Pieces not aligning with dot/slit (3RL, 2RL)

[Tuk]

Hi,

I’m just starting out with the build of the two-person kit 🙂 .

One question: When aligning the 3R/3L pieces to the alignment dot, the end of the piece does not align to the slit like described in the description (see photos). It’s off by around 1 cm so seems significant.

It’s the same when aligning the 2R/2L pieces, the slits do not align (see photo).

How do I go about this? I don’t want to start out with the wrong placement of these parts.

Thanks!

Topic

[Tuk]

True, I didn’t send the right photo, here it is. I didn’t proceed yet..

 

[Matt (Admin)]

If tube 1 fits nicely between tube 2 and the center slit then I would locate the tubes as you have them in the pictures without modifying anything, but if tube 1 doesn’t fit, then I would trim the corner in this picture to make tube 1 fit.

It looks like it extends about 5 mm past the slit, so I would trim off 5 mm at the corner and gradually taper the trim so that it merges with the existing edge after about 20-30 cm (8-12″). That will not make any noticeable difference in the shape of the packraft.

Alternatively, you could trim the tube 3 in the same way. Note, however, that unless you are diligent about tacking the fabric in place before you weld it fully to the floor then you can expect the tube fabric to shrink a small amount as you weld, so if you trim everything before you begin welding then you could find that the parts end up smaller than you anticipated. That is why it is important to tack the fabric in place with the edge of your iron before welding it with the flat part of the iron.

Does that all make sense?

[Matt (Admin)]

Hi Tuk,

Apologies for the slow reply – for some reason the notification for this post went to my spam folder and I just saw it now.

A 1 cm difference isn’t a big deal (it’s about 1% of the overall length of the seam) and it won’t make a noticeable difference in the finished packraft, but how to accommodate it depends a bit on the adjacent tubes (#2 and #4). You mentioned a photo that shows tube 2, but I don’t see that one (it looks like you accidentally uploaded a different photo twice). Can you send me that other photo? That will help me decide the best way to proceed.

If you’ve already gone ahead and started sealing things together, don’t worry about it. As long as the tube corners are aligned with each other, the placement relative to the slits doesn’t actually matter.

Thanks

[Tuk]

Thanks Matt, I trimmed 3R and like you suggested and it seems like everything will be ok 🙂 .

[Matt (Admin)]

Excellent! 😀

[Tuk]

Oh, seems like I replied to myself instead of to you. Hope you see my picture above 🙂 .

[Author]

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