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10th March 2010, 03:08 PM #1
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G'day from Tweed..need a genius..
Hi to all
I am hoping someone can help me design some kind of jig or other alternative to over come my problem.
I am a sewing machinist and have always worked on small sized projects, however I have been asked by a social group to make up various covers.
These covers, in some instances are 4 metres wide by 4 metres wide.
The material I am using is on a 2 metre roll and I have a sysyem set up so that the roll holder is basically much like a toilet roll holder.
My biggest problem is trying to measure and cut straight material of this length. Sometimes I get right to the end, and on my last row of stitching, when I am marrying up all pieces it becomes apparent that I have cut the material out of square.
One of the suggestions so far has been to have a giant L square made up at a steel
workshop etc. I think aluminium would better due to the weight, but then, where could I store something so large.
Surely there is a way to measure and cut the 2 metre lengths straight and square, then after sewing them together, double check that the new 4 metre piece is square.
Can anyone please help, it is doing my head in..
Thanks to all
aussie
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10th March 2010, 03:33 PM #2
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- Nov 2008
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- Victoria
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Maybe fold the 2 metre length in half making sure the edges are parallel then use a T square?
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10th March 2010, 04:10 PM #3
Tricky little problem but I'm sure someone will come up with an idea. Welcome to the forum.
Reality is no background music.
Cheers John
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10th March 2010, 04:39 PM #4
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Thanks for replies so far.
Yes munruben, there are talented people here that's for sure.
Ling, thank you for your input, I also should have mentioned that the material
I am using is plastic coated, therefore folding in half will create an undesirable
crease where there shouldn't be one.
Thanks again look forward to more suggestions
aussie
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10th March 2010, 08:39 PM #5
After marking out the square check the diagonals from corner to corner and if they measure the same then it must be square. http://woodworking.about.com/od/gett...onalSquare.htm
You can make a large fixed square of any size out of strips of ply or other rigid material by following the Pythagorus rule of 3 4 5. Google it. http://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagoras.html
Col
Hoppers crossing
VicGood better best, never let it rest, until your good is better and your better best.
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10th March 2010, 10:33 PM #6
What kind of seam, and how are you stitching it?
Unless the material is very dear, it might be advantageous to cut the two pieces over-length, stitch together, and make the final cuts on a large layout table with square cutting marks, such marks made according to Col's instruction.
If the material is particularly unwieldy, the sewing machine could be mounted on a trolley, to move against stationary material. I think this is how large tarpaulins are assembled.
Cheers,
JoeOf course truth is stranger than fiction.
Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain
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10th March 2010, 11:38 PM #7
Pythagorous is your friend
BUT you need a piece of good quality string
a triangle with sides 3 units, 4units and 5 units is always square
(Pythagorous -- which I've probably misspelt -- says 3 x 3 + 4 x 4 = 5 x 5)
so if you take exactly 6m of string and starting at one end make marks at exactly 1.5 and 3.5 metres from the end, when you fold the string into a taut triangle using the marks, the angle between the 1.5 and 2m sides will be exactly 90°.
align the 1.5 m side with the edge of the material and mark your 90° -- the 2m side of the triangle will be your cut line across the materialregards from Alberta, Canada
ian
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11th March 2010, 06:04 PM #8
Welcome to the forum.
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14th March 2010, 08:57 PM #9
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Hi Aussie from Tweed. Maybe you could have a system similar to the glad wrap rolls . What I am visualizing is a timber staight edge running the length of the roll and attached either end to the shaft that supports your roll . The fabric would be pulled over this straight edge as it unrolls . I am assuming that the fabric is square on the roll so you could cut it off against the straight edge . I would have drawn a little picture and scanned it to attach to my reply but my scanner was drowned in the storms we had in Melbourne last year . I hope to get a new scanner this week , so if you think this idea is usefull , let me know .
Butcher shops used to have their white paper wrapping paper on rolls with a cut off blade which would be very similar to what I am suggesting
Cheers PeterI've just become an optimist . Iv'e made a 25 year plan -oopps I've had a few birthdays - better make that a 20 year plan
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15th March 2010, 01:51 PM #10
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- Australia
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Hi! Pleased to meet you and welcome to the community! Looking forward to learn and share knowledge with you soon!
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21st March 2010, 10:19 PM #11
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- Mar 2010
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- Drouin Austarlia
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To Aussie 11
From Chipped.
Don't know how much room you have to set this up so, if you already have your roll on a spindle, like a toilet roll. Fix the spindle to the wall, you may need a strong secure type bracket for this. Let the vinyl roll-out downward. If the spindle is level, (set it so, with a level) the edges will hang straight down. set up a level straight edge 2m off the floor, behind the sheet and cut it with a stanley knife along the edge of the straight edge. Some I have seen have two pieces of flat steel, fixe with a very fine gap between them just wide enough for the cutting blade. This should give you a square cut. A frame could be made with secondhand timber with the straight edge fixed to it. You must cut along the edge of the straight edge no on it.
Cheers
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