My sewing frame broke in the middle of a 16th century binding last night

I was about halfway through sewing the signatures on a leather bound replica I'm making for a local history museum display. The cross piece on my old wooden frame just snapped clean in two. I had to rig up a temp setup with clamps and a piece of 2x4 to finish the section. Anyone have a recommendation for a good metal framed sewing press that wont break the bank?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron_chen631d ago

Ha "snapped clean in two" - mine did the exact same thing except it was during a simpler project and I still almost threw the whole thing out the window. I feel your pain with the temp setup though, my rigging looked like a spider built it with random clamps and hope. I picked up a basic metal one from one of the big craft supply sites for like 60 bucks, nothing fancy but it hasn't let me down yet on a few leather projects. Just make sure you check the weight capacity before you buy cause some of those cheaper metal frames are really flimsy for thicker materials.

sethc121d ago

That bit about the spider web of random clamps and hope really hit home (I think every maker has been there at some point). I actually read somewhere that a lot of those cheap plastic frames are made with recycled material that's way more brittle than what they used to use, so they snap under way less tension than you'd expect. My buddy had one go on him while he was stretching canvas for a painting, and the whole thing just cracked like a eggshell, sent his project flying across the garage. It's wild how much difference a solid metal frame makes, even on simple stuff. I remember hearing a guy on a podcast say that if you're working with anything thicker than a few layers of fabric, you're basically asking for trouble with the plastic ones.