: Yeah, the fabric being used has crossed my mind as one likely culprit. The
: previous linen cloth used was a clothing/upholstery fabric, but it wasn't
: sewn on nearly as tightly as the polyester. I had originally thought that
: perhaps I did not pull enough longitudinal tension in the linen, so I
: stretched the polyester by more than double (almost 9"). I didn't try
: to shrink the polyester since I was able to sew it on so tightly, but I
: can't see why NOT using an iron on it would cause it to wrinkle if its
: tight to begin with. Polyester (no matter what the intended end use)
: should be dimensionally stable enough not to loosen, or so I thought.

Just dawned on me that you said it was a twill weave fabric. I'm not an expert on fabric but the twills that I've used tend to be a loose weave that distorts very easily. It's handy for glass/carbon fiber cloth in some uses since it goes over corners really well. Not sure it's the ideal for a SOF. The cloth that I've used all have a balanced weave so acts very much similiar no matter which direction you pull it.

Just guessing

Bill H.

: I've been recoating as soon as the previous coat is dry to the touch,
: regardless of the polyurethane brand. Since the loosening happened after
: the second coat in both cases, I'm thinking that may be the cause.

: I won't be so gung ho to reskin it this time, perhaps it will smooth out
: somewhat as its allowed to rest for a while...? I've also thought about
: using the iron on it now to see if it would tighten up, but I don't want
: to melt the coating and make a huge mess when it functions just fine
: as-is.

: At any rate, I'm going to add the deck lines and use it for a while instead
: of working on it!