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Have always had good luck with Thread Exchange and occasionally good deals can be ound on Ebay or Amazon.

Jim

Not such a dumb idea really.

I wound up with four industrial sewing machines by following a lead on Craigslist.

2 Singer 31-15's, 1 Singer 211xxxx double needle machine and 1 Singer 111w153 all for $15.00 a piece.

You never know what will come your way and sometimes it's something really cool.

Jim

We use a lot of vinyl but it's usually the 18 ounce type  for tarps, and just about anything else people want to waterproof or divert water away from kind of stuff with.

Occasionally we get orders for the big truck tarps and we drag the material out to the street to cut it and the asphalt will leave black marks all over the place. 

Not a problem for dark color tarps but when the marks get on the white tarps we use the hand cleaner "Go-Jo" to clean them up.

The vinyl sealer works pretty well for covering up marks if they're not too deep or too bad.

Thanks June.

I'll give them a try.  I've tapped all our wholesalers, and even a few retailers, out here with no success.

Customer is very specific about the black lacquer two prong studs.  I've had the conversation with him about the two hole studs but he wants them to be the same ones as they had in the Army.

I've had other customer's insist on using Dot Brand fastener's rather than Fasnap.  They wanted to go all original.  They had to say DOT on them.

The customer is always right...

Jim

Hello All,

Does anyone know where I can find the Common Sense Single 2 Prong Stud in the Black Finish?

I tried uploading a photo with no luck, so here's a picture of one on the Sailright website

http://www.sailrite.com/Common-Sense-2-Prong-Stud-Key-CC

I need 150 of them.  If anyone has any leads I sure would appreciate it.  If any of you happen to have some I be happy to buy some.  Need them for some old U.S. Army truck canvas.

Trivantage can get me some in a week or two but only in quantities of 1000.

Feel free to e-mail me at jwatt@nwtarp.com or Call 360 296 2321.

Wishing You All the Best in the New Year.  I hope 2013 is prosperous for all!

Jim

We do a lot of work with the Shelby Cobra and MG / MGB crowd and they use the Lift The Dot fasteners, extended length .275" "Long Prong" L-T-D fasteners for their carpet.

As far as binding marine carpet you likely want at least a #206 thread with a binder designed for carpet.  Maybe Gregg @ Keystone has a lead on that?

We have some good leads on Lift-The-Dot fasteners if you need them.  Let me know.

Jim
jwatt@nwtarp.com

Oxyclean works pretty good for getting out stains.  It doesn't discolor either.

Thinking it would work pretty good for getting out blood stains.

Jim

You could give these guys a try:

http://www.foamforyou.com/

I've ordered from them and they were very helpful with questions we had and they're website has a lot of good info.

We don't order a lot of foam but one of the things I remember about ordering foam is that its expensive to ship.

Try to find a supplier near to you if you can to minimize UPS or USPS costs.

Jim

We have a few different machines.  All either Singer or Pfaff.

By far the best machine we have is the Pfaff 1245. I like because it has the self oiling sewing hook, but beyond that its built like a Sherman Tank and it will sew anything we can put under the needle.

I've been told the 1245 will sew through a sheet of plywood.  While I haven't tried it, and I don't plan to, I know it will go through several layers of Sunbrella or 32 oz. vinyl easily.  We've never had to reset the needle bar, time it, or service it in anyway except for oiling the beast and occasionally reset the feed drive eccentric.

Pound for pound the best sewing machine around... In my opinion

I should mention I have seen a Singer Class 7 sew through a half dollar when I was in the Navy, but that's another story entirely.  ;D

Jim

Lots of maple, cottonwood & alder around these neck of the woods!

Usually after Winter is over and the weather starts getting warmer I get lots of calls for repairs and I find tons of wet moldy leaves, and sometimes the remains of what appears to have a been small rodents living, and dying, in things like sail and boat covers.

Yuck!  ???

Aluminum rivets are available at most hardware stores:

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Hand-Tools-Fastening-Tools-Rivet-Tools-Rivets/h_d1/N-arfzZ5yc1v/h_d2/Navigation?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&searchNav=true

Happy riveting!

Jim

Myself?  I wouldn't use hydraulic fluid for lubrication.

Sure, its slippery, and red, and cheap, and.... Anyway.

Hydraulic, or hydrastic fluid, is meant to be used under high pressure.  Think brake fluid for your car, or your airplane, or machinery that require precise control.  I could go on and on...

Use anything but mineral oil.  Or hydraulic.  Why?  Because it has minerals in it, i.e. little stones or minerals that will eventually damage the gears in your sewing machine.  

Hope this helps

Jim

Aluminum rivets are your friend in this case, and if at all possible, utilize stainless snaps, as I doubt there is such a thing as aluminum snaps. 

I've also never used "isolating paste".   Didn't even know such a thing existed.  Would have loved to have known about such a "paste" while in the Navy in the 70's. 

Corrosion control was, and still is, a never ending job.  Did I mention I was stationed in the Philippines for my first duty station?  Life in the tropics is tough on metal.  I can tell you all about corrosion.

Dissimilar corrosion is always a problem when dealing with  metal.  No way around it.   Anode /  cathode and all that stuff.   I'm sure Google / Wikipedia will tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

Good luck!

Jim

Cryin' - by Aerosmith.

I listen to classic rock most of the day while in the shop.

I have a great sound system in my shop and sometimes I really crank it up loud!

Jim

I usually use my hot knife to cut the webbing.   If I don't have that available I keep a couple of old Bic lighters in my tool box.  If your cutting lots of webbing a hot knife is the way to go.