Separating Down

[wlaroche]

Been trying to figure out how to measure down from an old sleeping bag that I purchased. Sucking up the extra down up with the vacuum, I transferred the down over to little bags that ultimately will be placed in each baffle in the UQ. After weighing the little bags they ranged from 1.25oz to 1.55oz, more than the 1oz I wanted. Not wanting to release the down all over the lab, this is what I came up with.

Measuring out a 1oz of weight on the scale at work. Brought this home and made an old school balance. Adjusted the arm till, with the clamps, balanced pretty well. Then attached the weight and a bag. Filled the bag until it balanced pretty close. It was pretty easy, I hope stitching the fabric goes this easy.

How have others measured there down for UQ / TQ projects?

[Detail Man]

Your method works. The $10-15 I spent on a digital scale has been invaluable to me for my down projects. Having a good scale is worth it, IMO.

For filling the chambers of the quilt I have a pre-weighed section of 1.5" PVC pipe. Combined with the wedge to keep it from rolling off the scale, it weighs 16 oz. I stuff down into the pipe and weigh it until I have the desired amount. Then I insert the pipe into the quilt and push the down out with a dowel plunger. This method allows me to keep the down in a single bag until I'm ready to make a quilt.

[wlaroche]

Your method works. The $10-15 I spent on a digital scale has been invaluable to me for my down projects. Having a good scale is worth it, IMO.

For filling the chambers of the quilt I have a pre-weighed section of 1.5" PVC pipe. Combined with the wedge to keep it from rolling off the scale, it weighs 16 oz. I stuff down into the pipe and weigh it until I have the desired amount. Then I insert the pipe into the quilt and push the down out with a dowel plunger. This method allows me to keep the down in a single bag until I'm ready to make a quilt.

That is a great idea. Wish I would of ask the members here earlier. That would of saved so much time.

On a standard 3/4 UQ, say 55 x 45, how much down do you place in each baffle. Say there is 9 baffles with 2" of height per baffle. I was thinking about 1oz per baffle but this is just a guess from what others have mentioned. I want this to go down to 20-25*.

[wlaroche]

I just found the under quilt calculator. This thing is awesome. It answered my questions from my last post. Thank you CatSlpat for putting this together.