Antique Coats & Clark Button/Carpet Thread versus New Singer Button/Carpet Thread

[brockrwood]

I recently picked up an antique spool of Coats & Clark button/carpet thead from the local art supplies re-use place.

It cost me $0.25. The original price was $0.15. Outrage! ;-)

I use button/carpet thread for LPR parachute shroud lines.

I compared the antique Coats & Clark button/carpet thread to a modern spool of Singer button/carpet thread I got at Walgreens.

No comparison. The antique stuff is demonstrably superior. Just looking at the two, you can see that the antique thread is thicker.

I performed the “pull on the thread until it breaks” test. It took twice as much force to break the antique stuff. The modern stuff not only broke with less force, it sort of unraveled while doing so.

So the old adage is proven true: They don’t make it like they used to.

 

[OzHybrid]

The answer to your conundrum is on the label. One says button and carpet, the other says EXTRA STRONG button and carpet.

 

[brockrwood]

The answer to your conundrum is on the label. One says button and carpet, the other says EXTRA STRONG button and carpet.

Ah!

 

[brockrwood]

Ah!

@RocketScientistAustralia

I should change the name of this thread to “Read the Label on the Spool of Thread”. Doh!

 

[OzHybrid]

looks like you can buy it on Amazon. But the prices are nuts, one for $12, 2 for $77, 4 for $84 and black for $15......... Nuts. You got bargain of the year....

 

[brockrwood]

looks like you can buy it on Amazon. But the prices are nuts, one for $12, 2 for $77, 4 for $84 and black for $15......... Nuts. You got bargain of the year....

View attachment 526956

I LOVE the local art supplies re-use store here in Boulder, Colorado USA. If there is a similar type of store near where you live, I encourage you to check it out.

It is sort of like a thrift store. You have to stop in every so often to see what is new.

I got a three feet long piece of 1 inch angle aluminum for US$1.00. Another bargain.

 

[GlenP]

The older thread might have been 100% cotton, maybe? Does the other side of the spools say the materials used? Cotton/polyester blend is more typical now.

 

[brockrwood]

The older thread might have been 100% cotton, maybe? Does the other side of the spools say the materials used?

Lessee…

Nope. Just says Button and Carpet and Extra Strong on both sides.

I wonder how old this stuff is? When was the last time a big spool of thread, any kind of thread, cost $0.15?

 

[brockrwood]

Lessee…

Nope. Just says Button and Carpet and Extra Strong on both sides.

I wonder how old this stuff is? When was the last time a big spool of thread, any kind of thread, cost $0.15?

 

[OzHybrid]

A read the thread thread. Hilarious.

 

[brockrwood]

I also picked up a spool of “quilting” thread and a spool of Talon brand button and carpet thread. These are vintage but not quite as old (these labeled at $0.25 each).

These are strong threads, but they are not as strong as the antique stuff.

 

[Cape Byron]

I recently picked up an antique spool of Coats & Clark button/carpet thead from the local art supplies re-use place.

A read the thread thread. Hilarious.

And here is me thinking it was an old thread thread...

 

[GlenP]

What kind of thread does the undertaker use to prepare a corpse?


A necro-thread.

 

[caveduck]

I had the remnants of an old spool of C&C carpet thread and it was definitely cotton...label was basically identical to the one shown in post #1 and I got it from my Mom at the start of my rocketry career in ~1973. And she gave it to me then because it was old and she didn't have any use for it anymore. Those were wood spools too. It's gotta be over half a century old.

 

[Rex R]

And then there is Dacron fishing line...

 

[brockrwood]

Golly, the Coats and Clark thread is probably from the 50’s. Maybe the 60’s. I almost don’t feel I should use it. It is a valuable, cultural antique from the days when most homes had a sewing machine. Those days are long gone.

 

[kuririn]

J & P Coats merged with the Clark Thread Co. in 1952 to become Coats & Clark.
So if you have a spool of J & P Coats thread it is presumably pre-1952.

 

[brockrwood]

J & P Coats merged with the Clark Thread Co. in 1952 to become Coats & Clark.
So if you have a spool of J & P Coats thread it is presumably pre-1952.
View attachment 527133

Now I feel bad about using this true antique for model rocket shock cord.

I have some of this newer, brown stuff. I will use that up first.

 

[brockrwood]

How about thread for jeans (the pants, not a person’s name)? That has to be really strong, right? Strong enough for an LPR plastic parachute, I would think. It has a high cotton content. 39 percent.

It looks like I need to make lots of model rockets, make parachutes for them, and then experiment with shroud lines made from different kinds of thread. Any excuse to build more rockets!

 

[rharshberger]

How about thread for jeans (the pants, not a person’s name)? That has to be really strong, right? Strong enough for an LPR plastic parachute, I would think. It has a high cotton content. 39 percent.

It looks like I need to make lots of model rockets, make parachutes for them, and then experiment with shroud lines made from different kinds of thread. Any excuse to build more rockets!

View attachment 527172

View attachment 527173

39% burnable....41% flammable.....

 

[brockrwood]

39% burnable....41% flammable.....

But seriously, unless you use kevlar for LPR parachute shroud lines, you are basically stuck using cotton, polyester (or nylon), or a blend of the two for the shroud lines.

I figure if the hot ejection gases are capable of setting my shroud lines on fire, or burning through them, then my parachute is toast, too. If that is happening, I am not using enough recovery wadding.

 

[rharshberger]

But seriously, unless you use kevlar for LPR parachute shroud lines, you are basically stuck using cotton, polyester (or nylon), or a blend of the two for the shroud lines.

I figure if the hot ejection gases are capable of setting my shroud lines on fire, or burning through them, them my parachute is toast, too. If that is happening, I am not using enough recovery wadding.

Use the vintage stuff anyways, its a better quality than the newer stuff. An yes the ejection charge if it burns one will burn the other.

 

[brockrwood]

The vintage Talon brand button and carpet thread works just fine as LPR parachute shroud lines.

 

[brockrwood]

looks like you can buy it on Amazon. But the prices are nuts, one for $12, 2 for $77, 4 for $84 and black for $15......... Nuts. You got bargain of the year....

View attachment 526956

Got a spool of the upholstery thread recently. It was $0.25. Again, from the local “art supplies reuse” nonprofit place. Every town should have one. I always give them a small donation when I visit.