Diamond tufting/deep buttoning interiors

Hi folks,

Am about to start deep buttoning/diamond tufting my interior and was just after any last minute advice or info to keep in mind? Learnt a lot from on here with Fuzz, youtube and chatting to some trimmers, but was more curious as to the best way to deal with the foam. Mention was made of 1" holesawing throught the foam where the buttons go and also slicing in the diamond shape to make shaping easier, and also what is the best to glue the foam to the backing board? Spray or wipe on glue maybe?

Have worked out the diamond size and also worked out the direction I need for the folds, but thought maybe keeping the diamonds the same size for the walls and floor would be a good idea too i.e. not mixing square diamond and true diamond shapes.

Apart from that I think its just time to get busy!!

Simo

i used to use "goa" glue when we trimmed boats back n the '70,s not sure what is available now but any contact glue should work ok , i think fuzz has the gear on diamond tufting, cheers andrew

The hole saw works a treat, just use by hand though!
Neil

what type and thickness of foam you planning on?
Would like some detail pics when you're doing it

contact works better if sprayed on rather than painting it on
but experiment around with the amount of time that you let the contact dry befor bring the two sides together if you wont a realy strong instant grip from the contact spray both sides let them dry to almost touch dry then apply to each other but if you do this it is a one time only deal you wll have a very hard time pulling them apart for a retry

but if you spray both sides i littel bit thicker than normal and bring the two sides together just as the contact will no longer form a string between the surface and your finger if you touch it this will allow movement as the contact is still a bit liquidy for lack of a better word and will give you some play to get it just right but i have noticed on a few of my boats i first decked out that the bond is not as strong if done this way

good luck post some pics when your done plz

I'm using a denser type foam like you'd find in a cheapish type mattress, mainly on the thought that it'll help hold decent shape and also make the buttoning look quite deep. I'm using 3" for the rear of the archway, roof and side panels, with 5" for the floor matress.

I've been messing around tonight trying to decide on diamond shapes and think that a ratio of 3:2 gives the best look for the area I'm working with i.e. 21cm high and 14cm wide seems to look ok without being too overdone or too sparse. 24:16cm was too large and 18:12cm was too small. I hope to start some of the diamond work on the weekend. The plan was to staple gun down the material in a cross (2 staples overlapping) where the buttons go as I have self adhesive mirror stick on buttons to use that will fit nicely over the top of the staples, but am a little concerned that this shortcut may not last over time compared to properly threading a button through the backing board old school style. The foam may have the tendency to want to pull the staples out as it tries to go back to its original shape so I'll try it out first and see how it goes.

pics soon

Simo

when you put your staples in try angling them towords each other and have them intersect i useto use this trick when i built curve cabnets the from ply was so springy the staples use to pull ot befor the gule set but if you angle them in towards each other thay pull over a larger suface making them stick better

just a thought

Metal button caps are the go. You thread "wire" through the back of the button and through a pair of holes in the board and twist tighten the wire which pulls the button down deep into the foam. Then you cap the metal button with an upholstered cap (in your case the mirror would be stuck to the cap). The cap snaps over the metal base button.

Staples with string would need to double back over itself.

Hope this helps.

Yeah a local Panno owner did the diamond deep pleating and he sliced the shape in first. Got some local craft grandma to hand cover the umpteen hundred buttons and then hand sewed them on. Looks good but man a lot of work. Not sure if I have an photos but will take a look. Good luck.

Cheers for the input folks, have decided to go with sinbin's button and wire idea in the interests of longevity, and will stick the mirror button thingos on over the top.

I did a practice trace yesterday and have upped the diamond size to 24x16cm, the ratio of 3:2 is spot on (2x equilateral triangle-wise) but the 21x14's made them too small once you pushed the foam down. The extra few cms do actually make a difference. Or so the girls reckon.

Have fun

Simo

Had a practice run this arvo with 1" buttons and wire and the velvet material I'm using just wants to pull back out over the top of the button heads once they're locked down; it's thin and will tear reasonably easy so don't like the chances of it lasting in shape. I tried stapling the material down in a cross pattern where the button would normally go and it worked a treat! 10mm staples in the gun and it was a real mission to pull the material back up once I'd finished messing around and wanted to strength test it. I actually thought it'd tear easier over the staples but thankfully it didn't.

So the plan now is to firstly dob some glue in the 'button' hole, through the hole and against the backing board, staple the material down then use the chrome stickon buttons that I had originally and see how it goes. I think maybe even a small square of vinyl before the staples go down may give it some extra strength too. What I will do though is add a layer of that white rough looking pillow stuffing stuff (like in Squeaker's van) just to help keep the curvy diamond shape; straight foam made it look a little squared off and yuk.

Cheers

Simo

Keen to see your results Simo, got a WB here that needs a complete interior rethink.

Hey simo you could try hi loft batting the more you use the deeper the tuffing will appear can give that a try l googled up how to do diamond tuff as l have the same idear but not ready to do as yet but been getting some idears the best way to do it got get the van painted first good luck

I was watching Pimp my Ride,yes i know i'm sad. but they just diamond pleated a van.He made it look easy i might have to try that