Making own wetsuit.

[JCooke]

So if a guy wanted to make his own wetsuit(s) does anybody have any resources as where to even start. I would like to do something like elios two piece. And if it is possible I have a remote possibility of looking into custom making suits. I see the demand and the US needs someone here to make high quality suits. I have found the machines( but no references to which is the best quality), found the neoprenes but no bulk sourcing yet.
Patterns,sizing,seams,blind stitch machines?,bonding glues,tapes,ankle wrist seals materials,etc

Any ideas?

Thanks

Jason C

 

[JCooke]

I'm willing to do a apprentice training family allowing.

Jason

 

[Lazuli]

I suppose it all depends on quality and how competitive your product is when put up against the big guns of Elios, Picasso, Yazbeck, Cressi, Riffe, Omer, Beauchat etc etc.

I love the whole bespoke wetsuit scene - we need more indpendents making quality tailored wetsuits like Elios. Hard to find neoprenes like hexagonal sharkskin never hit the mainstream but are sooooo cool.

Best of luck

 

[JCooke]

I core suit is the key but the outside is also another point, different camos,glammer..etc. I have seen one wet suit that was a Spider man outfit. NICE! I think the Dive Skins for outside of suits if it functions well with the neoprene core suit and doesn't cause problems would be more useful....Heck GM wants to do it with cars.

 

[bjpete]

I made several 5ml freediving wetsuits a little over a year ago. If you go to the elios website, you will see they do sell neoprene and you can get something from them that will meet your needs. As far as a pattern, I lifted one from an existing Wetsuit I have, using a piece of heavier clear plastic and a sharpie pen. Then I just drew the patten on the neopren with the sharpie. When I cut the neoprene I found that an exacto knife work best, it's similar to a scape blade that a surgeon uses because you want a clean edge, using a scissors isn't a good idea because the edges are way too jagged and may not be the easiest to glue up.
I only used neoprene that was open cell on the inside and smooth on the outside because I just wanted to glue it and didn't want to do any sewing. I've had some experience in gluing up wetsuit tears that held up quite well. The wetsuit glue is something tht can be bought at any dive shop & you probably use a can or 2 of it for 1 wetsuit.
Also, as far the edges go; around the bottom of the jacket, top of the pants, ect, I used some thin strips of neoprene (1ml or thinner) and glued them to these edges to keep them from tearing. Also the frogs for the beaver tail, I got them from Elios also.
One thing I did discover, it took a lot longer to make my wetsuits than I thought, but they also turned out a lot better than I tought too and so far they've helded up quite well. If you want to make a wetsuit because you look at it as a challenge and an interesting project, go for it as it's kind of an art to do, but if you are doing it to save money, I would say, just get a part time job for a week or two and order a custom made suit from elios, either way, let me know how it turns out.
Later,

Brian

 

[Panther]

my 2 suits is on the 27.03 redy 1 in silver 1 in blue in and aout side in open cell work time 3 mons

 

[Mr. X]

bjpete's post contains a lot of good insights. I'm sure somebody else (Spearo Dave?) told us that any stitching on a wetsuits is only to hold the seams in place while the glue takes hold; i.e. the glue is what really holds wetsuits together not stitching.

Elios offered me a good deal on a custom tailored wetsuit. So again, I am in agreement with bjpete, might be worth just saving up for an Elios tailored suit. But if you still want to make a wetsuit, the Elios suits use a fairly simple design, not many pieces (being stretchy, neoprene tends to fit). Re. creating a pattern, pattern cutters usually use a sort of thick tracing paper - but you could use anything.

With an open cell interior, you don't need separate wrist & ankle seals - the open cell interior with cling to your skin. With a nylon exterior, you don't really need any extra knee/ankle pads - but at bjpete implied, smooth skin might be easier to work with (no fraying to worry about). You might might also want to add a chest loading pad. My elios suit uses the normal beaver-tail between the crotch to hold the jacket down. I don't really like that (too much warmth where you don't need or want it) but it's mechanically strong. I've seen other suits which simply attach the jacket to the pants front & back with large pieces of velcro, which should be good enough if you have a good fit (I found my jacket maintains a good seal even if the beaver tail is left undone).