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General Upholstery Questions and Comments => General Discussion => Topic started by: sunshine_n_pc on March 21, 2014, 07:39:10 pm

Title: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: sunshine_n_pc on March 21, 2014, 07:39:10 pm
We make custom wrap-around fender covers  - mainly aimed at the week-end mechanic who lives to work on, rebuild, and spend lots of money on parts to make his car go faster.  They then blow it up and have to work on it more.  (I know this because I have to live with one).  The fender cover is patterned to completely cover the entire front end with a custom fit.  I pattern a 1/2 of the front end very similiar to how you all do a car seat or a boat cover.

Here is my problem:  We had a high end car company contact us to make a fender cover for a super car they sell - the car is very limited and very expensive - 300K to 500K. They only want about a dozen fender covers - they plan to give one to dealership in the United States who has sold one of the cars so that whenever an owner brings their car in to be serviced they will have a fender cover to protect the car's finish.

After negotiating with them for almost a year now, we've come down to it is time to do the pattern.  The closest car to us is almost 4 hours away at a dealership.  The dealership was not involved in the negotiations - that all happened on the corporate end.  The dealership is not all that crazy about us being there.  They have basically told us "if you scratch it, you have bought it". 

I don't plan to scratch it, but accidents do happen. I am close to saying forget it but it is a really big opportunity which would have the potential to put us out there on another level. 

I pattern with plastic sheeting - just like you all talk about using.  I have to use scissors to trim the plastic to make it fit the lines of the car.  I am worried about slipping and scratching the finish. 

Do any of you know of any scissors or cutting tools that have a safety edge to prevent scratching?  I usually use several different types of scissors - sometimes though, I need to trim close and might use a very small, sharp pair of embroidery scissors. 

ANY thoughts or ideas? 
CeCe

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Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: Mojo on March 22, 2014, 02:03:52 pm
Crazy idea but.... take a clear plastic hose and slip it over the bottom end. Cut the material towards the most inner part of the scissors. The hose wont scratch the paint and 3/4's of the blade can be used for cutting. If your cutting anywhere the point will be near the paint remove the hose. Slip it back on when you get close to the fender or whatever.

Or take some electrical tape and tape the bottom blade near the end closest to the car when cutting to prevent it from scratching. Other then that I know of no cutting tool that wont have the ability to scratch the paint.

You going to have their logo embossed or embroidered on the cover ? Sounds interesting. Be sure you tag it somewhere with your business name on it.

Lotsa luck. Let us know how this deal works out.

Chris
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: Allan on March 22, 2014, 02:13:53 pm
If you are so worried about scratching the car is it possible to take out insurance for a day to cover the job?
Otherwise as Chris said

Allan
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: sunshine_n_pc on March 22, 2014, 02:17:45 pm
Thanks Chris

I will give that a try....I thought about trying to do something with that plasi-dip stuff, but haven't tried it yet.

We have a tag with our name and logo that I sew into the binding on the driver's side - kind of like a large Levi tag.   


Temp insurance, hadn't thought about that...I will check into that.  Their big thing was "do you realize how much the value of this car will drop if it has to be repainted".  I am trying to not let it bother me.  It's almost  like telling your child, "don't drop that"......of course, then, they drop it. 
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: MinUph on March 22, 2014, 03:29:22 pm
How about if you tape off the areas on the car where the seames will be? Painters tape wont hurt the finish. 2 layers if your concerned.
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: byhammerandhand on March 22, 2014, 04:34:07 pm
I'd be inspecting carefully from a number of angles and taking lots of pre-work photos.   You don't want to get a, "It was perfect before you started."
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: sofadoc on March 22, 2014, 05:12:09 pm
Can you chalk out a template on the car, and then move to a table to make your scissor cuts?
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: Mike on March 22, 2014, 05:33:19 pm
im thinking like paul when I pattern a boat I used painters tape and seam tape on it to stick the pattern plastic to then mark the seams on the plastic. of course I don't want to scratch a boat hull ,but when I pattern a outboard motor cover I make them snug form fitting like a glovel and with a new $25,000 motor I really don't want any fudge ups. so at all the seams line I add blue painters tape then add transfer tape and stick the pattern plastic to it and mark the seams.

maybe if its really scarry use 2" tape
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: JuneC on March 22, 2014, 06:51:40 pm
I'm with Keith on this one.  Inspect and photograph the paint thoroughly with the dealer's representative present so any existing defect is documented.  Inspect and photograph again when you're done patterning.  If some careless customer or dealer employee scratches the paint that day or even a week later, they may try to pin it on you.  I'd have them sign something stating that you're legally off the hook when you're done.  Since the dealer doesn't want you there, what exactly does he plan to do to protect the paint when it comes back for service?  He's being short-sighted.

June
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: bobbin on March 24, 2014, 12:22:52 pm
I know that sometimes "it happens".  But I also have to wonder at what point the owner of the vehicle (the person who called you for your service!) has to assume some responsibility/"liability" for the possibility that his "precious" might be scratched.  He doesn't have the vehicle insured against things like that? (give me a break)

I'd go to "code red" on that job.  I like the idea of supplementary insurance (add it to your estimate!) and documenting the present condition of the vehicle, too, but JEEZ! how far are you willing to go to get the job?  I suspect my rope is a lot shorter than yours. 
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: JuneC on March 24, 2014, 02:47:04 pm
CeCe, something just came to mind for cutting plastic.  Have you ever used a shrinkwrap knife?  It's a razor that's just about completely encased in a plastic hook-shaped handle.  Here's one model, but there's many on the internet from $2.00 and up. 

http://www.shrinkwrapcontainments.com/p-26-shrink-film-knife.aspx

Hope you can work out the liability issues.

June
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: sunshine_n_pc on March 28, 2014, 07:25:34 pm
Thanks for the input everyone - we did the job this week and it went off without a scratch :)  Interestingly, they didn't even check the car once we left and never even acted too concerned.  We took complete pictures both before and after though.  The car actually belongs to the dealership.  One of the guys laughed when I made a comment about having been worried about accidently scratching it and said "yea, we were hoping you all would scratch it up so we could send it back to the corporate office".  I guess there aren't many with 400K to fork out for a toy.  We were in a glass garage/display area - had a quite a few people walk by and watch.  The guys working there say they aren't allowed to even touch the car.  It was interesting. 

If I hadn't been so worried about scratching the car, it would have been easier.  Even my husband was freaking out, not even wanting me to put the blue tape on the car.  We were so much more worried about it than they were.  I think they were just giving  us "the talk" upfront - kind of like what you do when your teenager takes out the car for the first time.  The pattern came out ok - could have been better - but, 7-8 hour round trip drive means, ok is good enough - we made 2 trips, one to pattern and one test fit cover. 

I now need some advice about the wrinkles:

The vinyl we use is about 28-30 oz - a decent weight, but it has a white felt/fleece backing on it.  They requested us to add a black fleece to the back.  I glued the fleece on the back of the vinyl on the passenger side but I sewed the edges only on the vinyl I used on the driver's side.  The fleece has A LOT of stretch - unfortunately, I stretched the fleece when attaching it to the vinyl.  I didn't realize how much the fleece could pull the vinyl. 

So, I know that I need to make sure that there is not any stretch in the fleece - but I also can't have wrinkles either.  Should I glue?  Sew?  how do I hold it in place if I sew it instead of glue it.  The fleece has no structure to it.  I am leaning towards cutting out the vinyl pieces separately from the fleece.  I could leave the fleece in oversized pieces and then trim it down after attaching it to the vinyl.  I am just not sure the best way to attach this.    Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 



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Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: Allan on March 28, 2014, 08:30:22 pm
Looks good
How do you hold the cover to the car?

Allan
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: Darren Henry on March 29, 2014, 08:43:42 am
QuoteI am leaning towards cutting out the vinyl pieces separately from the fleece.  I could leave the fleece in oversized pieces and then trim it down after attaching it to the vinyl.


my "knee jerk" reaction would be to do exactly that---cut the vinyl panels and glue them to the fleece and trim.

Another option (that i have done backing material like that) is to glue the vinyl to the fleece off the roll and then cut the double layered material.
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: MinUph on March 29, 2014, 09:30:29 am
How do you deal with the seams being uncovered by the fleece? Doesn't sound finished this way. It seems something like this should be lined with all seams on the inside facing each other. Maybe finding a better lining material would solve the stretching issue. You could then Make the lining like the topper and line it properly maybe binding the outer edges. And stitching in places to hold it all together.
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: sunshine_n_pc on March 29, 2014, 10:41:09 am
Quote from: Allan on March 28, 2014, 08:30:22 pm
Looks good
How do you hold the cover to the car?

Allan


We mainly use magnets inserted in to the binding at the top, however, if the car is fiberglass we use straps, sometimes grommets if there is an existing bolt to attach it to - this one has a magnet tab on the front and then 2 straps on each side.

Quote from: MinUph on March 29, 2014, 09:30:29 am
How do you deal with the seams being uncovered by the fleece? Doesn't sound finished this way. It seems something like this should be lined with all seams on the inside facing each other. Maybe finding a better lining material would solve the stretching issue. You could then Make the lining like the topper and line it properly maybe binding the outer edges. And stitching in places to hold it all together.


I'm not sure what you are referring to....the goal is to only have the fleece touching the paint..... in the beginning we turned seams to the inside and finished the seams with a top stitch.   But that is putting sometimes harsh edges of the vinyl against the car paint.  A couple years ago we started using our "whisper soft seam technology"  .. we turn the seams to the outside and trim close to the seam.  Car people are very particular about their paint - many have thousands tied up in a paint job.  Normally I bind the edges with the vinyl, but with this one, i used the fleece and i am binding all of the edges.  However, I didn't finish the bottom edge all the way around.  This one is a mock up to test the pattern - several issues still to fix. 

I'm not really using the fleece as a lining but more as just a backing to the vinyl - so when I sew I am sewing it all like it is one layer, not a layer of vinyl and then fleece.  I did think about using it as a lining that could be removed for cleaning or replacing (anything caught up in the fleece has the potential to scratch paint) but that would double my sewing and cutting time - maybe something for the future
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: ajlelectronics on March 30, 2014, 06:59:03 am
Maybe the same way I use scrim foam and fabric... Cut you vinyl to shape, spray aerosol adhesive on both parts, allow to go off and put them together. Now stitch around the outside of the pieces to make it easy to work with.
Title: Re: Help with Scissors/cutting tool
Post by: MinUph on March 30, 2014, 05:34:03 pm
  I know you were just asking about scissors but this has morphed into more.

  Have you considered making these like you just said turning the seams out but finishing this off with binding? I think it would look much more professional and finished. I see the thought behind turning them out. I had not realized this was done hence my question before.

  I realize this is a high end market and hope 1 that you are getting a high end price. It is a nice idea on a 400k car. I also see where you mention the pattern needs tweaking yet on this one. The fender seam is way off. Should fix before showing as any sample.

  Good luck in your venture.