T&T: Bimini fabrics

[Robert Phillips]

< How are you "welding" this fabric? How sophisticated are the
tools/equipment and technique? >

We use an automated hot air welder that walks the seam blowing hot  
air between the layers to "soften" the vinyl and then sealing the  
seam with pressure between two rubber wheels, using the same  
Austrian, Leister, machine with almost no servicing for twenty-one  
years.  Most any awning shop of any size will have a welder, either  
hot air or RF frequency, the latter being able to weld Sunbrella  
using a special tape between the layers of fabric.

Welding isn't for the faint of heart or casual user, as it is  
possible to ruin the fabric if the welder stalls or the temp is set  
too high (don't ask me what I say when that happens on the last seam  
of a 1200 ft2 awning).  Coated vinyl fabrics are much easier to weld  
as the vinyl is much thicker, although Stamoid is the exception as  
the vinyl layers on it are very thin.  Laminated vinyl fabrics can't  
be repaired by welding after about four months in the sun while we  
have welded two year old coated vinyl fabrics with no problems at  
all, which is handy when a bareboater drops a boom on one of our tops  
on a bareboat, a regular occurrence down here.

Bob Phillips,
Another Asylum, Tortola, BVI