Upholstery

slimtim · 22 November 2004, 15:39

Does anyone know of any places that are good for supplying upholstery bits and bobs? I intend to have a go at making up some cushions for a jockey seat and various other cushions. I think I need vinyl, foam, piping etc.

Has anyone done this before? Can anyone provide me with some tips on how to go about it? What density/thickness of foam do I need? How do I fasten the cushions to locker lids etc?

I was thinking of producing them with a zip so the foam could be taken out and dried out.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers

Tim

MeMe · 22 November 2004, 16:31

......however, try your local outdoor market. Honestly, you'll find everything you need, foam, vinyl, zips the lot. Failing that, yell.com under upholsterers or another decent place if you have one near you. Dunhelm Mill. Trust me, try the market.

Louise · 22 November 2004, 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

Has anyone done this before? Can anyone provide me with some tips on how to go about it? What density/thickness of foam do I need? How do I fasten the cushions to locker lids etc?

I was thinking of producing them with a zip so the foam could be taken out and dried out.

Richard has redone the seat bases on our jockeys. For my twopennyworth, I would advise you to go for the thickest and densest foam you can find so it will give you plenty of 'crushability' before your rear end hits ply or GRP or whatever the base is made of! The seats on ours are about 8 to 10 inches thick I reckon and very comfy! I'd be careful about fitting zips unless you can find ones that will not corrode! I don't reckon it would be necessary anyway. IIRC, Richard reused the original foam when doing ours.

HTH and good luck with it!

Scary Des · 22 November 2004, 16:39

I made my cushions by making the base out of ply covering it with two grades on foam, (soft outer, hard inner) and then I got the vinyl covered made by Solent Covers in Lymington. 01590 688886 not always there but keep trying she offers very good value for money compared to the others in Lymington.

You need spray glue to stick the foam in place and by gluing the edge and squashing it you can taper the foam in towards the bottom of the seat.

I have in the past made the whole thing but on the more complicated bits you cannot beat the experience of someone who has done it loads of times before.

If you want to do it all I found John Small at Bitterne 02380 472225 helpful they have everything from foam to vinyl.

Not sure about the zips, in the trade they put the foam in a ploy bag and put drain holes in the bottom.

Des

slimtim · 22 November 2004, 17:45

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll do some following up!

Anyone else got any advice/info? I have a few leaflets of companies that advertise at the soton boat show but I would imagine they are more expensive than a non marine specific company?

Cheers

Tim

jwalker · 22 November 2004, 18:04

John Lewis stock vinyl. Usually always black but occasionally they have other colours too. If you can bear not to have the best looking seats on the Solent then do not pipe or stitch the edges or the corners, just fold them in. No holes means no leaks and boggin' foam. Remember to put vent holes in the the bases though. You can glue the vinyl to the bottom of the bases using Evostic impact adhesive or Bostik 2402. If you make the bases from ply, you can screw up through the seat tops into the ply. This makes them easy to make and fit/refit. You can, using this method, attach the vinyl to the base using galvanised clout nails, the type used for roofing felt, they have short shanks and large heads. It sounds crude but it works fine. You can cut your foam easily with an electric carving knife and if you want a nice rounded top edge there is a method for doing this. It'll be better if I draw it rather than try to explain it. I'm gonna have me tea and then I'll come back with a drawing.

slimtim · 22 November 2004, 18:47

Thanks jwalker, I'll look forward to seeing the pick!

I want to make jockey seat cushion and flat cushions for on top of the anchor locker and suicide seat in front of a console (if I have one).

Cheers

Tim

jwalker · 22 November 2004, 19:40

One other thing I'll mention which only applies to males (I think). Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you use thick foam, when you sit down the foam is displaced and some of it is displaced to between your legs and forces upwards, get my drift? Anyway, you may find you have to er... adjust yourself each time you sit.

Here's the pic.

Well it would be if I could get it to upload. I'll try again later.

timboli · 22 November 2004, 19:45

Toomer and Hayter in Bournemouth stock supplies of all things upholstery,I have used them and they seem reasonable
http://www.toomerandhayter.co.uk/

I too have used Solent covers and can recomend,she recovered my jockey console and made a bow cushion.

jwalker · 22 November 2004, 20:10

There you go.

quinquarimarine · 22 November 2004, 22:24

I agree with JW in starting with a ply base. A few other points that we use to make a commercial grade seat.

1. We only use hypalon for the cover. Costs a bit more but will last as long as the tubes !!
2. We use a closed cell foam that we purchase in any size from a company called Sherlock Foams (on net) and supply by carrier.
3. The ply base is good quality 3/4 ply. The foam is bonded to the ply with sikaflex. The foam edges can be trimed for softer corners.
5. The hypalon is fixed taught (heat gently first to allow for warm weather expansion) over the foam and is sikaflexed underneath with galvanised staples holding it inplace until the sika goes off.
6. As JW notes the ply can then be screwed from underneath.

Not the softest seat in the world but does the job for a 1001 bums, takes a pounding and NEVER absorbs water.

Cheers

John
www.quinquari.co.uk

Rogue Wave · 22 November 2004, 23:25

You can get foam from flew sails in Porchester, yo can also get foam from several upholsterers in Southampton. there is a good one in Bitterne, what part of the Uni campus do you attend?

I have a c ouple of sheets of marine grade 3.4 inch ply which are kinda kicking about waiyting for me to do something with so if you let me know your dimensions I'll cut the bases for you ( no charge)

The hypalon cover sounds very sensible to me

Louise · 22 November 2004, 23:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

the foam is displaced and some of it is displaced to between your legs and forces upwards, get my drift? Anyway, you may find you have to er... adjust yourself each time you sit.

Without wishing to get too personal, Jeff...

I do not have the privilege of knowing the 'ins and outs' of your trouser department but I do know that Richard does not have any problem such as the one you describe!

jwalker · 23 November 2004, 01:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

..I do know that Richard does not have any problem such as the one you describe!

What can I say! Bigger surface area = more force, I guess.

slimtim · 23 November 2004, 01:46

Thanks for the helpful posts guys. I will post a better reply tomorrow when I am a bit more sober

Tim

Bilge Rat · 23 November 2004, 08:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louise

Without wishing to get too personal, Jeff...

I do not have the privilege of knowing the 'ins and outs' of your trouser department but I do know that Richard does not have any problem such as the one you describe!

Ah Louise....this explains why he needs such a big boat then

Louise · 23 November 2004, 08:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilge Rat

Ah Louise....this explains why he needs such a big boat then

Bilge Rat · 23 November 2004, 08:53

Louise.......You really should come down and see us, we dont need bigger boats on the east coast

slimtim · 23 November 2004, 11:48

Guys,

Thank you for the help, this has been very useful. This place in soton sounds good. Stu, I live near the B&Q in Swaythling and study at the highfield campus. This Bitterne place shouldn't be too far away.

JW, thanks for the pictures and advice, thats very helpful.

John, an interesting tip you have raised about using hypalon...sounds like a plan!

Thanks again. Any more tips/info?! Does anyone have any patterns for cutting out the material?

Cheers

Tim

Bilge Rat · 23 November 2004, 14:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimtim

Guys,

Thank you for the help, this has been very useful. This place in soton sounds good. Stu, I live near the B&Q in Swaythling and study at the highfield campus. This Bitterne place shouldn't be too far away.

JW, thanks for the pictures and advice, thats very helpful.

John, an interesting tip you have raised about using hypalon...sounds like a plan!

Thanks again. Any more tips/info?! Does anyone have any patterns for cutting out the material?

Cheers

Tim..... I re upholstered my current seat last christmas ok actually i got my mum to do it for me as she is a seamstress, after spending ages sourcing the material we eventually found it to be the cheapest at the local market !!, i'd intended to have new foam cut to shape but when we dismattled it and dried everything out we found that the current foam wasn't in that bad condition.
She made the pattern by dismattling the old seat cover, the new cover was made slightly small so it fitted snuggly and then stappled down over the ply base.
I'd not thought about using hypalon material as a seat cover, though suspect you'd need to glue it rather than stitch it as it wouldn't be waterproof and to stitch you'd need an industrial sewing machine........maybe stitch then tape and glue over the seams inside to create a water proof seal.

Tim