My Sailmaking Tips

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   I just wanted to kick in some of my experience, and give some tips.
I have made two jibs using Sailrite kits, and they turned out very well.

Regarding creasing and wrinkling, well, you can't avoid it.    Some professional sailmakers crease the sails like crazy while they are making them, some don't.  The big makers that have a sunken machine do better, but it happens.  It doesn't hurt the sail. 

My experience working in my small area is that the only way to get these long seams sewn is to flake and reflake the sail.   You can fold it many ways to expose what you need to sew, and the most important thing is to get the weight of the sail supported and balanced so that the seam is straight with NO tension pulling it one way or another.  The sail should float through the walking foot without needing any pushing or pulling.

Guiding the sail through the machine is tricky--you have to get the trick!

The trick is to PIVOT the sail; i.e., to rotate the entire seam you are sewing around the point where the needle is entering the cloth.  Do NOT EVER push the cloth from side to side at the needle.  This will disturb the tension of the thread and create a defective seam.  It can even bend the needle and break it off.   

I pride myself on doing all my seams with two continuous lenths of thread, i.e., no breaks.  This means setting up the bobbin with enough thread for the seam, and never having to cut and rethread.  I waste a fair amount of thread, even though I have several bobbins.  I don't mind.  If I have too many bobbins with less than 1/2 capacity, I take the smallest one, unwind the thread, toss it in the garbage, and rewind the bobbin completely full.
Thread is cheap.  Bad seams ain't.

Spend some time and waste some thread with your machine, to determine some basic seam lengths for your bobbins.   Take a bobbin, wind it about 1/4 full, and sew as long a seam as you can in waste material.   Then, wind it 1/2 full, and do the same thing.  This will give you some idea of how long a seam can be sewn with a bobbin at various stages of depletion.  This will help you conserve thread in the long run, because you can look at a bobbin and see immediately if it will get you through the seam you need to sew.   If it won't, set it aside for sewing reinforcements or patches.

If you need to stop for any reason, stop or rotate the wheel so the needle is embedded in the fabric.    Then rotate your cloth, but don't ever move or rotate the cloth with the machine stopped and the needle above the fabric.  This will create a bad stitch, and the only thing to do will be to stitch over it.

When flaking the sail into position for a seam, I use lots and lots of duct tape.  Duct tape can be quickly put into play to hold the flaked bundle, and if you take it off right after you are done, it leaves no residue on the sail.  It holds dacron really well.   I arrange the sail and flake it and then duct tape the whole thing together and it holds and makes it easy to balance the sail and rotate it around the walking foot.

I bought 4 folding tables at Target.  They are 6' long and 2' wide.  They have some kind of polyethylene plastic top, and the sail cloth slides on these things as if it were on teflon.   They offer no resistance to the cloth at all, and they were cheap.  I think I paid $39.99 for each on sale!  The fold up and stack against a wall, upright, so they are out of the way.

I position one or two to receive the cloth, and one or two behind the machine to hold it before it enters the machine. 

I also sometimes put three together for the flaking process.   They hold the sail pretty well while I tape it together.

Of course you should use the basting tape--always.   Otherwise you take a bad chance on getting a seam out of place.   I don't like taking seams apart and re-sewing them...too many holes.

My final recommendation:  Either get the varaible speed DC motor, or rig some kind of jack-shaft and pulley reduction if you are using a power stand.   

You HAVE to slow the sewing machine down or you will have a lot of problems.  I have slowed mine down to the point that I can press the treadle once and get one stitch.  Holding it down gives me about 3 - 6 stitches per second.  It is a bit tedious doing a 36' long seam, but the seam comes out perfect.   The total time for such seams in minimal compared to all the other construction tasks (arranging the panels, basting the seams, flaking the sail, hand-sewing the rings, etc.  

By slowing down, you may increase the time of construction by maybe 1 percent.  And then, if you subtract the time required to rip out a bad seam and resew it, you probably actually work faster with a slower speed.

Finally, Jeff Frank is a valuable resource.   Thanks for all your help, Jeff!

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gpaul12 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07 June 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Quote Reply Topic: My Sailmaking Tips Posted: 07 June 2006 at 2:01pm
	I just wanted to kick in some of my experience, and give some tips. I have made two jibs using Sailrite kits, and they turned out very well. Regarding creasing and wrinkling, well, you can't avoid it. Some professional sailmakers crease the sails like crazy while they are making them, some don't. The big makers that have a sunken machine do better, but it happens. It doesn't hurt the sail. My experience working in my small area is that the only way to get these long seams sewn is to flake and reflake the sail. You can fold it many ways to expose what you need to sew, and the most important thing is to get the weight of the sail supported and balanced so that the seam is straight with NO tension pulling it one way or another. The sail should float through the walking foot without needing any pushing or pulling. Guiding the sail through the machine is tricky--you have to get the trick! The trick is to PIVOT the sail; i.e., to rotate the entire seam you are sewing around the point where the needle is entering the cloth. Do NOT EVER push the cloth from side to side at the needle. This will disturb the tension of the thread and create a defective seam. It can even bend the needle and break it off. I pride myself on doing all my seams with two continuous lenths of thread, i.e., no breaks. This means setting up the bobbin with enough thread for the seam, and never having to cut and rethread. I waste a fair amount of thread, even though I have several bobbins. I don't mind. If I have too many bobbins with less than 1/2 capacity, I take the smallest one, unwind the thread, toss it in the garbage, and rewind the bobbin completely full. Thread is cheap. Bad seams ain't. Spend some time and waste some thread with your machine, to determine some basic seam lengths for your bobbins. Take a bobbin, wind it about 1/4 full, and sew as long a seam as you can in waste material. Then, wind it 1/2 full, and do the same thing. This will give you some idea of how long a seam can be sewn with a bobbin at various stages of depletion. This will help you conserve thread in the long run, because you can look at a bobbin and see immediately if it will get you through the seam you need to sew. If it won't, set it aside for sewing reinforcements or patches. If you need to stop for any reason, stop or rotate the wheel so the needle is embedded in the fabric. Then rotate your cloth, but don't ever move or rotate the cloth with the machine stopped and the needle above the fabric. This will create a bad stitch, and the only thing to do will be to stitch over it. When flaking the sail into position for a seam, I use lots and lots of duct tape. Duct tape can be quickly put into play to hold the flaked bundle, and if you take it off right after you are done, it leaves no residue on the sail. It holds dacron really well. I arrange the sail and flake it and then duct tape the whole thing together and it holds and makes it easy to balance the sail and rotate it around the walking foot. I bought 4 folding tables at Target. They are 6' long and 2' wide. They have some kind of polyethylene plastic top, and the sail cloth slides on these things as if it were on teflon. They offer no resistance to the cloth at all, and they were cheap. I think I paid $39.99 for each on sale! The fold up and stack against a wall, upright, so they are out of the way. I position one or two to receive the cloth, and one or two behind the machine to hold it before it enters the machine. I also sometimes put three together for the flaking process. They hold the sail pretty well while I tape it together. Of course you should use the basting tape--always. Otherwise you take a bad chance on getting a seam out of place. I don't like taking seams apart and re-sewing them...too many holes. My final recommendation: Either get the varaible speed DC motor, or rig some kind of jack-shaft and pulley reduction if you are using a power stand. You HAVE to slow the sewing machine down or you will have a lot of problems. I have slowed mine down to the point that I can press the treadle once and get one stitch. Holding it down gives me about 3 - 6 stitches per second. It is a bit tedious doing a 36' long seam, but the seam comes out perfect. The total time for such seams in minimal compared to all the other construction tasks (arranging the panels, basting the seams, flaking the sail, hand-sewing the rings, etc. By slowing down, you may increase the time of construction by maybe 1 percent. And then, if you subtract the time required to rip out a bad seam and resew it, you probably actually work faster with a slower speed. Finally, Jeff Frank is a valuable resource. Thanks for all your help, Jeff!

w1ndfall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Sailrite Employee - Expert Joined: 22 December 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 291	Quote Reply Posted: 07 June 2006 at 3:14pm
	Excellent advice! Thank you Dan Smith Annapolis Stroew Manager

scandia Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 28 June 2006 Location: Virgin Islands Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Posted: 28 June 2006 at 5:25pm
	Hello GPaul 12, How do you adjust the machine to slow it down? That is always a problem with a industrial machine, it is so touchie. it takes off too fast. Thanks eunice Do you know anything about a yachtsman deluxe by sailrite?

gpaul12 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 07 June 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 6	Quote Reply Posted: 29 June 2006 at 10:56am
	Hi Eunice, I don't know anything about the yachtsman deluxe, sorry, you should contact Matt Grant on that. I slowed my machine down by purchasing a jack shaft, two pillow blocks, and a pair of pulleys. The main pulley from the motor goes to the smaller pulley on the jack shaft, then the larger pulley goes to the main pulley on the machine. I added the jackshaft underneath the table of my power stand. It was pretty tight in there, things just barely fit. Then I got a length of link-belt and made up two custom belts for the whole set-up. The link belt stuff is available from most woodworking supply outlets and is extremely easy to adjust to the proper length, and runs smoother than a standard v-belt. If I could, I would rather have the DC motor and controls from Sailrite--the reason is that you have a limited top speed with the jack-shaft, and I made mine pretty slow. It would be nicer to have a greater range of speed. The cost of the jack-shaft, pillow-blocks, pulleys and belts was about $150.00--and I had a friendly salesman at the local belt and pulley shop who helped me calcluate the correct sizes of pulleys, length of the jack-shaft, etc. or it would have been a lot harder. I will probably upgrade to the DC motor at some point, but right now I am trying to make my Sailright Professional pay for itself by making sails for myself and my friends. Once I recover my costs on the machine, I will likely get the DC motor setup since it is a lot friendlier in terms of speed control. I hope this helps! Paul Houtz

MattGrant Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Sailrite Employee - Expert Joined: 21 April 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 859	Quote Reply Posted: 29 June 2006 at 11:00pm
	Hi, The Sailrite Yachtsman was never offered in a "Deluxe" version. We only started offering a Deluxe package with the introduction of the Ultrafeed. The Yachtsman is a good machine but nowhere near as great as the Ultrafeed. The Ultrafeed with the Monster wheel and the new Posi-Pin clutch is very powerful with excellent slow speed control. Thanks, Matt with Sailrite

tondelayo29 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26 September 2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Posted: 26 September 2006 at 7:18pm
	Do you have any tips on using the "Basting Tape". I have made several small projects to work on the sewing skills and have done pretty darn good if I say so myself. But still, I am not experienced and am making a Spinnaker Sock as the 1st real project for my boat. All is going well with one exception. The needle keeps gumming up which begins a whole raft of problems ie. skipped stitches and borken thread. Now be kind as I am a beginner.... Should I be sewing around the Basting Tape or through it. As you can tell I am sewing through it. Any help & pointers would be appreciated
	~~~_/) ~~~~~

tondelayo29 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26 September 2006 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Posted: 26 September 2006 at 7:47pm
	A little addition to my questions; I just read about the use of the Seamstick Basting tape in the online catalog. I am using the recommended tape from the kit. It is gumming up with-in 6 inches. Thanks,
	~~~_/) ~~~~~

w1ndfall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Sailrite Employee - Expert Joined: 22 December 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 291	Quote Reply Posted: 27 September 2006 at 2:11pm
	Hi Tondelayo29: What kind of Seamstick are you using? The 129 (38") is used for acrylic fabrics such as Sunbrella. It is very agressive and gooey in order to adhere to that fuzzy of a fabric. If you are sewing dacron or nylon, you might consider using 20306 or 20307. Best regards, Dan Smith Annapolis Store Manager

suekittle Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 12 February 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3	Quote Reply Posted: 12 February 2009 at 4:16pm
	I have just finished my jib and it took me so long due to having problems with skipped stitches. Now I've started the main sail and I can sew the seams together with no trouble at all. But when I start sewing on the patches the thicker the material gets, the more the zig zag stitches look like straight ones with a normal zigzag every once in a while. I'm using a number 20 needle and an LSZ-1 machine. I have changed needles, set the foot pressure as tight as it will go, put on a new retaining ring, checked the timing and the needle bar height and I still get problems with thick material. The machine works great when it's 3 or less layers thick. So what else can I try ?

w1ndfall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Sailrite Employee - Expert Joined: 22 December 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 291	Quote Reply Posted: 12 February 2009 at 6:33pm
	I would suggest that you check the left-right timing in both positions while in zigzag. If this is off, contact Matt Grant for directions regarding how to proceed.