Cost of Re-canvassing a dodger...?

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Next sail we have made, I'd gladly pay for one row of Tenara in amongst the regular stitching. Costs a lot (big sails), but boy, oh boy, does it ever last!

Ann

We've done a few projects, (dodgers and biminis) with "Tenara" and didnt have any problems with the tension adjustments.. Its pretty simple if you know how it reacts..
What we found, and this is over about a period of years, the general public dosent want to pay the additional price for the thread.. In the last project I did, with a dink cover, dodger, dodger cover, winch covers, bimini, and various other covers, BBQ and such, I used over 2 spools for the job at $110 per spool...... the additional price for the project was around $250 for the upgrade in thread...
You can do a complete "re-stitch" twice for the price of the thread..

[DDabs]

I have a 40ft boat- just redid my whole dodger and bimini. Was about 1500 for a new dodger with covers for the glass windows, and another 2000 for the entire bimini with new bars.


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[Mendana]

I recently had my dodger frame recovered. It was AU$2,300 or about US$1,800. I chose not to have Sunbrella material and mine was done in a plastic type material and clear for the window(i forget what it is called).

[JPA Cate]

I once replaced the canvas on our first Insatiable. If you carefully undo the stitching on your current dodger, leaving the windows in, you can use it for a pattern, keeping the straight grain of the fabrics aligned, add any leather you want, then you stitch in the new windows and remove the old.

Ann

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

We've done a few projects, (dodgers and biminis) with "Tenara" and didnt have any problems with the tension adjustments.. Its pretty simple if you know how it reacts..
What we found, and this is over about a period of years, the general public dosent want to pay the additional price for the thread.. In the last project I did, with a dink cover, dodger, dodger cover, winch covers, bimini, and various other covers, BBQ and such, I used over 2 spools for the job at $110 per spool...... the additional price for the project was around $250 for the upgrade in thread...
You can do a complete "re-stitch" twice for the price of the thread..

Randy, if you're replacing strata glass (or similar) windows, is it worth it to use Tenara thread or should you just go with standard thread, given the life expectancy of the window material itself?

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by Suijin

Randy, if you're replacing strata glass (or similar) windows, is it worth it to use Tenara thread or should you just go with standard thread, given the life expectancy of the window material itself?

Now this will open up a can of worms........ and didnt want to bring it up myself first but because you did.........
Thread is made up of multi fiber, and much of the thread made of high quality is what they call "bonded" or wax coated. It "slides" throu the fabric easier when sewing, and somewhat flattens out in the stitches. you can see this in in the stitching of you canvas where between the holes, the thread becomes wider..
The down side of "bonded" thread is you cant use it in newer modern, machines with self adjusting tension.. it clogs up the workings...
Now the "Tenara" thread... its single strand much like fishing line and even being strongher than thread, has less strength in holding compaired to standard , bonded thread........
Now this is where It gets nasty about Tenara.... due to its single strand, its probabilities of tearing of the material is much greater.. Using Tanara thread while sewing Vinyl upholstery is a No-No due to it tearing between the stitches..
If you ever see stitching where it has torn at the seam, its uasally due to the stitches being to close together or the use of Tenara thread..
So in re-stitching of the "Strada - Glass" in my openion, I would use a high quality bonded thread...................................

[Randyonr3]

This might be a good time to explain the replacement of window vinyl for those thinking of doing so..

First off, leave the old pannels with windows out in the sun to flatten out..
When nice and flat, go to the inside of the pannel.. you should see TWO lines of stitching, An outer line and an Inter line.... about 1/2 inch apart from each other..
with a sharp knife or razor blade, cut the OUTER stitching line around the window.. leave the inter stitching line intacked..
Now, cut the old window between the two stitching lines. close to the inter-line... you should be removing about 1/2 inch of the outer part of the window with the outside stitching line ..
Cut the NEW piece of VINYL window material a couple inches larger than the old window.. and either tape or use two sided tape around the outside of the new material..
YOU NOW HAVE BOTH THE OLD AND NEW PIECES TOGETHER...........
Carefully flip the pannel over and stitch the line you just pulled out back into the pannel... you are sewing the new window on the back side of the old ..
So you now have the new pannel sewn to the outer stitch line and the old pannel sewn to the inter stitch line..
Now, while looking at the outside of the pannel, lift the small edge at the outside of the olde vinyl, and with a razor blade, cut the stitches on the inter line of stitching around the window.. once done, you should be able to remove the old window from the pannel leaving the new panel still sewn in place..
clean up all the old thread and do another sewing line ( the inter line) on the pannel...................done
The greate part of this is that if the old window and pannel fit the opening, so will the new.... you havent changed the pannel............

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Now this will open up a can of worms........ and didnt want to bring it up myself first but because you did.........
Thread is made up of multi fiber, and much of the thread made of high quality is what they call "bonded" or wax coated. It "slides" throu the fabric easier when sewing, and somewhat flattens out in the stitches. you can see this in in the stitching of you canvas where between the holes, the thread becomes wider..
The down side of "bonded" thread is you cant use it in newer modern, machines with self adjusting tension.. it clogs up the workings...
Now the "Tenara" thread... its single strand much like fishing line and even being strongher than thread, has less strength in holding compaired to standard , bonded thread........
Now this is where It gets nasty about Tenara.... due to its single strand, its probabilities of tearing of the material is much greater.. Using Tanara thread while sewing Vinyl upholstery is a No-No due to it tearing between the stitches..
If you ever see stitching where it has torn at the seam, its uasally due to the stitches being to close together or the use of Tenara thread..
So in re-stitching of the "Strada - Glass" in my openion, I would use a high quality bonded thread...................................

That's very interesting. Our dodger windows have been sewn in with tenara thread, both the originals and their replacements. The fabric of the dodger is what is called here "marine hooding", a pvc top like a convertible car top, but with a fabric on the "wrong" side. So far it is okay, but confirming what you wrote, the stitches are quite long.

Ann

[Randyonr3]

Being we're on the subject of sewing and materials,
I'll bring up some info not to many people know about.. years ago It was common to use Fishing line for sewing marine fabric.. "Trilene" in 10 to 15 lb test was common as it didnt "ROT" in marine use, like in fishing boats..
Now something else has hit the market and I'm thinking of using it on some of my own projects to see how it holds up and how easy it is to work with..
Its called "SPECTRA BRAID" where the strength is very high for its size and UV properties are high..
I've been fishing with it for some time and it works great, smooth, strong, and very light to strength..
The price is high in small quanties but by buying 1000 or more yards, you get a pretty good break on the line............

[Stu Jackson]

Ann, touched on it.

Your question is vague and leads to overall assumptions, although all the input has been great and useful.

But here is my tale:

Essentially, there are two different kinds of dodgers, I just learned recently.

Ours was an old one piece one and the original dodger builder/wonderful lady wanted $3295 to redo it.

I met a local canvas fellow, who inspected it, said the windows were basically perfect. They'd been replaced 5 years ago on a 10 year old dodger. Light tan.

So, his solution was to convert it into a new style dodger with removable panels connected by zippers. While I never used the zipper on our front window, nor ever took it down due to heat, etc., I do recognize that zippers aren't always the cat's meow when it comes to canvas.

However, by saving the glazing and adding the new zippers, the advantage becomes obvious: If a piece goes, you just replace that piece. Indeed, when I was visiting with Jeff, my friend John came it to pick up ONE SECTION of his own dodger where the jib sheet had cracked his glazing. Simple. And he saved labor by taking it off himself!!!

In my case, the horizontal top portion had rotted out (lighter colors degrade faster than dark ones, I also learned).

Jeff's quoted price in writing is $695!!! :w histling:

It's not only a replacement, it's a reconstruction in CONCEPT.

So, lots of the cost depends on what you already have, what needs to be replaced, and HOW it is built to begin with.

In my case, it'll be brand new and easier and less costly to deal with in the future.

Consider your options.

Good luck.

[cortezsailor]

Just had one done for Corbin39 , already had the frame but the price was 3000$


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[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Ann, touched on it.

Your question is vague and leads to overall assumptions, although all the input has been great and useful.

But here is my tale:

Essentially, there are two different kinds of dodgers, I just learned recently.

Ours was an old one piece one and the original dodger builder/wonderful lady wanted $3295 to redo it.

I met a local canvas fellow, who inspected it, said the windows were basically perfect. They'd been replaced 5 years ago on a 10 year old dodger. Light tan.

So, his solution was to convert it into a new style dodger with removable panels connected by zippers. While I never used the zipper on our front window, nor ever took it down due to heat, etc., I do recognize that zippers aren't always the cat's meow when it comes to canvas.

However, by saving the glazing and adding the new zippers, the advantage becomes obvious: If a piece goes, you just replace that piece. Indeed, when I was visiting with Jeff, my friend John came it to pick up ONE SECTION of his own dodger where the jib sheet had cracked his glazing. Simple. And he saved labor by taking it off himself!!!

In my case, the horizontal top portion had rotted out (lighter colors degrade faster than dark ones, I also learned).

Jeff's quoted price in writing is $695!!! :w histling:

It's not only a replacement, it's a reconstruction in CONCEPT.

So, lots of the cost depends on what you already have, what needs to be replaced, and HOW it is built to begin with.

In my case, it'll be brand new and easier and less costly to deal with in the future.

Consider your options.

Good luck.

so what you are saying is that he is going to replace your one piece dodger with a multi pannel dodger,(keeping the frame) the top and 5 zip in pannels , three across the front and both sides for 695.........If so, I'd surely get that in writing.. The material alone should be about that........
By the way, your one piece dodger is not an OLD style.. Its called a "California Style" due to the fog on the west coast, the pannels never needed to be removed and the dodger can be built in one piece.. In areas where you experance more heat, removeable pannels are more sought after for ventalation. The multi pannel dodger has the design where it can be turned into a mini-bimini in hot conditions.......
picture of ours with pannels removed..........
click on picture for larger image.......

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Being we're on the subject of sewing and materials,
I'll bring up some info not to many people know about.. years ago It was common to use Fishing line for sewing marine fabric.. "Trilene" in 10 to 15 lb test was common as it didnt "ROT" in marine use, like in fishing boats..
Now something else has hit the market and I'm thinking of using it on some of my own projects to see how it holds up and how easy it is to work with..
Its called "SPECTRA BRAID" where the strength is very high for its size and UV properties are high..
I've been fishing with it for some time and it works great, smooth, strong, and very light to strength..
The price is high in small quanties but by buying 1000 or more yards, you get a pretty good break on the line............

Wow, I'd really like to know how that works out. I use spectra fishing line, 10-15lb test, and it never occurred to me to try and use it as thread. It's certainly strong enough, but I wonder what it's UV resistance is like. I don't leave my reels out in the sun, and the inner winds on the reel are protected by the outside winds, which I have noticed tend to fade over time but I thought that might just be the dye. I'll have to leave a length of it out this summer and see how it fares.

[toddedger]

I did this one myself last year with a Sailrite machine. I used Tennara and polycarbonate windows. Tenara is ok two sew but polycarb is tough but well worth it

[Mike Vogdes]

I had a dodger recanvased last fall by a couple I found on Craigslist, they did a wonderful job and could' be happier $800 for a Watkins 29




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