Yes, I have used it on 3/4 ounce ripstop, with no problem. The butane cutter has a adjustable heat valve and I just turned it down for the really light weight stuff. I use a sheet of plywood for my cutting table. Depending on what I am cutting out, I either tack the nylon down before hand, or just mark and lay a straight edge(either a metal yard stick or a long 1X2" board)on it. By laying a straight edge on the mark, you can just lay the iron at the edge and "zip" down the cut. The fabric will be "lightly" stuck to the board after making the cut.(if you have a good eye and a steady hand, you can do all sorts of free flow cuts with it as well, just tack the fabric down first) Also, I might add that you need to move along with the cut. Just putting the tip to the nylon and leaving it there would likely cause it to melt back on the side that doesn't have the straight edge on it. Once you try it you'll be hooked. Works really slick! I have used the propane "knife" on everything from light weight kite, to heavy weight sail making projects. I also have a high(er) dollar electric cutting knife, but don't use it any more, as I don't have to worry about where the cord is all the time now. Cheers, James Natalie Wiest wrote: > > James, have you used this on lightweight, uncoated ripstop? It seems to > catch on fire easily enough with only a candle. Using a soldering gun > makes a lot of sense (it seems)for heavyweight fabrics, but I'm wondering > if it isn't a bit of overkill on the lightweight stuff. Sure would be nice > though to cut and seal in one step. How do you stabilize the fabric for > cutting, i.e., don't burn a table top or other holding device? > > Natalie > > At 02:30 PM 4/12/99 -0700, you wrote: > >Anouther thing that works really well is a butane soldering gun, and > >attach a cutting tip on it. Then you can work with out having that cord > >in the way. > > > >I use mine to cut out the fabric, that way the edges are already sealed > >and no "globs". > > > >Several places sell them, but I got mine from Radio Shack. > > > >James > > > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 13 1999 - 08:05:50 PDT
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