I am toying with the idea of sewing my own sails for my 27 ft. Granada.

Are there anyone who could suggest literature, web sites and other sources
of high quality information that could direct me to the theory and
mechanics of sail, its materials, how to calculate geometries, various
design principles and ideas. Also, learning the craftmanship would be very
interesting.

ottar

Try 'This old Boat' - Don Cassey ISBN 0071579931
Jens_M


"Ottar" skrev i en meddelelse
...
I am toying with the idea of sewing my own sails for my 27 ft. Granada.

Are there anyone who could suggest literature, web sites and other sources
of high quality information that could direct me to the theory and
mechanics of sail, its materials, how to calculate geometries, various
design principles and ideas. Also, learning the craftmanship would be very
interesting.

ottar

Try http://www.sailrite.com/

They have materials and some kits for sails. Not sure about mechanics of
sail liturature.



"Ottar" wrote in message
...
I am toying with the idea of sewing my own sails for my 27 ft. Granada.

Are there anyone who could suggest literature, web sites and other sources
of high quality information that could direct me to the theory and
mechanics of sail, its materials, how to calculate geometries, various
design principles and ideas. Also, learning the craftmanship would be very
interesting.

ottar

Are there anyone who could suggest literature, web sites and other
sources
of high quality information that could direct me to the theory and
mechanics of sail, its materials, how to calculate geometries, various
design principles and ideas. Also, learning the craftmanship would be
very
interesting.

I did an apprenticeship (way back when that was possible to do) with
Ratsey-Lapthorn Sailmakers and built sails for a living for a very short
while (not an easy business to make money, IMHO). Every book I've seen on
the topic is way out of date. Every major loft (and maybe every loft by
now) uses some sort of computer application to design, and often, to cut the
panels for a sail. The fine art of sailmaking has become the fine art of
computer design and a (usually low paid) seamstress. The software they use
is proprietary and the information is strictly protected. I've seen some
free software on the internet in the past, try a google search for "sail
design" and you may find something worthwhile.

On the "theory" of sail design, look for books by "Marchaj". He was the
leading theorist when I was into that kind of thing. The reading is pretty
heavy duty though.

Sailrite is the only company I know of that still offers sailmaking kits,
and they have their own books on the subject, no idea if they're worth
getting though. They also sell some very reasonably priced sewing machines
that will work nicely for a project like this.

I'm assuming you plan on doing this for the challenge and education it will
give you. If you're trying to save money, you'd be much better off buying
pre-made sails.

Hope this helps,

Paul

renewontime dot com wrote:

I'veÂ*seenÂ*some
free software on the internet in the past, try a google search for "sail
design" and you may find something worthwhile.

just done this,

the following program has just been released in 1.0 version and is available
for both Linux and ms-windows. Completely free...

http://sailcut.sourceforge.net/

doesn't appear to do any aerodynamics stuff though, just allows you to play
with the shape and output the patterns for cutting the segments from.

Thanks for all good input.

I was also wondering if I could use the domestic sewing machine of my wife
or do I need to buy a purpose built machine for sailmaking ?


ottar

I was also wondering if I could use the domestic sewing machine of my wife
or do I need to buy a purpose built machine for sailmaking ?

Maybe. Depending on the types of sails you want to build and your wife's
sewing machine.

Lighter fabric sails (like spinnakers, light genny's or dinghy sails) will
be easier to sew through multiple layers of fabric. Sewing through heavy
canvas could easily burn up your wife's machine.

If your wife's machine is a modern, "specialty" machine, you might be better
off shopping for an old, cheap machine at a garage sale or sewing machine
repair shop. Some of the old Pfaff or Brother machines are very close in
"beefiness" to a smaller commercial machine. Look around, you may find a
real -bargain-. In general terms, the heavier the machine, the better.
Modern machines use plastic gears that won't hold up to hours of pushing a
needle through heavy canvas. Older machines used metal gears, thus are much
heavier. The early machines sold by Sailrite were modified home-duty
machines, and they still sell parts to "beef up" certain older model
machines. If you can find a heavy machine, in good shape that does a zig
zag stitch, you're probably set. First thing to do after you buy it is take
it to a sewing machine repair shop to adjust and lube. This will save you
many hours of frustration later. I found a nice old Brother machine at a
repair shop for less than $100, and many years later bought a Sailrite
"Yachtsman" machine. The two machines were very similar and I did alot of
canvas work with both of them.

Incidently, the biggest differences between a sailmaker's machine and a home
(or even commercial) machine a

- bobbin size, sailmakers machines have two spools, not one spool on top and
a tiny bobbin on the bottom
- "throat" size, a long and high space so you can fit the rolled up sail
through
- multi-stepped zig zag stitch, spreads the load better and better chafe
resistance
- very high speed and beefy
- cost, a typical sailmakers machine will cost many times more than a
complete suit of sails.

Hope this helps,

--
Paul

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I was also wondering if I could use the domestic sewing machine of my wife
or do I need to buy a purpose built machine for sailmaking ?


owning one of each, I recommend the more stout machine for sailmaking.

Try running eight layers of denim through your wife's machine to see how it
does.