Tips and Techniques - a thread for MYOG types
- Thread starter Graham
- Start date
Teepee
Thru Hiker
My Elna will cope with it (10mm) it's about 12mm lift, 8 with the lever bar. You can manually push up the presser foot by a few mm more than the lever bar does. As long as the lever bar is down, it'll sew through some very thick stuff.
If you want to try, I'm Clare, happy to post some offcuts of 10mm foam/spacer and webbing to see if it'll cope. You've not got to do many stitches.
FWIW, I'd go for 8mm though, reckon it'll be plenty for 10kg max.
If you want to try, I'm Clare, happy to post some offcuts of 10mm foam/spacer and webbing to see if it'll cope. You've not got to do many stitches.
FWIW, I'd go for 8mm though, reckon it'll be plenty for 10kg max.
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Clare
Thru Hiker
I think in the arcane world of foam, CCF and EVA foam are very different creatures. But I'm not sure. Or if the difference matters.
Teepee
Thru Hiker
No, it doesn't really matter. Many CCF mats are made from EVA, and EVA can make many different types of products, from open cell foam to shoes. It's in a couple of my packs, and I rate the Multimat dual density stuff I've used. The very hardest wearing foam I've ever used or seen is green Multimat NATO sleep mat CCF. Other CCF mats can be 
, but Multimat IIRC, tends to be nitrogen blown (tiny bubbles) Zotefoam.
, but Multimat IIRC, tends to be nitrogen blown (tiny bubbles) Zotefoam.
WilliamC
Thru Hiker
Listen to Teepee rather than me on this subject
Having said that, the mat linked to above is plastazote but I've found it to be very durable.
This Multimat mat is 7mm thick and evazote.
Teepee
Thru Hiker
Some reading on the differenece between Plastazote and Evazote. I'd forgotten Plastazote was lighter.
Nerdy Zotefoam link; https://www.zotefoams.com/product/azote/evazote/
Nerdy Zotefoam link; https://www.zotefoams.com/product/azote/evazote/
Clare
Thru Hiker
Listen to Teepee rather than me on this subject
Having said that, the mat linked to above is plastazote but I've found it to be very durable.
This Multimat mat is 7mm thick and evazote.
That comes in at pretty good value compared to the £10 I just spent on eBay for a 10mm piece. Or it would if I was making loads of packs, which hopefully I'm not. I'll see how I (my machine) gets on with the 10mm
Teepee
Thru Hiker
@Clare ...yes. For those, I just wanted the very edges to be mesh, with the seam on the top edge of the foam. Ergo, my spacer mesh for 10mm foam is 10mm bigger than the top layer all round.
Watch the bottom curve, the biggest pain of the differential sizing; I do 2 x V shaped darts. You can also taper it towards the bottom so the difference is zero, saving the need for darts.
Watch the bottom curve, the biggest pain of the differential sizing; I do 2 x V shaped darts. You can also taper it towards the bottom so the difference is zero, saving the need for darts.
Clare
Thru Hiker
I've nearly got everything. The 10mm foam looks VERY thick, the 5mm looks very thin. Clearly 8mm is the gold standard but couldn't find any except a yoga mat but in PVC (as described). Is this no good? Does PVC lose its bounce and will I regret it soon enough if I have pVC foam in my straps?
Edit; there is the multi mat option that @WilliamC suggested. I had forgotten that.
Edit; there is the multi mat option that @WilliamC suggested. I had forgotten that.
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Chip
Backpacker
@Clare I used the Evazote EV50 4mm from Extremtextil doubled up to make the straps of my bag 8mm (did this mostly because they were out of 10 mm at the time, but in the end I think it was good because it feels like 8mm is right at the limit of my domestic machine)
I still have plenty left, if you’re only planning on making one bag I could send you some, just have to check how much the postage would be to the UK (if that’s where you are?)
I still have plenty left, if you’re only planning on making one bag I could send you some, just have to check how much the postage would be to the UK (if that’s where you are?)
craige
Thru Hiker
@Clare, this stuff is quite nice at 8mm. It won't hold up as long as top quality stuff like evazote but I used it a while ago and it was pretty comfy.
@FOX160 a few years ago I ripped up a broken pack to see how it was made. The shoulder straps had a different kind of foam in them. It was very similar to the packaging foam a tv would be in, multiple layers if thin foam. I had used and abused the pack on a daily basis for quite a long time, maybe 4 years. Carrying shopping, work gear etc etc and the foam was like new, no degrading at all and had always been comfy. It's replacement has been the same for the past 6 years or so and I think the foam inside is the same.
@FOX160 a few years ago I ripped up a broken pack to see how it was made. The shoulder straps had a different kind of foam in them. It was very similar to the packaging foam a tv would be in, multiple layers if thin foam. I had used and abused the pack on a daily basis for quite a long time, maybe 4 years. Carrying shopping, work gear etc etc and the foam was like new, no degrading at all and had always been comfy. It's replacement has been the same for the past 6 years or so and I think the foam inside is the same.
theoctagon
Thru Hiker
Yeah, 8-10mm. I can't get any more under the presser foot
I feel your pain... but hopefully not for much longer
FOX160
Thru Hiker
The foam inside the Hyberg isn’t the same as TV packaging, the structure is completely different, but if what you say works then @Clare try that too. But I was giving an alternative that feels very comfortable even carrying 14kg within a frameless pack.
@Enzo knows a lot about materials and has made 2 impressive packs.
Clare
Thru Hiker
I read a thread somewhere about seam construction, it was a discussion between @dandurston and someone else, with lots of line drawings by Dan to demonstrate strength of the various options. It was in the context of DCF as I remember. I thought it was on the x-mid thread on backpacking light but I can't find it there. Does anyone know where it was? @WilliamC?