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Complex and compound frame bending
July 1st, 2016
Incorporating unconventional design into dodgers and biminis. I often suggest that my customers try to think out of the box when envisioning what their boats can look like. I tell them, “If I have done my job properly, the cover will become part of the boat.” Take a spray dodger, for example. I generally recommend […]
Fabricating a bimini
May 1st, 2011
Bimini top: Start to finish At Hood Canvas, we start the process of fabricating our “Flat Liner” biminis by setting up the frame with stanchion bars at each end. Then we run a strap from the aft bow to the forward bow, under all the mid bows. Now we pull the straps tight along the […]
Fabricating bimini enclosure corners
July 1st, 2010
I am going to discuss what we refer to in our shop as “natural intersections.” I have been on so many boats with gaps to the outside at the bimini corners. These gaps allow water to enter the enclosure, which is unacceptable in quality canvas fabrication. There are many acceptable ways of fabricating canvas to […]
Fabricating a bimini top visor
March 1st, 2010
In our shop, we fabricate bimini top visors to a finished width of 2 1/2 inches. The actual finished width a particular shop uses does not matter for the purpose of this article. Visors are a relatively basic component in the fabrication of all tops that require the attachment of another top or enclosure panel. […]
Fabricating an enclosure
January 1st, 2010
My wife Deb and I have run Hood Canvas for the better part of 30 years. I attribute most of my skills in the early years to the late Ralph Hulsman of the Oakum Bay Canvas Co. in Marblehead, Mass. We spent many hours together exchanging ideas on napkins in area restaurants. The way we […]
Custom pilot house allows customer to see clearly
July 1st, 2008
This 1994 Monterey 265 SEL came from the factory with a substantial stock pilot house of traditional clear plastic panels secured to heavy fabric by hefty zippers. After four years of living with the stock version, the second owner of the boat, an avid yachtswoman in Southern California, decided to replace the worn and tired […]
Creating a virtual bimini
May 1st, 2008
Last summer we created a “virtual” three-bow bimini frame and top from measurements taken using CAD. A 3-D bimini is modeled in CAD software using measurements taken in the field. The frame is dimensioned for specs necessary to bend the tubing. The top, created by “flattening” its 3-D surfaces to a 2-D plane, is cut […]