TOPIC: 2 upholstery tricks i learned the hard way

i just finished working on my tractor(mini hoe)seat,but it can also be used on boat seats,1st when cutting foam i found that using a electric carving knife,(like you use to carve your ham,lol)makes cutting foam easy and you can carve the shapes you need to.
then after that and you staple your vinyl to the back of the seat,you will get wrinkles in it,especially around round corners.
to take out small wrinkles use a heat gun on low setting and taking great care not to get it too hot,the wrinkles will start to vanish as the yinyl starts to shrink,but warning if you get too close it gets too hot and your job will melt.so take care,john

Thanks for the tip. Will definitly have remember that when covering seats. Seat looks good

Heres some more tricks i learned while working in an upholstery shop...

A fabric steamer can bring new life to old, smashed foam(provided its not completely rotted or turning into dust). It will "puff" old foam back up into its original shape. A steam iron can also work...place a large, slightly damp terry cloth towel on top of the foam and place the iron on full steam mode on top of the towel for about 20-30 seconds and check your progress...steam more as necessary. Keep checking it frequently to make sure your not burning your towel or the foam. This trick only works with foam thats in good condition but just lost its shape...if its started to powder or rot, all it will do is make a big mess.

Fabric steamers also works great for installing seat covers. Tack a couple spots in place, place the steamer head in between the cover and the seat base, let it steam till everything is hot, then install the cover. Makes the vinyl form to almost any shape and will eliminate 99% of wrinkles. The heat gun method works well too but be careful not to get your vinyl too hot or else it will ruin it. I like to start stapling in the corners and then feather the excess material out is i work towards the straight edges. Tack all 4 corners in place then just work to the centers a little bit at a time. Patients is key...if it doesnt look right, pull your staples and try again. Keep checking your work as you continue stapling.

Like you discovered, electric carving knives work great for cutting foam. If doing some intricate foam work, I like to rough cut my shape with the carving knife and use a circular air sander with a 40-80 grit sanding disc for the final shaping...caution though...the sanding makes one hell of a dust mess and you will be covered head to tow in it!!

Use ONLY stainless staples when installing the covers...galvanized will rust out completely in a very short time.

thanks adventurer,and thanks jerrfylube,thats a great tip ,where were ya when i was reupholstering the sun ray,lol,lol,those are great tips,i never thought of the steamer.heres a couple of pics of it.this is a console i bought ,then i made the rounded base to fit the floor ,(it has a cutout to form over the "ladder"that the seats sit on)the 2nd pic is with the custom base and the last is with the upholstery,the big holes in the bottom were to spray foam in ,and also as the sprayfoam expands it had a place to go,without blowing it apart,it made it stronger and also now its a cooler,lol.sorry i have the last 2 pics out of order the teal upholstered one is the finished one

John, did you fab that console? Just wondering. While I love my new GMC, the cup holders are stupid. It's like GMC engineers don't take coffee with them when they travel. The one nearest the driver is sized for a soda can, and not much else, while the one of the passenger side is overly large and short, so anything you sit in there falls out soon as you make any kind of turn. I can't find either a decent sized coffee cup that fits the driver's side, and the passenger side one is just useless. Any ideas?

Frank

frank i bought that console at wally world and refabbed it to make it fit the sunray.
as for yours do you have hole saws,that fit into the holders?if you do cut out a couple of round circles with it and glue them together(stacked)until its even with the top of your holder(make them for both sides),then make oval or rectangle boards that fits over both of the plugs you just made.then make more just the same but cut out the 2 holes(the size you want for your cups) in the next ones then stack them,and glue them together and sand it all when its finished,so it looks like one piece,kind of like i did with the seat base,then stain or paint.if theres not enough room to make it a double holder just make 2 seperate ones ,sorry it didnt scan right,i hope i helped,and if this doesnt work ,ive seen your work frank i know you can figure out another way,this was just a thought its hard to make something up with out seeing the cupholders in a pic,john

Here's a pic John. That's an excellent idea John, I'm gonna give it a try unless you have a better idea, lol!

The left one is about 2 1/4" on the bottom, the right one about 3 1/4". Both are about 1 7/8" high.

Thanks!

Frank

great frank ,it looks like the idea will work,if you make the two plugs the same size as the holes in the holder,plus if you use oak 3/4 x 6 or 8,and use a table sanding disk,it will look cool from the sides too, with the layered look,once you get the top together just sand the whole sides together,like i did the base of the console,only you will have more layers,but look really cool,john.ps you will probably have to cut a curve in it so you can still use your 4 whell drive.also put in a plug for the place your glasses are sitting,it will make it more stable,kind of like this...

Yes, I think it will work also John, but that is my gear shift. 4WD is a button on the dash. I sure appreciate the idea, because I didn't want to build anything that looked home-made. We'll see when I get time to do it, been working on the boat a lot, and have a slew of other projects. Thanks again!

Frank

your welcome frank,i hope the revised plan will work better,im going to be working on the sunray today,at this very moment my moms fiance is delevering it to me to put in the garage,as soon as it gets here im going to make a motor stand,ill take pics as i do it,as soon as the motor is off its time for sanding,ewwwwwww i hate sanding,lol,john

Yeah, I hate sanding too!

Thanks John!

Frank

frank,,i would just return it and get a chevy. hehe
my cupholders are so deep that sometimes when placing a 12oz. foam cup of java in, it knocks off the lid. i filled it in with quarters.
john, the console is beautiful. can't wait to see it close up.

Chevy, GMC, only thing different is the name and the dealer Ron. Everything else is the same, even the cost. Used to be GMC's were a bit nicer, and a bit more expensive. Not anymore, which begs the question, why does GM make two vehicles exactly alike in everything including price?!?

I've had two Chevy trucks, and now this is my third GMC. Chevys were a bright red '62 3/4 ton commercial stake rack I had in college, then a black and silver '95 Silverado extended cab I bought in Massena years ago. GMC's were a pink '55 pickup I had back in the mid to late 70's (after the '62 stake rack), and the "cash for clunkers" gray '86 I traded in on my new one.

Workin on the old Power Cat this weekend, want to put two more coats of primer on, then 3-5 coats of topside paint over the next week or so. Ideally it would be done by the end of the month with rub rail, but I fear jinxing myself by saying that!

Frank