By Rob Kotowski At Lake Shore Boat Top Co. in St. Clair Shores, Mich., we fabricate custom marine canvas year-round. Our customers come to us for high-quality marine fabrication, and we depend on our staff to help provide new ideas to make every boat truly a work of art. We treat our flooring the same [...]

Simplifying employee training and complicated patterning By Broc Wodzien Grand Traverse Canvas Works, in Traverse City, Mich., has had many wonderful employees over the past 30-plus years. Our shop has grown from just my mother, Mary Wodzien, using the skills she learned at her stepfather’s canvas shop, to a staff of 16 employees. Growing and [...]

Details and quality make the difference.  By Dave Elliott, MFC As a founding member of the Australian Marine Fabricators Association (MFA), I’ve spent many years talking to and mentoring other fabricators, as well as doing presentations in the U.S. and Australia for our industry. My general observation is that trimmers and upholsterers lack business knowledge [...]

by Kyle Van Damme, MFC This photo shows a camper back aft enclosure on a Formula® 40PC that is secured to the hardtop using a track and keder welt system. Using a track and keder welt combo to fasten an enclosure to a boat gives your project a sleek and seamless look. It sets your [...]

Digital design processes can be used to create this curved backrest, but traditional draping pattern and design methods create fast, beautiful results. At Chicago Marine Canvas, our MFA- and IFAI-award-winning canvas and upholstery shop, we have fully integrated digital methods into our canvas work. There are many benefits to implementing a digital measurement [...]

Photo 1: This upholstery was completed by taking the patterns directly from the outside of the furniture before tearing down the cushions. When you’re re-covering built-in boat furniture, you can never have too many techniques tucked into your upholstery toolbox. Many fabricators use the same techniques every time, while others enjoy adapting and [...]

Here is an example of a good photo. You can see the whole boat. The background is pleasing and not busy. Only have a smartphone? That’ll work fine. An estimated 1.2 trillion pictures were taken across the globe in 2017. The smartphone, of course, is what’s behind the huge number. According to InfoTrends, [...]

Beach Upholstery, Virginia Beach,Va., specializes in custom boat covers, bimini tops and boat upholstery renovation and repair. It was recently awarded the “Best of 2018 Gold Award for Upholstery Repair” in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper’s Readers’ Choice Awards. Beach Upholstery was started several years ago by Linda Beach, who has 30-plus years of experience [...]

At Lake Shore Boat Top Co. Inc., in St. Clair Shores, Mich., we fabricate custom marine canvas year-round. Our customers come to us for high-quality marine fabrication and we depend on our staff to help provide new ideas to make every boat truly a work of art. When designing a new enclosure, here are some [...]

Photo 1: PlasDECK is a synthetic teak, which is a durable and long-lasting material that has a very nautical feel once installed. It is also a more expensive option than EVA foam and hybrid products. Photo: Justin Jones. When we think about trends in marine flooring, traditional glue-down carpet was initially replaced by [...]