tin foil wedgie :scared:
boot
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tin foil wedgie :scared:
boot
Progress on several fronts (but no conclusions yet):
Used perforated T-flect below UQ with shiny side out, 45° F., slept warm, no condensation found in the A.M. Tonight I'll use a similar setup with non-perforated T-flect. (Slept in enclosed porch because I didn't trust this UQ for the 20° F. outside.)
Running this T-flect through the sewing machine, doing 6 thicknesses at a time yesterday still took a while. I added lines of holes in the other direction this morning with the material folded four times, producing 16 layers to sew through. Tough little Singer 15-91 did fine, so now there are twice as many holes (approx. 184,000). I plan to sew a footbox into this piece a la HappyCamper and try it as a very light weight TQ.
Bearing in mind Knotty's advice about radiant energy not passing easily through solid (i.e. opaque) barriers, I've decided not to try the T-flect between the UQ and the hammock. (Analogy to getting the laws of physics to pass through my skull to "warm up" my brain cells noted.)
No condensation! Excellent. I had so much, that's good news. I'll have to punch mine and see if I get similar results.
Don't forget to change that needle out if sewing anything else and not just punching holes! That needle's been working hard!
Remember, I haven't proved anything yet. We'll have to see if there is condensation tonight with an un-perforated under cover.
Yes'm. I'm also going to clean the blue fuzz out of the PTI and oil it. :)
I expect it will. Let it be the first of many!Quote:
Originally Posted by Boothill
This might sound crazy, but what about using 2 carpet tack strips hinged between two 2x4s? You could make it virtually as long as your fabric was wide. If you had someone pulling fabric for you it would be an quicker process. You might have to run it through a few times to get the number of perforations you want, but that still has to be faster than a sewing machine.:)
... Just a thought.
BTW - Thanks for all the hard work on this, it could be a great leap forward.
The perforated Thermoflect undercover apparently worked to let humidity escape, because the one without holes that I used last night trapped moisture in my synthetic UQ and the down vest tied under it as a 1/2 length supplemental UQ. Conditions were similar for both tests: low humidity, temperature in the mid forties, and using the same TQ and UQ for both tests. There wasn't a lot of trapped moisture this time, but there was a definite difference. The conditions were such that I wouldn't have expected much, so I was pleased that the experiment was a success. :)
The perforated Thermoflect will now see duty as a TQ (outer layer, with the shiny side out). Running 16 thicknesses through the sewing machine worked, so that's probably the easiest way to put holes in this stuff. When I unfolded it, the blue material around the edges of the holes stuck to the adjacent layers a bit, and one or two small tears in the blue layer occurred, so this is not the most durable stuff in the world. Still, it looks good for the proposed uses. We'll see if my toes poke holes in the footbox.
The #19 needle I used was so gummed up with blue plastic, that I had trouble even finding the eye, much less cleaning it out. I disassembled the bobbin case of the machine so I could clean it thoroughly, but it looks like he needle caught most of the goop.
Thanks for posting! What temps for the topquilt. Are you going to continue to use it as an undercover? I'm going to definitely continue to experiment with it as a topquilt. The thing only weighs 4.4 oz. (Plus I think I can cut it down a bit more.) Even as a hot summer TQ for me, that ain't much weight in my pack.