Fuck Kelly.

[kambusha@sh.itjust.works]

I’d like to tag on and ask if op plays Enya - Orinoco Flow every time a sail is completed.

[macrocarpa@lemmy.world]

Hey did you follow the americas cup this year?

What did you think of the wingsails / twin skins / no boom configuration?

[flyingsquid@lemmy.world]

THEY DAMN WELL BETTER!

[flyingsquid@lemmy.world]

I was totally ignorant to the world of fiber crafts the first- and last- time my wife found me cutting up something with her sewing scissors.

Of course, that was before she became addicted to every fiber craft under the sun. Now I live in a house with several spinning wheels and a tapestry loom. This could be you too if you start crocheting. Take heed.

(I’m actually fine with it because she’s making me an Ernie sweater. I saw an Ernie costume on Halloween and I suddenly realized how much I wanted an Ernie sweater. So I asked and she immediately said okay. Yay!)

[flyingsquid@lemmy.world]

Well don’t leave them where they are accessible in cutting things that aren’t fabric.

You have so never had a little girl Kelly in your life.

[fluxion@lemmy.world]

It’s a shame more fabric enthusiastics don’t do this, we’d have an army of skilled blade sharpeners and weapon/fabric enthusiastics could join forces and reign supreme

[glitchdx@lemmy.world]

on the one hand, other people should respect your shit.

On the other hand, you should know better. I’m usually against victim blaming, but if the scissors that are the easiest to find are your fancy expensive ones, then what did you expect.

The best way to protect your fabric scissors is to ensure that other scissors are more easily available to the idiots who’d wreck yours without a second thought. This also means keeping track of the shitty tools you never use because they exist purely to keep others away from your good shit.

I’ve been on the receiving end of this, and I’ve learned from it. I like candles, and have lived with potheads most of my adult life. Lighters go missing faster than I can buy them. Now i keep an electric lighter that can’t be used for smoking but can be used as a taser.

[prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works]

When she’s done the Ernie sweater could she make me a penguin one? Thanks

Thinking black sleeves on a white sweater, penguin on the white part of course, the cuffs are penguin foot yellow and the collar black as well.

[zron@lemmy.world]

I think everyone should learn how to sharpen a kitchen knife at least.

Dull knives are dangerous, and it really only takes an afternoon to get decent at sharpening a knife.

Unfortunately there’s a lot of lore about knife sharpening, like how you need really fine grit stones, or a whetstone being the best, when in reality you can get a shaving sharp edge from a 20 dollar diamond stone from a hardware store. Sure, a 4000 grit stone will get you a mirror finish and a more refined edge that will last slightly longer, but even an 80 grit stone when used properly, will get you a good edge that will last for months without any other sharpening.

[ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works]

Hi! I didn’t at all tbh, but your question just made me go on a deep dive looking at the boats. So crazy! I’d seen pics of them but hadn’t looked real close. I have to say, it makes sense for the racing they are doing to have that boomless shape. You’re getting every bit of wind with no waste. Those boats are engineered to the hilt, I can’t wait to see what they do next year. I’m going to watch some videos later, thanks for the rabbit hole!

The race I have been following is the Vendee Globe. The website is so good. I highly recommend!

[ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works]

Of course! That’s during the offering to the wind gods.

[liz@midwest.social]

The thing is, it’s pretty dang easy to sharpen scissors on a sharpening stone. Like, use em for everything! Go ham! Just sharpen them when they get dull.

[liz@midwest.social]

Seriously, what’s with these people thinking fabric scissors are magic? If anything, they’re significantly easier to sharpen than a knife.

[ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works]

Great questions!

I kinda fell into it tbh. My buddy worked at the local sailmakers and got me the job when I was 16. Never looked back. A lot of people will start because they race or sail but there’s an equal amount that just do it as a job and don’t sail at all. I did grow up sailing but it wasn’t on my radar for a career. I still talk with my buddy every now and then, I credit him with a long a varied career!

The biggest sail I’ve ever worked on was the spinnaker for the HMCS Oriole. It was 6000 sq/ft if I remember correctly. Freaking massive. We never saw it fully open until it got raised on the boat as we were in a very small shop! My coworker sewed all the panels together and I did all the rest, my boss painted the oriole on it and did a fantastic job. We were very proud of ourselves. I was so worried there was going to be a tub of pins somewhere in it and they would rain death down on the deck when they raised it!!

Hmmm, that really depends on what you like to do best. My specialty was racing sails, so I guess I’d have to say laminates were my favourites. Though if you were a traditional sailmaker than you’d like the heavier and softer fabrics and ropes. My coworker likes the spinnakers best as all she did was sew so getting those under the machines is much nicer. Being a shop with big sewing machines you end up sewing things other than sails and the job I hated was the boat house curtains. So big and heavy. The material wasn’t terrible it was just a crap job lol. And they were usually filthy.

You do need some specialized equipment, but it’s all the different parts on the sails that really make it niche. So there’s the obvious sewing machines, and you’ll need at least 3 different ones to cover what you might come across. The main one being a long arm walking foot. Then a straight stitch for canvas, a lighter zigzag for dinghy sails and sail bags, and a triple stitch for seams and resewing. But you can resew with the zigzag so that one is optional for a small repair loft. Hand tools like a hot knife, grommet punches and dies, palm for hand sewing, big hand sewing needles. Big rulers, carpenter squares, and lofting battens. I know I’m forgetting stuff but that’s what’s jumping out at me. The stuff that adds up though is all the things you need to repair or make sails. Different sizes and types of webbing, slugs, slides, rings, batten hardware, batten material! Oof, you end up collecting a lot of random stuff. I had a small repair loft and I couldn’t keep every little bit in stock so would save what was still good for that random sail that would come in.

I’m not sure about the knife you mention? Did I say that? We would use a hot knife for melting and sealing all the time.

Let me know if you have any other questions! That was fun.

[kboy101222@sh.itjust.works]

Thanks a ton for the answers!

I’m honestly unsure where my brain got the knife thing if I’m being honest.

One more question for you if you don’t mind -

How’s kevlar to work with?

[lovablesidekick@lemmy.world]

Family is gathered around grandpa in this exact situation. He raises his head and squints around at everybody.

That you, Bill?
Yes, dad, it’s me.
Is Carol here?
Yes, I’m here dad.
Jimmy? Sally? Are they here too?
Yes dad, the kids are here.
Is Walt here?
Yeah dad, I’m right here.
You’re all here?
Yes, we’re all here dad.
Everybody’s right here?
Yes, dad.

Then why is the goddam kitchen light still on???

[jimvandeventer@lemmy.world]

I am sliding gracefully into dad mode about thermostats because that is ancient technology and you should know better. Lights are all LEDs now and I even got the ones with batteries so they stay on in a blackout, so leaving them on charges them and is good, sort of.

[ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works]

Haha, my brain does the same thing all the time.

Kevlar is a funny one for me as I’m now allergic to it. Yay occupational disease! If I have to use it for a quick job it’s fine, but anything longer than an hour I get what feels like a sunburn. Usually on my arms and cheeks, basically where I touch when I push up my sleeves or whatnot. Doesn’t get red, just feels like a bad sunburn. One of the ways it’s used is in big rolls with an adhesive backing, for patches. So we’re not really sure if it’s the Kevlar or the adhesive, but I can use any other product with an adhesive back and it doesn’t happen.

Anyhoo, Kevlar is really tough, so it can be a pain to cut. That toughness makes it great for backing patches or chafe patches. On Genoas we’d use it to make spreader patches. It’s really only used like that on laminate sails. Though I’ve seen Kevlar leech line used on Dacron sails. Another common use is in kayak hulls along the keel for abrasion resistance. It also has a very high melting point and will char more than melt, which also helps with chafe. Its UV resistance isn’t the best so it will deteriorate over time. But racing sails don’t last as long as cruising sails so it evens out. You can recognize it on a sail as it’s a golden yellow.

The fibers and technology in racing sails are pretty crazy. There’s some neat videos online if you want to dive a bit deeper into it.

[kboy101222@sh.itjust.works]

A kevlar allergy is definitely an interesting one!

I gotta ask what you mean by patches. Judging by the fact you seem to mostly work on racing ships and other very expensive sailing ships, I’m guessing you don’t mean patches in the sense of filler material to fix holes?

[warl0k3@lemmy.world]

I think it’s down to most people not having used modern high end shears, which usually have convex bevels (and some pain in the ass exotic steels). If you can sharpen that without destroying the tension/edge finish using a hardware store stone (like someone in this thread was claiming), I’ll be properly reverential.