The club members, who maintain world class models for a local museum, tell us that synthetics, such as Polyesters, are not suitable for model sail material because Poly's will shrink. Poly material doesn't look or feel like authentic canvas and rope. We offer threads made from natural fiber, which is discussed below.
We have several different brands and product lines of cotton, silk,
and linen threads and will be bringing in more. We have very fine
thread. These are specialty items and much finer than anything available
in general sewing stores. If you are working in the smaller scales, we
will be able to help you. These threads are manufactured from
the better materials and are in limited distribution. The market
for these threads are competitive sewers and professional costumers.
| Item | Material | Color | Strands | Twist | Length | Diameter | Comments and observations |
| CS1 | Silk | White | single | none | pieces | 2.9 | Monofilament silk |
| KO1 | Silk | Ecru | 4.2 | fibrous strands | |||
| LA1 | Cotton | White | 140/2 | Left | 500 Yards | 5.9 | irregular diameter, smooth |
| AU1 | Silk | White | 2 | Right | 300 Meters | 8.6 | very irregular diameter, fibrous strands |
| AU2 | Silk | Creme | 3 | Right | 50 Meters | 10.5 | some irregular diameter, fibrous strands |
| TR1 | Silk | Silver khaki | 3 | Right | 100 Meters | 7.7 | slight irregular diameter, few fibrous strands |
| LO1 | Linen | White | 100/3 | Left | 125 Meters | 10.6 | some irregular diameter, many fibrous strands |
| KR1 | Silk | Blue | 2 | Right | 10 Meters | 10.8 | some irregular diameter, some fibrous strands |
| KR2 | Silk | Light tan | 2 | Right | 10 Meters | 11.9 | irregular diameter, few fibrous strands |
| AU3 | Silk | Khaki | 2 | Right | 50 Meters | 14.3 | irregular diameter, some fibrous strands |
| LO2 | Linen | White | 80/3 | Left | 95 Meters | 11.7 | slight irregular diameter, many fibrous strands |
| KR3 | Silk | Lt brown | 2 | Right | 10 Meters | 11.9 | some irregular diameter, few fibrous strands |
| DM1 | Cotton | Ecru | 2 | Left | 120 Meters | 16.2 | some irregular diameter, many fibrous strands |
| KR4 | Silk | Dark brown | 3 | Right | 10 Meters | 17.6 | fairly regular diameter, some fibrous strands |
| GU1 | Silk | Ecru | 3 | Right | 100 Meters | 9.3 | Even diameter, many fibrous strands |
Natural fibers can be dyed with good results. We do not carry the dyes but specialty craft shops and art supply shops carry suitable dyes. Tea-dyeing is not generally recommended for heirloom results as the color will not be stable over the long term.
The notation 100/3 means three strands.
The twist is important for models that require 100% authentic appearance.
The length of the thread is set by the manufacturer. These are spools of sewing thread except CS1 which is a package of individual lengths of silk. CS1, the conservator's silk, are single strands of loose silk in a poly bag.
The thread diameters were measured by an engineer associated with the local modelers club. The measurements and observations were done at 100X magnification. The measurements are accurate to within a +/- 5% error. The diameters are in thousandths of an inch. 2.9 means .0029 inches.
The observations are from his notes and are subjective. Please note that these are the comments by an expert engineer affiliated with a world-class modelling staff. These are not absolute statements and are included to give you a way to compare one thread with another.
You can spin up larger rope by twisting two or more strands of thread.
Silk, linen, and cotton are more stable and less prone to shrinkage and discoloration than polyester.
We are developing a starter set of threads to get you going.
Return to Kiyo Sail Material Home Page