Paper for patterns

[JAM]

Hi, all,

What paper (or other media) do you cut your saddle-parts layout patterns from? And where do you get it?

[Elton Joorisity]

I start out drawing my patterns on poster board. When I am happy with them I trace them on to Crazy Carpets(Whacky Carpets) which if you don't know are for sliding down snowy hills on. HEHE. They are very cheap to buy and you can get a lifetime of use out of them. They aren't very thick and are easy to cut with anything

[bruce johnson]

I get used printers or press blankets from a local print shop. These are sheets used in printing presses by larger shops. One side is a rubberized , and the other side is cloth. They clean them with solvent, and I have never had a ruboff problem. The rubber side down on leather stays in place, I can write ID and info on the cloth side with a marker. The material is stiff enough I can run a knife or stylus around the edge and it holds position. It is flexible enough to sew for fitting models. Works up about like 4 oz leather. Dandy for sending a custom mockup to someone far away when you don't have the item to fit. These are not cheap to buy new, but when they start to wear, the print shops give them to me.

I make all my cutting patterns from these. For large patterns I can sew or tape sections together. I can write things like gusset lengths needed, zipper lengths, and make registration marks for grooves and creases. I also use it to cover my anvil when I am setting rivets on damp leather to prevent black marks. Some guys use it to line tool boxes, or to protect blade edges in racks. Cuts with knives or scissors easily.

[barra]

I use a mix of materials. I have access to large offcuts of a heavy vinyl that has a backing of about 1/8th of an inch of foam. It is used for aircraft panels/flooring. It is very hardwaring and has properties similar to the printers mats Bruce has discribed. Cuts easily with shears, holds it's shape, can be sewn together. I also use other forms of vinyl and heavy vinyl flooring. Carpet/flooring stores will give away large offcuts.

For smaller patterns I find pictures I like and enlarge in a photocopier until it is the size I want and then run it thru an office laminator. I then run the pattern under my stitcher with no thread. When I want to use it I lay it on the leather and rub it with a bit of shearling that is in a tin of talcum powder. Little bits of powder fall thru the holes. I then tidy it up with a tickler and wipe off the talc.

attached is a Pic showing the Aircraft flooring vinyl and examples of laminated patterns.

Barra

Edited May 7, 2008 by barra

[steve mason]

Elton; just a little curious where you got the idea to use crazy carpets?

Steve

I start out drawing my patterns on poster board. When I am happy with them I trace them on to Crazy Carpets(Whacky Carpets) which if you don't know are for sliding down snowy hills on. HEHE. They are very cheap to buy and you can get a lifetime of use out of them. They aren't very thick and are easy to cut with anything

[JAM]

WOW! All so very inventive! You've all just demonstrated that I'm not limited to the impossible-to-find large pieces of liner board and the thin plastic that the local plastics suppliers can't seem to duplicate. There's a whole world of creative possibilities! I would like to try the Crazy Carpets, but I can't find them in the States. Must be a Candian thing <ggg>.

[Bob]

I use vinyl flooring from the local shop. They through out large cutoffs. It's great for patterns, you can write on the back, and cut easily with a head knife.

[Elton Joorisity]

Steve, NO I DID NOT steal the idea from you. All of dad's harness patterns were done on crazy carpets and I just fell into using them too! I'll buy you a vitamin "P" or too anyways.

[steve mason]

Elton;

the idea wasn't mine to steal. I need all the vitamin P I can get.

Steve, NO I DID NOT steal the idea from you. All of dad's harness patterns were done on crazy carpets and I just fell into using them too! I'll buy you a vitamin "P" or too anyways.

[loopinluke]

A ranch I worked for fed a lot of protein blocks that came on pallets and had two slip sheets per pallet. I use those for all my patterns because they are cheap and if you mess up you just throw them away.

[Randy Cornelius]

Go to the feed store, each pallet of feed has a pallet sized piece of heavy paper or cardboard that covers the pallet before the feed is stacked on the pallet, the feed stores around here throw them away so I have them save them for me. Some have a slick side and all are heavy enough to make patterns for. You can get a full sized chap pattern out of one piece.

Randy

[tashabear]

WOW! All so very inventive! You've all just demonstrated that I'm not limited to the impossible-to-find large pieces of liner board and the thin plastic that the local plastics suppliers can't seem to duplicate. There's a whole world of creative possibilities! I would like to try the Crazy Carpets, but I can't find them in the States. Must be a Candian thing <ggg>.

Not really. I regularly beat myself up riding them when I was a kid, and I have spent most of my life in Massachusetts. I think what's meant is these: http://www.supremehardware.com/servlet/the-31680/Paricon-Flying-Carpet-Sled/Detail

[JAM]

I think what's meant is these: http://www.supremehardware.com/servlet/the-31680/Paricon-Flying-Carpet-Sled/Detail

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for!