Looking for sewing machine brand and model for making sails

[Kurt Konrath]

Well I have a nice 1899 vintage Singer that sews well in straight stiches only with variable stich length. Foot powered so it goes as fast or slow as you want (or can) move the treadle for sewing. These old machines even have what they call a "quilters gauge" attachment for sewing lines in parallel rows that quilters often do.

 

[Roger Pellett]

My #10 duck canvas measures .034” thick. At your scale you would need to find a sailmaking material no thicker than .003 in.

Roger

 

[RussF]

My #10 duck canvas measures .034” thick. At your scale you would need to find a sailmaking material no thicker than .003 in.

Roger

Actually, it would be .034 / 96, or .0003" thick (or 7.62 microns). A single cotton fiber (not thread, but fiber) is 12 to 20 microns. True scale is not possible.

 

[Bob Cleek]

Thanks. Just patience and you can achieve almost everything.
About the sails, I tried a lot of methods, even a darker thread with a needle weaving in the cloth threads. (Hope I say it right, just look in the clipper link under my name.) But the silkspan, or Japanese paper way is the best I tried. So easy.

Not only easy, but it's capable of producing a very realistic portrayal of sails, especially in scales below 1:24 or so. More importantly, although time will still tell with respect to acrylic coatings, I do believe that acrylic impregnated silkspan promises far better archival qualities than thin cotton cloth which seems to begin to show signs of deterioration is fifty years or so if the models I've examined for restoration and conservation purposes are any indication.

 

[Bob Cleek]

As to thread pulling technique here it is:

Olivier Bello : Arsenal Modelism​

This site
www.arsenal-modelist.com

It is an older web site so I will just copy what the guy wrote:

Olivier Bello

Arsenal Modelist

Sail panels that are not represented with parallel seams detract from the esthetic look of a model. This is unfortunately seen too frequently, while the use of the drawn-thread technique solves this problem completely.
After one half of a surface that is twice the size of the sail has been died a dark shade, a thread is started to be pulled to mark its location.
Little by little, the threads of the dark part that are not needed are removed and the one that will be drawn is separated. The strength required of the thread is thus reduced by half. The thread is drawn by progressively crinkling the fabric.
Once a first thread has been pulled, a number of threads corresponding to the width of the panel being simulated is separated from the dark section and cut off. The next thread is then separated and drawn just like the first.
If the work has been successfully performed, the panel seams show up exactly even and parallel to each other. Needless to say, the break of a single thread means that the whole thing has to be done over.
The boltrope is then sewn in after the sail has been hemmed all around. The sheet and brail cringles should not be forgotten. The reef bands are then put in as well as the rope-bands.


View attachment 543469

That produces a remarkable effect, but the process is insanely tedious and "Needless to say, the break of a single thread means that the whole thing has to be done over." I've found securely fastening the fabric to a solid surface and drawing with a straightedge and pencil with the weave of the fabric properly oriented is completely satisfactory. As a general rule of thumb, the weave of a fabric and stitching in scales smaller than about 1:24 are invisible at scale viewing distances.