Shortening zippers

[bobbin]

I recently received my very first TriVantage catalogue and while ordering zippers for a couple of jobs I spied the little metal things that you crimp around the final tooth on a shortened zipper.  I've seen them a lot but where I work now doesn't use them.  Instead, we use on of those cheapie hot knife/paddle thingys to heat the final two teeth.  It works fine, but it's not nearly as neat and tidy.  What are you guys using to effect a reliable end to a shortened zipper?

Should I spring for the $50 crimper and the price of the stainless stops?  If not, where can I find the cheapie paddle hot knife (I nearly incinerated a vinyl curtain using my Engel and not realizing the zipper was on fire! caught it in time, but it got me thinking, that's for sure!). 

[Mike]

Ive done that vobbin eith the fire lol. Mehst i do is i just cut fhe zipper to length then i wrap the end with a small peice of binding thst im using on the job navy or red sunbrella whatever.
Also on the melting thing i used ti do that and if you dont melt if fat enough ive had people lull to hard and runn the slider right past the selted teeth a better way is to cut a few teeth and mesh them togethed then wled then in olace with the hitknife.   I dont like have to have another thing to keep at habd to make the stops. Ive also seen another type of clamp on stop maybe a nylon coated i only seen pics

[gene]

I sew back and forth a few times over the teeth using the reverse on my sewing machine. This works great. I use mono thread so you can't see it.

gene

[bobbin]

Gene, you can't do that in the marine world.  Monofilament thread would not last 4 months in a marine environment.  I know, I've repaired a lot of canvas that was "fixed" by an upholstery shop, which is not to slight your manifest skills, at all!  But when you're dealing with the elements and the sun you have to opt for the "final solution". 

[gene]

How about that mono thread???

When I go fishing, I never find old tackle boxes. I never find old dead bodies of fishermen. I never find old wooden floats. But I always find mono thread, a.k.a. fishing line.

Is mono sewing thread that different than fishing line?

When all of mankind is destroyed by a massive nuclear war, only roaches, cans of spam, my 2nd grade teacher, and mono thread will be left for the next space travelers to discover.

gene

[rustyeod]

I invested in the crimper and stainless stops.  Used to melt yhe last teeth but it just didn't look as good.

[bobbin]

Monofilament is nylon, Gene.  Nylon and Ultraviolet rays are a bad combination.  Fishing line is considerably heavier than most threads. 

[JuneC]

I like to wrap the cut end in binding (and sew) like Mike.  I think it looks neater and it honestly lasts as long as the zipper does.  The binding does a pretty good job of disguising the raw cut edge of the zipper if you position it correctly. 

June

[Mike]

i found  holding thew crimp piece and the tool kinda awkward getting it on the tooth. not likea hogring plyer holds the ring. and it one more thing to have on hand  plus the stops

[Peppy]

We do the binding thing too. Actually just the other day I did the mash a few teeth and melt them together thing Mike. The sewer forgot to put a stop on and I didn't want to take it off to fix it. I remembered it from a while back you were talking about it. Thanks for helping me be lazy!

[Mike]

Thanks for helping me be lazy!

sure :D

[Skippy]

I like to use the stainless zipper stops.  I used to use a pair of needle nose pliers to crimp them with.  I filed a couple of notches to help hold the stops.  Worked ok, but then I found an old, cheap pair of pliers in my tool box.  These were kinda thin, but I ground them a littler thinner, about the width of the stops.  I position the stop between my thumb and forefinger, then grab the open side of the stop with the pliers.  I can slide the zipper between the open jaws of the pliers, get it on the tooth I want and then crimp.  Works well and I don't need the over priced tool.  It's easier to do then try to describe it.

[DBR1957]

Used to just wrap with binding. Now we use the crimp on stops. I've been
meaning to try the YKK "push and turn" stops that match the zipper teeth.
Manart carries them. Available in #10 only.

http://www.zipperstop.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=garden_flypage.tpl&product_id=307&category_id=42&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=73

[bobbin]

I am always curious about what's new and "improved" in the marine trade.  I work in a shop that is still using the same "cutting edge" techniques that are now 30 yrs. old. ;)   It's not that there is anything wrong with them (they work!) but I'm not the sort of person that is married to some technique that is "old" when there are new things available. Thanks for your thoughts on this subjec;, I don't go to the trade shows and haven't really pursued trade publications because my present professional interest is home decorating, not marine.  However, I have 20 yrs. experience in marine work and I would be a fool to overlook the income stream associated with it. 

[Peppy]

Used to just wrap with binding. Now we use the crimp on stops. I've been
meaning to try the YKK "push and turn" stops that match the zipper teeth.
Manart carries them. Available in #10 only.

http://www.zipperstop.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=garden_flypage.tpl&product_id=307&category_id=42&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=73

Those seem neat. But hard to justify any added expense when the binding is next to free, right? Even at 35¢ per x2 an extra buck a zip adds up. And how many would get fumbled and swept up with the trash? When it's to easy to slap binding in while the zipper gets sewn down. Although I wouldn't mind a few for my toolbox, when the binding gets in the way of a turnbuckle I could cut it out and put one of them in instead.