Austin seven special Fabric body

[Mark Atkinson]

Thanks Mark
do you know the threads per inch, or the weight in g/m2 or Oz / sqyd ?


Hello Andrew,
                   Irish Linen is the best traditional material and it works best with Nitrate Dope, which is flammable. Butyrate Dope a cellulose based product is a 'less' flammable and an effective alternative.
Both will shrink the fabric, but you need to be mindful that as the plasticisers in them bleed off over the years they will continue to shrink! Butyrate is better with this as you can refresh it as it ages.

Irish Linen of the correct standard is manufactured to BS 9F 1 - 1992, which is for aircraft, it is a very strong material and available from a company in Belgium at about £20 per meter. Contact is Christine Debaes on +32 51 262870.

Regards,
            Mark.

Hello Andrew,

Please excuse my tardy response. The original DTD spec back in the 1920s was:

"Fine long, flax fibre, dew or water retted (to destroy cohesion among the fibres of flax by rotting!). Plain woven,  the threads having 16-18 twists per inch on the warp and 17-18 on the weft. The number of threads per inch is 80 and 90 respectively, and the strength per inch run is 90lbs. In either direction."

The material supplied by the nice lady in Belgium is as close as you can get to that.

Regards, Mark