Pop up camper screen redo

[forsailbyowner]

If your wanting to sew 92 or 138 with a home machine you may have trouble finding large enough needles. I dont think home machine needles come in sizes large enough.

A good place to source canvas and supplies without setting up a trade account is Rochfordsupply.com
They just need a $50 minimum but will have what you need with prices that compare to trade suppliers on a lot of stuff and beat many suppliers on hardware and fasteners.

There are usually commercial machines available on craigslist. See what you find in your area and post here to get feedback on the whats available. There are commercial machine suppliers on this site in the classifieds that can set you up at fair prices.

Heres a neat place to look at various models.

http://www.miamisewing.com/Page_2x.html

[bobbin]

I don't sell machinery.  Anyone wishing to sell machinery should be willing to help you, secure in the knowledge that his mark up on the machinery in question is secure.  It's a shame the vendor missed an opportunity.  And I understand your frustration.

I, however, sell a hard earned skill and the reputable delivery of it.  I don't give lessons on how to DIY (unless it's for my hourly rate).  Every spring the legions of DIYers call and ask to "pick my brain"... .  They want "help", or the names/addresses of my suppliers and it never seems to register that asking me to focus on them and answer their questions for free is about as insulting as it gets!  Will I order materials for someone who knows what they want? absolutely.  And for my 50% mark up.  Will I sit and work out what materials they need to accomplish their job? no way.  There is a difference between your dealer and me, one I hope my explanation has clarified.

[Grebo]

I had a problem with a secondhand machine I was sold to do some sail repairs, it eventually turned out that the machine couldn't handle the thread size ( so I was later told ) the machine was plenty strong enough, I think it is more to do with the path the thread takes ie: may be to thick to pass cleanly out of the bobbin casing, just guessing & good strong thread may wear tension disks etc extra quick.
BTW they wouldn't take the machine back as they said it was fine with ''normal'' thread !


Suzi

[forsailbyowner]

One place to get really good sewing machine advice is yahoogroups wefixit. It has a large contingent of sewing machine repair technicians who give great expert advice freely.

[Nandy]

One more time guys, thanks for the information.
Bobbin, neither I wanted or I am trying to offend you so I apologize if I did. Where I saw the parallel was in the perception that I felt he wanted me to go there, buy the machine and leave instead of asking question where you (as I perceived from your post) wanted the DIYers to "Present your required inventory of zippers, keep questions to a minimum, pay your tab, and go home." I really don't see much difference between the two but that is just me.

I got the 555FA working last night. Adjusted the needle bar as it seemed it was a bit too long then set the timing/adjusted the hook gear. Machine is picking up good but seems my ex had the wrong bobbin case and the wrong bobbin in it. However, the bobbin case seems to be a close enough for the machine but the class 15 bobbins and the 66 class bobbins are too wide and the bobbin case never clicks in secure. If I push the empty bobbin case in it clicks secure fine. The vibration of the machine makes the unsecured bobbin case come loose and you get a mess. If I use my stitch ripper plastic end to gently keep the bobbin in place it stitch fine. I went to a different shop to see if they stocked those bobbins and bobbin case but they don't. They got me the correct part numbers and I told them to go ahead and order them even I could have them cheaper online myself but their mark up was not too bad and I see myself doing more business with them in the future.

In the other hand this machine did not feel too strong and It did seem to have a little problem with some of the upholstery thread on 4 layers of cotton so I am not sure it will do the trick of going 2 or 3 pieces of vinyl canvas. Once I have it all stock and properly lubed we shall see. Also, that foot pedal don't seems to be working properly. I will have to check it later with my voltmeter to see if I am having a large loss across it.
I will look into that other forum group.

Thanks y'all.

[Nandy]

Im starting with baby steps, I did a few jeans and shirts alterations, pillow cases and will work on making some curtains for both pop up campers before tackling the windows. However since I have not done that before I have a question or two. The way the current screens are build in the canvas the top and side are sewn behind the canvas while the bottom is sewn on top of the canvas. Im sure that bottom is sewn that way to help drain any water trapped in the screen fabric. However, If I follow that pattern the needle holes from the original screen will probably show so I thought maybe it makes no difference if I sew the new screen on top of the canvas. The screen is sewn in by itself so removing the old threads will only have effect on the screen. Here is a few pictures, maybe better than my words!!! lol! PS- Pictures are too small so I attached the links to them.

Window screen shot:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn215/nandy_temp/20140510_212415.jpg

Lower right close up:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn215/nandy_temp/20140510_212453.jpg

Upper left close up:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn215/nandy_temp/20140510_212438.jpg

So what do y'all think?
I assumed they used a double needle set up to get those stitches so beautifully parallel, am I correct?

I was a little surprised by that Riccar. It is all steel but the hook gear and the dial for the stitch type. Previously before I fixed it all I worked on was on my son T-shirts and because of the hook gear crack you could not pull long line of stitches. Add the machine having the wrong bobbin and I can understand why the ex got frustrated with it and boxed it in a corner. Anyway, It handed the canvas great. However, I had to get that tension up for the v69/92 and I noticed that affected the speed a bit. Once I get my other bobbin cases I will adjust the bobbin case for these threads a bit lower, maybe a separate bobbin for each, and that should allow me to relax that upper tension a bit more and maybe gain some power back. Other than that the machine had no noticeable problem handling up to 4 layers on canvas on either thread and it started on its own with no help on the balance wheel. On layer 6 I had to step on the pedal a bit more for it to start on its own and layer 8 would start only once I had the pedal to the metal!!! LOL! However, once the machine started I could slow down and speed up without much problems. I do the first stitches with the balance wheel anyway so keeping my hand there for a push in the unlikely case of 8 layers should not be a problem. All I can wish right now if for a larger stitch and a walking foot.... But no in this machine. Looking at a Janome hd1000. I was interested in the Toyota FG325? but no dealers close by kinda kills the deal. Im not spending $350 and then finding myself with no support. There are a few Janome dealers in the surrounding area.

Anyway, here is the shots of the practice canvas..

6 Layers of canvas with Dababond bonded polyester v69


http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn215/nandy_temp/20140510_210912.jpg

8 Layers of canvas with Dababond bonded polyester v92


http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn215/nandy_temp/20140510_223758.jpg


If I could just find a similar canvas (vinyl infused I believed) to practice I would feel better. Heck, I would like to find the exact same material to fix the section over the water heater where the previous owner made a booboo and had 2 pieces there replaced and the zipper is ruined....

Thanks!

[bobbin]

One more time guys, thanks for the information.
Bobbin, neither I wanted or I am trying to offend you so I apologize if I did. Where I saw the parallel was in the perception that I felt he wanted me to go there, buy the machine and leave instead of asking question where you (as I perceived from your post) wanted the DIYers to "Present your required inventory of zippers, keep questions to a minimum, pay your tab, and go home." I really don't see much difference between the two but that is just me.

I wasn't offended.  I was simply telling you how it feels to be a professional who's faced with this sort of situation every single spring (usually a month before Memorial Day.

[Grebo]

Our pop up is made from cotton tencate canvas there are also versions which are a mixture
http://www.tencate.com/emea/outdoor-fabrics/products/TenCate-Cotton/default.aspx .

I went out & bought a new canvas for ours, no time or inclination to make our own at the time, the OH decided to reseal some bolts which went through the trailer top = floor of the tent & managed to catch a tiny piece of canvas in one of the bolt heads on opening it up we made a nice little L shaped tear near the corner of the tent.
I spoke to the manufacturers & they sent me a metre of canvas, I unpicked the seams & added another one to line up with the window, I used 6mm double sided venture tape to seal the old needle holes & antiwick v92 stitched exactly along the old lines. You can hardly see it at all in the pictures but it continues down the the left of the window (from the outside)
It never leaked a drop, even himself was impressed.



Suzi

[Nandy]

The manufacturer of this pop open drop out of making them years ago. I called them in the past and they are no help but one one lady and she's not there anymore.
Thanks!

[Mike]

Looks good nandy

[Darren Henry]

Campers are obviously different in Spain and Canada. Here are a couple of pics of my old camper;

the OH decided to reseal some bolts which went through the trailer top = floor of the tent &

Here the top gets cranked straight up and the beds slide out fore and aft. Occasionally the "kitchen" will slide out the side.Add a few support poles and you're set to go.

Do you have any pics of your set up Suzi? It looks intriguing.

[Grebo]

We don't have many manufacturers in Spain, one of the biggest is Comanche who have recently joined with or been taken over by combicamp. Very few models to choose from.
They are all really more folding tents than pop ups, we have the comanche montana, the main unit on the trailer pops open when you swing the top (lid) of the trailer over, push up a couple of poles & thats your bed for the night. The awning takes more putting up but gives you plenty of space for a longer stay.
We have 'naturally' done a few of our own mods to it, which include. Skirts around the trailer keeps the humidity from under the bed, changed the zipper on the awning so the front can flap down, great for keeping the dogs in. Extra kitchen box on the back more useful than the front box & keeps the weight off the pin.
 

[Darren Henry]

That is pretty slick. Europeans have always been more creative with space conservation.with that add-a-room you get more living space with less weight and bulk to tow. Over here most hard sided RV's have a roll out awning on the passenger side and our add-a-rooms are three sided and attach to the roll out awnings.Around here, with the size of some of these units, only 25-30  % invest in add-a-rooms.

I don't have a pic,maybe Chris could pop one up when he gets back from his walk a bout.

[Nandy]

Thanks Mike! suzi, that is a nice looking tent. I have to agree that it does have a better use of space. Thanks for sharing.

[Grebo]

Thanks, we are really happy with it. It's camping with a decent bed :-)
The down side is every thing needs to be packed away, just like normal tent camping, except the bed & the kitchen.
The upside is you have much less to tow behind you & can go many places that caravans & campers are banned .That's the sort of high up winding road places we like.
On top of which it doesn't take up much space when it's not in use, apparantly you can stow it on it's side, but we don't need to do that.
Good luck with the refurb Nandy, tencate is widely used for this sort of thing, check out some samples.

Suzi