sewing machine for sails

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neil_s

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I'm looking for some advice about sewing machines suitable for sail repairs. I have been keeping the upholstery, spray hood and sail cover going with an old domestic Singer hand cranked machine but it only does straight stitch. For the sails I either hand sew if its only a few inches or give up and take them to the sail maker. I would like to be able to do simple re-stitching myself since that's mostly what's needed. Will one of the old fashioned heavyweight domestic machines which can do zig-zag do the job? Can anyone recommend a machine?

Cheers! Neil
 
Whilst the traditional answer is to wait for a Read's to come up on ebay, or buy a £700 Sailrite from Solentsew, my first sail sewing machine was an elderly Husqvarna.

Steel frame, zigzag, reverse, various feet and adjustable foot pressure. Goes through 6 layers of sail material. Electric motor and hand wheel. Go to a second hand sewing shop and they might have one in the corner for about £60.


Say you want to sew a garden tent rather than mend sails. :)
 
I managed to buy a heavy all metal singer from ebay, probably about 25 years old or so.

Had a it set up by a specialist and worked great, problem is belt kept slipping when going through heavy materials, so my advice is to get a few belts or belt spray to keep it going.
 
that website reminds me of Only Fools and Horses for some reason. (I am sure they are very hardworking and professional people, of course. It's just such a naive site, though)
 
I got myself a fairly recent (last 30 years or so) Jones off Freegle cos SWMBO wouldn't let me use her posh Necchi. Now she borrows mine!!!

Most zig-zag machines will cope with resewing a seam on a sail or hood. The prolems come when you have 4/5 thicknesses or a leather protector to deal with. I revert to hand sewing (palm & pliers!) for the heavy duty stuff - there generally isn't an awful lot of it to deal with.

I also try to catch seams early, as soon as I see a few stiches adrift, I look for a nice quiet sunny day at anchor or in harbour & sit on the cabin hand sewing them. It is very relaxing & time goes very pleasantly. A glass of wine helps, provided you don't knock it all over the sail. :eek:
 
We use a Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ -1, you can also get Sunbrella from Sailrite. It won't handle stitching on reinforced areas such as clews. Use Dabond UV resistant thread and you need chisel ended needles for sailcloth.
 
Made my sails on an old 'Japanese made for US 'New World' brand' using denim needles. Machine was borrowed today to make two headsails for a cutter. Last time he used his wife's, cost him a new machine.
I gather some old Brother machines are sought after. Walking foot types are best.
 
Try and get a Singer 20U machine which will do both straight & zigzag - there are now many Chinese made copies around and many on ebay. See this early one on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Singer-Profes...Collect_SewingMachines_RL&hash=item3f0757169f
I've got a later machine which has done all my canvas work - but it won't go through more than about 4 thicknesses of sailcloth! Or try an industrial Sewing Machine dealer. Remember these are professional machines and come complete with a large work table and large motor - but check it is single phase not 3 phase.
 
Kellyseye - sorry, but chisel needles on sailcloth ? They will cut the cloth threads. Ball-point are the standard ones, size 18 usually.
 
The important thing is 'needle power'. If you're going through several layers of sailcloth you need a good needle with plenty of clout behind it. What you don't want is one of the new, all plastic, 35 quid jobs because they just won't manage the job (or if they do, they won't do it for long). I'd look for an old traditional metal cased machine which will do a variable length straight stitch and a variable width zig-zag and not a lot else - You don't need button holes on your genny! Keep an eye on the auction sites.
Electric is good, but don't turn your nose up at a traditional hand cranked machine which you can use anywhere.
 
Dabond is available form main UK suppliers such as Kayospruce, who are very very helpful. I bought two 16 oz spools recently, and they matched some thread with an off-white canvas for me.

I use their Invincible thread for ordinary work, though. Cheaper !
 
Thanks very much everone for your helpful and interesting comments. I don't have the space unfortunately for a table mounted industrial machine. I had a good look at the ace-apparel site and spotted an old Jones machine for £35 so I have bought it to see how I get on. If it will go through four layers I should be able to do most of the long runs with a bit of hand stitching at the corners.

Cheers! Neil
 
I noticed that there was some difference of opinion as to the needles to use. I am going to try 100 size with the ball tips. These are supposed to part the weave of the cloth, whereas the sharp pointed needles will spear the threads. The chisel points are intended for leather, I thought. I don't know the weight of the sailcloth used for the sails I intend to repair, but I guess it's about 7-8 oz. Would V69 thread be suitable, considering that the sails are pretty old? Thanks again for all your interesting comments - this is an enjoyable learning curve!

Neil
 
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