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Okay..here's a few more tips. There are a few fairly decent contact cements out there in spary cans. Pre-Mac is one, and 3M is another. There are many different levels of 3m, so you want to make sure you get the strongest bonding and holding contact cement. Secondly, if you have some $$ to spend, proffesional shops by contact cement in 5 gallon buckets and spray it using an air gun. NOw you don't necessarly need a air power glue gun like they use, where the gun sucks glue from the bucket and air from the compressor to spray,if you had a compressor and a siphon feed air gun (like the use to paint cars) you can pour some of the glue into the canister in the siphon air gun and shoot it out of that. Usually, the industrial glues apholstry shops use come in big buckets like that, and a siphon fed air gun with compressor would give you more flexabity in regards to what glues you are able to use. There are some VERY strong glues like of this type. and if you do a lot of work, it's easier than messing with spray cans, though if you don't do a lot of work, not as partical. Okay, 3rd, after you've cleaned the surface, preped it, etc...spray both the surface you are wrapping AND the backside of the material you are wrapping with (vinly. suede, etc). Let it sit for 5 minutes or so until the surface gets tacky. Then set the material over the panel and line it up, and then start applyling it and putting presure on it all over wrapping it. Use a "tuck tool" to wrap in cervases. Make sure to smooth out with pressure the enitre panel/material so it adheres well. Here is where the preping and cleaning are important. It you didn't clean it well, the contact cement won't stick well and will come loose. If this occurs. Remove material, contact cement on the panel, and re-clean agian. Then re-apply. You can use 1/4" landow foam (i spelled that wrong) to created designs in the panel too. Draw the design you want on the form. Use a straight edge razor to cut the desgin out, cut at a 45 degree angle. Use contacr cement and spray the panel where it will go and the backside of the design. Let it get tacket for a few minutes, the place it where it is to go and gently apply pressure so it sticks. When you wrap the panel, start by applying the material here first. Use your figures to wrap the material around the design from top to bottom (or one side to the other. In the case of flames, wrap it gently from the tip to the base of each part of the flame. This will allow you to have some raised designs in your newly wrapped panel. In reference to "cheap and eay to bend." Okay..Vinly will be cheapest. However, it's not the easiest thing in the world to work with. Nova-Suede on the other hand is considered the best suede material, it's very durable and has a strong solid backside, versus a fabric-type backside like ultra-suede. Both of the these suedes will be more pricey, but easier to work with and wrap around corners.) Also, when you wrap edges around corners, make relief cuts in the material on the back side so you are able to have a smooth wrap along the corner (don't make the cuts too deep, you don't want them visabel from the front side). As to Nova-Suede, prices on this product vary. Unlike vinyl, which is easy to find and cheap at every fabric and uphostery store, the prices on Nova-Suede vary greatly. It is also much harder to find. Out of the 3 places I know of around hear I have talked to that have or can get it in various colors, 2 are uphostery shops, one is a gaint fabric store, almost like a fabric warehouse or depot. The first uphostery shop says Nova-Suede "retails at $110 a sqaure yard." They will sell it from $85-$95/sq yard usually. The second uphostery store sells in for around $60/sq yard. The Gaint Fabric warehouse? $10-20 a sqaure yard. It's the same stuff. So my advise with material. Look around, try to find a place that is big, they dealer in large volumes, they supplyes to them, etc. The prices in this case were cheaper. Now, who did I find them you ask? Well, I opened the Yellow Pages to Uphostery first. Not to promising. The uphostery shops charges like the material was gold, and the listed uphostery suppliers in the are where few and far between. I then turned to the "fabrics" section of the yellow pages. I looked at the big ads on the pages first under the fabric heading. I looked for the ads that mentioned big selction, low prices, and or ones that said the carried "fabrics, vinyls, suedes, cloth, and more." That one sounded good to me, and that one had the best deal. Remember, the phone book is your friend. Sit down at a desk, get paper and a pen, and call the places listed in the phone book asking if they carry the material you are looking for, and if they do, the price per sqaure yard. If they do, you can ask if they can get or carry your color choices. Write down what you find out if they carry it, write the store name and number. When your down, you'll have a list of the places you would consider going that have the material and the prices for it. Another tip. People that are really into sewing tend to know the best places in the area to go for fabrics, threads, materials, etc. Remember, Nova-Suede, Ultra-Suede, even Vinly to a certian extent, are not fabrics specifcally for uphostery and cars. The may have clothing uses, or house decor uses, so generally, a gaint fabric store maybe have the exact same material and color you are looking for in the appropriate dept. for this, but at a much lower price for the same material. Remember, Nova-Suede, for example, can sometimes be found in the "home decor" dept of gaint fabric retailers that carry it. This is a different intented useage than if you buy it from an upholstery shop. However, the product it the exact same. The difference is that you arn't paying the perium the uphostery shop will charge you. After all, uphostery shops can charge more to the person wanting a "custom car interior" than fabric store could to the home seemstress who is going to use the same material for a tablecloth or something. Remember, in this case, you'd get the same material, but at a lower price. Now, this ins't always true. First, if it has a differnt name, like "passion suede (yes, this exists), it is a synthetic suede made from polyester also, just like Nova-Suede, but the two are not the same. But if you take you your time, are not in a rush, and do your homework, you will find the material a material like Nova-Suede at a reasonable price, and not the outragous price uphostery shops charge (plus, chances are if they actually carry it, they have a decent selection). Anyways, I hope this rundown of tips helps you all. I appologize to all for the extended length of this post. However, I was asked if I had any other advice, so I gave it, lol.
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12-16-2003, 03:14 AM
