: I am looking to put together a group to make a bulk purchase of 9 oz Dacron (
: PE). Mr Dyson no longer carries it . I have contacted the factory and they
: will produce it but the minumum order is 1500 ft at $3 ft. I ll take about
: 500 ft of this stuff but will need a few others to come in to make up a
: total order. If you are interested please email me.

: leighpilot@yahoo.com

: Leigh Ross

Leigh,

Having used both 9oz Polyester and 8oz / 14oz Nylon, I'd like to share my
experience with both. Nylon to me is easier to sew, easier to coat with
hypalon/neoprene ( I've not used other coatings), and can be moisture/heat
shrunk as tight as a drum if desired.

I've used Polyester on folders only as it doesn't shrink with moisture, making
it " much" better for that application. However, I've never been able to
achieve the same skin tautness with Polyester due to it's limited heat shrink
characteristics. Also, I've found nylon to be more abrasion resistant than polyester.

Having said that, either cloth will certainly do an excellent job.
It's really a matter of individual preference.

I've just started using 18 oz. PVC as skins for my folders. 18oz PVC is
probably comparable to 9oz polyester when you add the coatings. With hypalon,
and I use 6-8 coats, and the coated polyester ends up bit heavier than the PVC.

My PVC skins are comprised of a one piece hull/One piece deck with the two
pieces being glued together at the gunwale. An SOF builder that I know took
the novel approach of sewing a one piece PVC skin in the same way as a
traditional SOF Polyester skin. It came out drum tight, and of course
required no coatings.

The sewing was more difficult due to the thickness of the PVC, but it looked
great. By the way, 1yd.( 36" X 62") of Coverlight PVC costs $5.00.

Worth considering ?

Tom