My bridge hammock stencil

[Peabody]

Pics say it all - I used 1/4” tempered hardboard ($9 per sheet at Lowes/hd). It works great because the soldering iron doesn’t seem to burn in much at all when cutting. This is a higher voltage soldering iron compared to the small pencil style variety - cut through two layers with ease, fusing them. The orange is 1.0, the olive is 1.6 hexon.
I simply sandwich the fabric between the two pieces of hardboard and cut away. I got my wife to sit on the stencil while I was cutting to prevent movement. It took about 5minutes per hammock once the stencil was made. Making the stencil was quick also as a jigsaw cuts it like butter.
Anyway, if you’ve got a design that you know you’ll reuse, it’s a great way to go.
Build thread on this hammock coming in a couple weeks.
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[Groundskeeper]

The two layers fused together seems like a nice extra benefit.

[IRONFISH45]

Thank You!

[Peabody]

You’re welcome! I’d like to try it with a tarp one day as well - may be tough to get stencil material though. I’d probably have to piece several together

[stevebo]

Great idea--thanks! What brand /model of soldering iron is that, and where did you get it? do you get fumes when you cut cloth with it? and how often do you need to clean the tip off? (I need to upgrade my fabric cutting set up)

[Peabody]

It’s a weller soldering iron. I borrowed it from my father in law, but I’ll be getting my own soon. That tip came with his kit. It’s available at the big box stores. Fumes are minimal. I can cut out an entire hammock before simply wiping the tip off with a wet cloth. Also easy to free hand when you need to.
Definitely my go-to method from now on.

[daggeratl]

Great idea and a good looking pattern. Have any measurements for it that you could share? I'm in the process of planning my own bridge DIY essentially trying to replicate a WBRR with a few tweaks.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6000 using Tapatalk

[Peabody]

Basically, that’s Grizz’s Ariel pattern with a few modifications. There is a great YouTube for that, just search for “engineering the Grizz bridge Ariel.” It’s a recessed bar design. Anyway, the dimensions aren’t handy for me now, but they are in the vid. Cheers!

[BigE94]

Great to see the hardboard works well. I need to make some templates and that will be perfect. I have been using a piece of 24X36 galvanized steel to cut on at home. 10 bucks at Home Depot.

[Peabody]

I’ve never tried the steel, it seems like it would work great. I never tried it because I was afraid it would absorb too much of the heat from the soldering iron, making it more difficult to cut the fabric. Glad to see that’s not the case.