Welcome to midsummer! Tis the season of abundant sunshine, early and late days and lots of hard work. The busy season can make or break a business. The requests come in fast and furious, and the tricky bit is making sure the finished projects meet your standards and your clients’ expectations. The fast pace makes [...]

To keep this Strataglass® vinyl and other marine fabrics looking good and performing well, boat owners need to put in a little work when the day is done. Photo: Herculite. Fabricators play an important role in teaching customers to keep their boats in shape. It’s pretty simple. People buy boats because they want [...]

Oyster Creek Canvas Co., in Bellingham, Wash., will host the MFA Pacific Northwest Regional Workshop on Sept. 15. The workshop will feature networking opportunities and marine education on full enclosures, rigid windows, solar panels and more. The MFA Pacific Northwest Regional Workshop is being held on Sept. 15 at Oyster Creek Canvas Co. [...]

For marine applications, gazebo covers, patio furniture covers, tarps, canopies and campers, Top Notch 1S is a 100 percent solution-dyed polyester fabric with a clear urethane back coat. At 60 inches wide, 7.4 oz. per sq. yd., it offers exceptional strength, durability, water resistance, tear resistance, abrasion resistance and UV- and mildew-resistance. Because it is [...]

How to find affordable, professional help when you need it. While most owners of small- and medium-size businesses know the details of their companies intimately, there are often highly technical matters of law, accounting, management and marketing that are best handled by outside experts. Attorneys, accountants, and management and marketing advisers have specialized knowledge about [...]

Colonville Canvas in Clare, Mich., provides quality detailed craftsmanship from house and home to covers and awnings. Owner William Miller recently doubled the size of his shop and says that boat canvas is “in his blood.” William Miller is the owner, manager and fabricator of Colonville Canvas, a Clare, Mich.-based company that specializes [...]

Most fabrics are only as waterproof as their seams. For boat covers, awnings, rucksacks and other outdoor gear, Iosso’s Seam Sealer keeps moisture where it belongs—on the outside. It forms an effective, invisible seal against water intrusion without altering the color or feel of the material. It prevents leaks on cotton, cotton blend, polyester and [...]

Tecsew Ltd. uses a Blackman and White Genesis conveyor cutting system and fabric feeder. The fabric feeder moves the fabric to keep it lined up with the datum on the conveyor. This model replaced a basic flatbed cutter from Blackman and White the company used for 10 years. Photos: Tecsew Ltd. Automation continues [...]

Loxx® Fasteners are durable self-locking quick-release fasteners precision engineered from brass and stainless steel. Versatile and reliable in the harshest environments, these fasteners are appropriate for marine, architectural, cover and tarp, and industrial fastening applications. They are easy to install by simply punching a hole and screwing on the mating washer. There is no need [...]

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 [...]