and hand crank through the seam overlap pile ups. It did OK on motor power sewing lapped seams on 4 thicknesses of heavyweight Sunbrella awning material but not on 8 thicknesses.
Sailrite company sells portable sewing machines to people who own boats and like to do their own canvas work. They have options for motors plus handles for hand cranking. They do have a walking pressure foot. Good luck finding a used one unless you live in a coastal area with a lot of sailboats. Even then they will be scarce in the used markets. They are treasured tools and will be selling for a substantial price when used.
Some of the newer Phaffs have a walking pressure foot. My workshop partner in Seattle bought one. He had me do some canvas work projects for his sailboat using heavy fabrics from Sunbrella. But that Phaff was not up to sewing that heavy of materials so I had to use my Bernina and hand crank through the seam overlap pile ups. It did OK on motor power sewing lapped seams on 4 thicknesses of heavyweight Sunbrella awning material but not on 8 thicknesses.
Sailrite company sells portable sewing machines to people who own boats and like to do their own canvas work. They have options for motors plus handles for hand cranking. They do have a walking pressure foot. Good luck finding a used one unless you live in a coastal area with a lot of sailboats. Even then they will be scarce in the used markets. They are treasured tools and will be selling for a substantial price when used.
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One of the canvas work projects I needed to do when renovating my 51 year old fiberglass trailer that had a popup roof area. The fabric is called Surlast. It is made by Sunbrella but is lightweight compared to their awning weight. It has a urethane coating on the inside surface. It can’t be made from heavier weight as it needs to fold down easily. Of course there are lots of details on it, screens inset, overlapping placquets to keep rain from entering the zipper area, when the screen area fabric cornering is zipped up. You can see the shadow lines of those exterior overlapping plaques pieces around the screened opening.
The original popup fabric was in very bad shape and had distorted in size over the years. I had to make a pattern for it but based it on details from the original and actual measurements from the trailer opening. I posted the pattern online in a forum where other owners of my trailer model go for advice.
The only sewing challenge was putting zippers in along a curve. But that is much the same technique in sewing as setting in a sleeve so that there are no puckers along a curved surface. Shown with the zippered opening fabric tucked in along the lower edge of the opening. It has held up beautifully through three years of daily use.
The original popup fabric was in very bad shape and had distorted in size over the years. I had to make a pattern for it but based it on details from the original and actual measurements from the trailer opening. I posted the pattern online in a forum where other owners of my trailer model go for advice.
The only sewing challenge was putting zippers in along a curve. But that is much the same technique in sewing as setting in a sleeve so that there are no puckers along a curved surface. Shown with the zippered opening fabric tucked in along the lower edge of the opening. It has held up beautifully through three years of daily use.
LargeMarge
Well-known member
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You have my condolences.
It was a lovely, sunny, cloudless day. I made it into town to ship out an Etsy order and drop my laptop off to get its issues sorted out. Then a trip to Goodwill to find one of the bed reading backrest cushions. My neck has been sore from too much bed rest time while watching videos. Plus I will be doing a fair amount if work on my laptop this next month while sitting on the bed. That errand running was enough to tire me out and head back to camp without doing any grocery shopping.
Photo is looking out of the front window of my trailer at the late afternoon light on the Pondersa pine trees in the Coconino National Forest dispersed camping just NW in the mountains near Flagstaff. It is about a 13 mile drive into town on HWY 180 to the closest grocery store, the computer repair service and postal letter box are all within a couple of blocks of each other. So not super inconvenient. But it is an uphill climb out of town into the mountains where I am camped which uses a bit more fuel than other locations I have stayed in. Not a strong cell signal either but I am using my friends Starlink service while camped here.
Photo is looking out of the front window of my trailer at the late afternoon light on the Pondersa pine trees in the Coconino National Forest dispersed camping just NW in the mountains near Flagstaff. It is about a 13 mile drive into town on HWY 180 to the closest grocery store, the computer repair service and postal letter box are all within a couple of blocks of each other. So not super inconvenient. But it is an uphill climb out of town into the mountains where I am camped which uses a bit more fuel than other locations I have stayed in. Not a strong cell signal either but I am using my friends Starlink service while camped here.
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Sage
Well-known member
Since I am not near the shore and there are so few places to purchase a sewing machine around here I settled for a new Heavy duty machine. Purchasing it was an ordeal because of the sales person. If I didn't need it NOW I would have walked out. A walking presser foot would have been wonderful. If this machine really is heavy duty or even the equivalent of the old Japanese dressmaker sewing machine my mother had it will do what I need to do. It may require the hand procedure on some corners and really thick canvas. As soon as I eat supper I will unbox it and see if it works.
vanbrat
Well-known member
Something I have done a few times when I had really thick layers of denim is to give the pile 5-6 layers a few good smacks with a hammer. It helps with the fed part. I don't do tents or anything like that but I like to play with old denim and sometimes it gets thick. I just have the cheapest singer from Walmart right now that I use but also have a heavy duty upholstery machine that is not out and is a royal pain to get out, so I don't use it unless I have a biggish project to do.
I don't much like the singer, but it's cheap and super simple... I do like super simple.
I don't much like the singer, but it's cheap and super simple... I do like super simple.
I am of two minds about loosing my sense of smell and taste. On one hand it is a nearly perfect situation as I have lost my appetite and am not tempted by any of the things I normally might crave or tend to eat too much of just because they taste so good. So kind of a perfect weight loss scheme. But on the other hand if it was a permanent loss of taste I might end up underweight some day.
In the meantime if I am lucky that particular side effect will linger for another 6 months or so. Loose weight and save on grocery money too!
In the meantime if I am lucky that particular side effect will linger for another 6 months or so. Loose weight and save on grocery money too!
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We are traveling in a Prius and staying in motels since the 5th. Our van's a/c went out just before we were called out of town, and had to stay at home base since it was 108F when we left.
Can I rant? Cities: It took us 3-1/2 hours to get clear of the one we live in (major accidents, resulting in road closures). The I-25 corridor from Walsenburg to Denver is even more bat sh*t than when I traveled it in 1980. (I have strenuously avoided Denver since '80, even though I'm originally from there.) Never again! Motels: Maybe they'd be okay sometimes, but they are never near anything I want to be near.
I miss my van. This mode on the road is unhealthy and just not fun. Yep. Van spoiled!
Can I rant? Cities: It took us 3-1/2 hours to get clear of the one we live in (major accidents, resulting in road closures). The I-25 corridor from Walsenburg to Denver is even more bat sh*t than when I traveled it in 1980. (I have strenuously avoided Denver since '80, even though I'm originally from there.) Never again! Motels: Maybe they'd be okay sometimes, but they are never near anything I want to be near.
I miss my van. This mode on the road is unhealthy and just not fun. Yep. Van spoiled!
Happy Camper
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So to sum it up. It's made you even more of a VanFan.
My laptop is alive again after it's hard drive transplant. The programs and files were successfully cloned onto it. Now I am just going through the process of getting licenses for some of the programs reinstalled as those did not automatically reinstate during the transfer. But at least I got the one for the software I use to run my vinyl cutter reinstated which was critical and my Etsty store account and email are reactivated. Which is great because I have orders to cut and ship this week.
But I have not had time to test all the functions on the laptop. I am not too sure about the state of the battery for holding a charge. I guess I will find that out over the next couple of days.
But I have not had time to test all the functions on the laptop. I am not too sure about the state of the battery for holding a charge. I guess I will find that out over the next couple of days.
Not enough solar input today and tomorrow due to cloudy weather and the sun being lower behind the trees at my campsite. So it was the first time this summer that I got out my little Honda generator. It needed the jet in the carburetor changed out to one that works better at the higher altitude in the mountains near Flagstaff. It is just about a 15 minute job to get out the generator and a couple of tools and change to the alternate size of jet I purchased for higher elevation use. . My neighboring camper loves to mess with generators and was bored this morning so I said yes when he offered to do the job. No reason not to accept as he is very skilled with working on cars and generators.
I set it up on a crate under my folding scaffold table and put the new waterproof rain cover I sewed for it about 6 weeks ago over the table. One end zips open to let the exhaust fume exit. The crate is tall enough and the rain cover short enough for good air circulation while still keeping the generator dry. So the first time trying that setup for running the generator will be tomorrow morning. The generator and the scaffold table are secured to my trailer’s frame with a couple of cables and padlocks as I do not want to bring it in every night. At 27lbs the Honda eu1,000 is right at the max of what I can lift without risking my back acting up on me.
I plug the generator into the 30 amp shore power port on my trailer and it charges my house battery while I am running my laptop and vinyl cutter. The charger in my converter cleans up the incoming power to a steady level without any surges. I have tried running my vinyl cutter direct off the generator but that did not work as even a slight hesitation in the generator speed shuts down the vinyl cutter.
When I was thinking about setting up the electrical on my trailer I debated about putting in a converter panel but it was the right decision after all if only to solve this one issue. Of course it is handy at RV parks for running off of shore power, not that I stay at them very often. Only a couple of nights in the last three years have I camped at a paid campground and they did not have electrical power, water hookups or even bathrooms with showers and flush toilets.
I set it up on a crate under my folding scaffold table and put the new waterproof rain cover I sewed for it about 6 weeks ago over the table. One end zips open to let the exhaust fume exit. The crate is tall enough and the rain cover short enough for good air circulation while still keeping the generator dry. So the first time trying that setup for running the generator will be tomorrow morning. The generator and the scaffold table are secured to my trailer’s frame with a couple of cables and padlocks as I do not want to bring it in every night. At 27lbs the Honda eu1,000 is right at the max of what I can lift without risking my back acting up on me.
I plug the generator into the 30 amp shore power port on my trailer and it charges my house battery while I am running my laptop and vinyl cutter. The charger in my converter cleans up the incoming power to a steady level without any surges. I have tried running my vinyl cutter direct off the generator but that did not work as even a slight hesitation in the generator speed shuts down the vinyl cutter.
When I was thinking about setting up the electrical on my trailer I debated about putting in a converter panel but it was the right decision after all if only to solve this one issue. Of course it is handy at RV parks for running off of shore power, not that I stay at them very often. Only a couple of nights in the last three years have I camped at a paid campground and they did not have electrical power, water hookups or even bathrooms with showers and flush toilets.
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Morgana
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So I was shopping for toothpaste today and decided to read the ingredients -- saved $4 by buying a cheaper item from the same brand that had exactly the same active ingredient. One promised a specialized benefit (gum health) and the other didn't. Same ingredient. I've noticed the same thing before in mouthwashes (but without the drastic price difference).
Not as much variety in the dental aisle as there appears to be. Definitely worth reading the labels LOL!
Not as much variety in the dental aisle as there appears to be. Definitely worth reading the labels LOL!
Looks like my newest laptop (2018 model) has an issue with the battery or perhaps just a code that is not accurate. I will take it back in to the repair shop on Monday. Not too surprising for its age but the computer diagnostics says it is a healthy battery which is strange because it is not acting like a healthy battery. Another week, more dollars 
But at least I do have a backup computer I can use to keep my business going.
Staring tomorrow there is going to be a string of sunny days with highs in the 70s ahead, lots of solar power! So I will be working at least part of most of those days to cut more inventory for my Etsy store. No doubt the locals will be out making lots of noise this weekend with guns and their 0ff Road motorcycles.
My campsite friends got their truck working again! It needed a new high pressure oil pump and sensor, he has the skills and tools to replace those items. My Honda eu1000i generator was an essential tool for getting the battery recharged a number of times as it takes a whole lot of energy to get the oil back to where it is needed for starting. Which meant a lot of cycles of recharging that big battery. But eventually it worked after a number of charging cycles. It seems strange to be camped with people that do not travel with a generator. But they do have a lot more solar and battery capacity than I have on my little trailer. So I guess they just never anticipated this type of vehicle repair.
But at least I do have a backup computer I can use to keep my business going.Staring tomorrow there is going to be a string of sunny days with highs in the 70s ahead, lots of solar power! So I will be working at least part of most of those days to cut more inventory for my Etsy store. No doubt the locals will be out making lots of noise this weekend with guns and their 0ff Road motorcycles.
My campsite friends got their truck working again! It needed a new high pressure oil pump and sensor, he has the skills and tools to replace those items. My Honda eu1000i generator was an essential tool for getting the battery recharged a number of times as it takes a whole lot of energy to get the oil back to where it is needed for starting. Which meant a lot of cycles of recharging that big battery. But eventually it worked after a number of charging cycles. It seems strange to be camped with people that do not travel with a generator. But they do have a lot more solar and battery capacity than I have on my little trailer. So I guess they just never anticipated this type of vehicle repair.
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