Author Topic: Make and Mend Day  (Read 1302 times)

PonoBill

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 25864
    • View Profile
Make and Mend Day
« on: June 26, 2021, 08:50:21 AM »
No wind in the Hood, No surprise since the Black Snake is in town. But I decided to do some mods to my wing foiling gear. I bought the Blue Planet reel leash recently, and I like it, but even with the loops I sewed onto my impact vest it's kind of floppy. A stiffer belt might solve that, but decided to rivet it to the vest. The loops look like I was learning to use a sewing machine while I did them, but it was my wife's fancy-schmancy Italian sewing machine in Maui and it didn't do neoprene and nylon strap very well. As goofy as the top of the stitches look, the bottom is far worse. I decided lots of stitches was the answer. While I was at it I ditched the plastic buckle (not a fan) and replaced it with a stainless steel loop I filched from a spare Da Kine Maniac belt. I added an NSI plastic hook between the loop and the vest so It won't get lost (The steel loop can be wriggled through the 2" slot, but not without a lot of fiddling--it's not going to happen by accident). I used my el cheapo but mega tough TuffSew machine so the stitching looks less like works of primitive man. Still not the neat work I'm capable of, but not super fugly.





Then I inspected the leash extension. It uses plain nylon string for the end loops, dipped in some kind of rubberized stuff. Looks good, but I could see that under the rubber gook the nylon looked floppy. I suspected it was frayed inside so I attached it to my bench and pulled on it. It broke fairly easily, and yes, frayed inside the goop where it couldn't be seen. I tried a couple of ways to replace the gooped nylon loops with spectra, but finally gave it up and replaced the entire shock-corded extension. More work for the TuffSew. What a monster. I'm sure it would sew my finger to the straps if I wasn't careful. I don't think these are being imported anymore. Too bad, great machine.


Then I went home to make dinner for the Black Snake (Greg Leion AKA Covesurfer), his charming wife Marcia Leion. Their gay dog Eddie also attended dinner (hey guys, no shame, just let him screw Zack with pride) but I didn't make any salmon for him.

And yes, I'm gonna make someone a great wife someday.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2021, 09:12:36 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

PonoBill

  • Cortez Bank Status
  • *****
  • Posts: 25864
    • View Profile
Re: Make and Mend Day
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2021, 09:39:13 PM »
Wow, it sucks outside. 110F and no wind. So I took apart my Yamaha FJ1300 for some reason--oh yeah, I needed to replace the battery but first I had to find it. Who knew it was up in the front hanging off the right side under the fairing? I guess I could have looked at a manual, but I checked all the likely places first. I could put most of it back together while I wait for the battery to show up, but it's too hot in the shop. So I wandered up to my air-conditioned (sort of) electronics lab to sew this--I couldn't just toss that blue planet leash extension. Skinny spectra for the board leash attachment, heavier (blue) for the retracting connection.

Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

bigmtn

  • Rincon Status
  • ***
  • Posts: 191
    • View Profile
Re: Make and Mend Day
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2021, 12:07:39 PM »
Nice! My current vest is starting to fall apart, as it's prob 8 years old. But I was planning on doing the same thing soon as I bought a new one. Make the belt part of the vest, or at least just add beltloops so the belt stays in place on the vest.

 


SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal