This morning I noted some heavy traffic in the DIY link on my website, glad to see some people making use of it. Now lets see some results!
My 50lb bags of sand were significantly cheaper than yours.
I put my sand in heavy duty freezer bags before inserting into the Cordura bags. Once sewn up I highly doubt the sand will escape the Cordura if the freezer bag fails.
I've got my materials on order, I'll plan to post my results once I finish the project- though I doubt it will look as good as yours! The red 10-lb commercial sand bag I have seems to have no interior plastic bag (I'm guessing, from just feeling the edges of it). But after years of use, it shows no signs of leaking sand, so if you do a good enough job the plastic bag may not be needed. But I suppose it doesn't hurt.
I wonder about the specific sand type also- I guess you want sand grains of completely uniform and large-ish size, so there aren't really fine dusty powders that will work out of the fabric.
The reason for putting sand in a baggies is to make it more manageable when sewing closed. I dare say it would be impossible to sew a bag filled with loose sand closed.
The sand I used was was play sand, the type used for sand boxes.
Ok, while I'm waiting for the cordura from Seattle Fabrics to arrive, I tried making a bag out of some green canvas I had left over from a previous project. I followed the instructions here almost exactly. I planned for 15 lbs total, but my seams took up too much fabric so I had to take out some sand to get the bags to fit in. The final net weight was just under 14 lbs. Even so I was only just barely able to slowly sew the bottom seam (turning the spindle by hand the whole way), see photo below.
My research indicated that a "jeans needle" is best for heavy fabrics, but the one I got did not work well. The general-purpose needle (?) that was already in the machine I borrowed from my mother in law worked much better. In the area where the webbing loops around the edge seam (2x webbing, 4x canvas) the machine just gave up and I had to hand-sew it.
I used fusible tape to keep the bottom seam closed temporarily before sewing, and as a last step I covered over the horror that is my stitching with black iron-on hem tape, which improved the look quite a bit! The nylon webbing I had on hand already had a sewn loop on one end, so I left that hanging off the side of the bag as another way to attach it, which I find handy.
I think it's a perfectly serviceable bag but it took quite some time to make, and $35 for a ready-made bag doesn't seem nearly so bad right now.
BenV wrote:
this might be a stupid question, but what are the point of the sandbags? What are they used for?
When indoors consider them insurance against broken lights, ruined umbrellas, and other sorts of damage including body parts. If you shoot kids, a sandbag might even prevent a lawsuit when you turn your back and a kid tries to help by moving a light.
When outdoors they are your best hope against an unexpected breeze.
I was doing a kid's photo session and as soon as the 4 year old saw my backdrop he took a flying leap at the fabric, to see what would happen! I believe he was thinking about leaf piles, or the like. (he just pulled the sheet down, since it had been held up only with clothespins). Making your light stand or tripod heaver with sandbags makes it more stable, esp. important if you have heavy or multiple light fixtures. They can be counterweights if you have something on a boom arm, etc. I also use them on my video camera tripod to reduce vibrations.
TJ Asher wrote:
I used lead shot when I made mine a year ago. It turned out to be hard to find and pretty expensive.
Zippers or velcro is an interesting idea.
Buy reclaimed shot ( shot that has been shot already ) . It is a lot cheaper . I bought 300 pounds for $275 delivered on E-bay last year and made a bunch of bags .
Many people may be concerned with potential health risks involved with lead shot. Besides, a bag of play sand (for a kid's sand box) from tour local Home Depot is a lot cheaper. Just put it in a zip loc baggie first.
You will find it difficult to sew the bag closed unless raise the the bag high enough to rotate the seam down to the serving surface. Trying to fight 7-15 lbs and sew is hard.
I see you have two rows of stitches in the middle, mine only has one line. Having two rows makes each chamber slightly smaller.
The sand I used was moist (not wet and not dry like beach sand) so I may have gotten a little more weight for a given volume of sand.
Also, my sewing machine just may have more power than others, it is rather vintage. Hopefully you will try again with more success in the future - it took two or three tries to get what I got.
3 quick alternatives I found searching around...
1. Water/Milk gallon jugs (plastic) fill with your preference - gotta love the handles!
2. Tent stakes & bungee cords
3. Cinder block/block wall stuff...
I made 2 of these yesterday. I did not use the 1000 denier cordura, but 70 denier coated packcloth instead, because I have lots of it.
I sewed the things up on the lightest duty, portable sewing machine imaginable. You don't need a Consew even for things like the web strap. Just go slow and take your time.
I "borrowed" sand from the local playground, but could fit only 6 lbs in each side of each bag. So instead of the standard 15 lb bags, I have 12 lb bags.
