Re-doing Bolsters

[Fishtales]

Hi,
I'm going to redo the bolsters on my boat. I know several have done it here. Looking to get ideas where to get the materials, ss/monel staples and type and tools.

Thanks..

 

[seasick]

Your biggest challenge to start is an industrial sewing machine, preferably a walking foot model. As far as other tools,a pneumatic stapler. I also have an electric one but it isn't nearly as powerful as the pneumatic ( you need an air compressor of course) For supplies you have to decide on a foam choice unless you can reuse the old foam. I suspect that when you unwrap the old ones, you may be shocked at the mold in the foam.
If your bolsters have wrap around ends, unless you have sewing experience, you may want to reconsider doing it yourself.
I did mine to be an exact match to the original, including piping (welting) on end caps and backs, drainage material on the underside (Phifertex ), Pleated vinyl, matching plain vinyl and premade welting (all Seaquest). I used Fastdry foam, water and glue run right through it. I got the staples online although some posted that they found monel in a retail store. I didn't. Gromets and punch for grommets. (cheap kits available at box stores.
I hope you can reuse your backings. Those are a pin to replicate.

For a somewhat novice sewer, the job was long and tedious. Just removing the old staples was miserable. I also ripped all the sewn seams, marked the pieces and used them as patterns for the new materials. In my case, the inside corners of the wrap around bolster were made from several pieces of plain vinyl. Making those is a lot more work than just making a corner miter with the pleated material. The pieced approach does look better though.
I can't tell you where to order the materials, many of the online stores I used are gone.
Here are a couple of pics showing the old parts disassembled.

 

[glacierbaze]

Everything you need available at Sailrite.com, including days worth of videos to watch.

 

[leeccoll]

Everything you need available at Sailrite.com, including days worth of videos to watch.

My friend that made my cushions and installed last week said the exact same thing.

 

[seasick]

I have purchased materiald from Sailrite. They have quality products, very good packaging for shipping and a good selection of materials and hardware. They do tend to be on the more expensive side so you decide if you want to shop around. I did check the catalog just now and I don't see monel staples. I don't see the Seaquest pleated vinyl products either. A lot of my supplies I got from the Fabric Warehouse.
You are also correct, they have good videos.

 

[ScottyCee]

I bought a sewing machine from Sailrite after fighting a "heavy duty" Singer for weeks on end. Walking foot works like a dream - goes through 8x Sunbrella and 40mil isinglass like it's not there...

I think that most expensive ingredient may be the foam. It certainly is for cushions. When I re-do mine I am going to eliminate the sexy curved section (that looks over the top hard to make) and do a straight corner. Should be straightforward...

 

[seasick]

I bought a sewing machine from Sailrite after fighting a "heavy duty" Singer for weeks on end. Walking foot works like a dream - goes through 8x Sunbrella and 40mil isinglass like it's not there...

I think that most expensive ingredient may be the foam. It certainly is for cushions. When I re-do mine I am going to eliminate the sexy curved section (that looks over the top hard to make) and do a straight corner. Should be straightforward...

The open cell stuff like DryFast is kind of expensive. I can't remember if I needed a full sheet or a half sheet ( 25 by 90 inches) of 2 inch for my bolsters. These days a full sheet is about $100 at the foam factory. Some was left over but not a lot. In the corners, I had to glue up a double layer and shape it using an electric carving knife. That works also to round/ shape the outside edges. That foam is pretty amazing. Pour a cup of water on it and it is like it isn't there. Unfortunately if you try to glue with liquid contact cement that runs right through it also. Spray contact adhesive works better. Also, I did not wrap my foam in plastic like the original. The foam gets glued to the backing board. The vinyl 'cover' wraps over the edges and gets stappled. If welting is desired and it does look better) that gets stapled last.
My bolsters are showing some age these days but I recovered them 10 or 11 years ago. The sun really ages the vinyl

 

[RussGW270]

Wow.. sewing it yourself? Wonder if they have a pre-made pattern for that heh. Which machine did ya get, btw? They have tons of machines there.

You are set for life if you can sew one yourself

Pictures or it never happened!.. heh

R

 

[seasick]

Wow.. sewing it yourself? Wonder if they have a pre-made pattern for that heh. Which machine did ya get, btw? They have tons of machines there.

You are set for life if you can sew one yourself

Pictures or it never happened!.. heh

R

I bought a used Juki commercial walking foot machine (563) . It is quite big and sits on a commercial table. It took me quite some time to learn how to tune it up.
The bolsters were a lot of work but nothing compared to the boat cover I made. I built a framewith arched ribs and the cover is made in two sections with zippers and a velcro flap. It was a bear to work on in my basement, it is quite large and made out of a heavy duty marine material called Top Gun. The frame and cover along with the zippers, allow me to have access to the boat when covered and be able to stand up under it. It is for winter storage only since it takes hours to set up the frame and position and tie off the cover. Funny about your request to see the work. When I looked for photos, I realized that I only took photos of the original assembly, mainly to help remember what was what. That said, you would never know that it wasn't the original with the possible exception of the color. The Vinyl color I chose is a tad whiter than the Grady color. I think I opted for Seaquest Chalk color. In any case I don't see colors all that well so I can't really tell.