Cutting ripstop

[sparkysko]

hey anyone think of using one of those cold heat soldering guns you see on tv..we have them at my walmart...the heat up instantly and return to finger cool in seconds.. i wonder if that would cut as well ... just mark material .and use the tool like a box cutter ..place.. push trigger ..and zip...might be worth a try..

They won't work. The tip is two-parts, it requires the tip to touch something conductive to complete the circuit and heat up. Maybe if you soaked your material in water first?

How important is it to sear the edges of the material anyways? I double hem all my edges, so at least I can't see any of the messed up edges. I'm not sure how likely the nylon is to fray past the hem however.

[stoikurt]

I think I am coming to the conclusion that the Maglite to to Bird Dog as the jet boil/Tom Clayor hammock is to neo.

Or...maybe like "Girls with frickin lasers on their heads" to someone else! Except they actually have theirs.

[slowhike]

They won't work. The tip is two-parts, it requires the tip to touch something conductive to complete the circuit and heat up. Maybe if you soaked your material in water first?

How important is it to sear the edges of the material anyways? I double hem all my edges, so at least I can't see any of the messed up edges. I'm not sure how likely the nylon is to fray past the hem however.

i don't think you really need to sear the edges of sil. but the hot cut w/ a strait edge would just be a quick, easy, strait cut.
other nylon fabric that's not sil, would probably not fray so easy if it was cut w/ heat.
some of the un-treated ripstop i've used frays so easy it starts fraying before i get it hemed.

[Coffee]

Or...maybe like "Girls with frickin lasers on their heads" to someone else! Except they actually have theirs.

Low man very low.

All in good fun though.

[Coffee]

They won't work. The tip is two-parts, it requires the tip to touch something conductive to complete the circuit and heat up. Maybe if you soaked your material in water first?

How important is it to sear the edges of the material anyways? I double hem all my edges, so at least I can't see any of the messed up edges. I'm not sure how likely the nylon is to fray past the hem however.

I second the no on cold heat irons, for the same reason. I have one and only used it a little bit. I would only use it on soldering jobs where it was one or two or very far from a plug. For everything else it is a normal iron. Not that I do that much.

On the heat sealing, I am a cauious person when it comes to my gear. Heat sealing only takes a few minutes and gives me a lot of return for my time in terms of saftey and piece of mind. Well worth it for me. Especially on something weight bearing like a hammock.