Seam Ripper Kits

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SC_Turner

SC_Turner

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
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26
Location
Lexington,South Carolina
I have a New Years resolution to no longer purchase ANY supplies from the three letter company that starts with a "P" and ends with an "I". I have searched for an IAP vendor selling seam ripper kits with no luck so far. I did find one but the seam rippers are coming from the same folks that I would rather not see profit from my business.

Is anyone aware of an IAP vendor that sells seam ripper kits?

Thanks,

Joe
 
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Why do you need a 'kit'?

You can buy seam rippers at a Dollar Store that can be the basis for nice wood turning projects. Much less expensive than any 'kit'.
 
I make them with regular Dritz seam rippers. The advantage is that if the blade breaks or gets dull the customer can replace it himself. Basically I turn a handle that a Dritz ripper fits into. It goes into the handle blade first for storage, then reverses and goes in the other way for use.

Quilters, especially, like to be able to replace the blades because they use them so much that they get dull. Right now, making purses and other accessories out of old denim jeans is very popular, and the denim REALLY dulls the blades fast.
 
sbwertz said:
Quilters, especially, like to be able to replace the blades because they use them so much that they get dull. Right now, making purses and other accessories out of old denim jeans is very popular, and the denim REALLY dulls the blades fast.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a market opportunity for a different product - a small, round fine-grit diamond hone that can be used to 'tune up' dull seam rippers.

But that becomes a circular problem - where to find the components for them other than that dealer that OP doesn't want to do business with.
 
You can also get seam rippers at Woodcraft. The only drawback is that the WC kits use o-rings to keep the blades in place. This means that they are difficult to get in and out if you have arthritis or other similar conditions.
 
Joe if you're going to be at the next turners meeting (April 6th I believe) I can bring you a handful of rippers. They're not kits though. You'd just have to turn a body and drill a hole and glue in the piece. I bought some a while back and never did anything with them.
 
Joe, as Sharon has described, I have done the same thing for my seamstress wife. She has educated me on what most seamstresses and quilters need and use. As to the small size like Sharon quoted, your precise bore hole in your handle will either allow the user to reverse the ripper to "park" the blade, or sit the ripper handle to the notched spot at the halfway point of the handle, and use the clear plastic cover that comes with the ripper. The problem is that most folks want to get away from depending on the cover, because they can get lost.

The other thing is that sometimes there is a demand for the larger ripper blade. This one comes with a rectangular plastic handle. I remove the blade unit from the handle, and insert it into a matching small hole in the turned handle with a dab of epoxy. For a cover, I turn a matching material cover to sit on the nib end of the turned handle. Admittedly, this method would require the user to hone the blade with the small rattail diamond file, or have to forcibly pull out the old blade, and repeat the process of cannibalizing another store-bought unit to install a replacement blade.

I apologize for the long narrative, but I have made and given/sold several of these units to happy users.
 
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