I'll stick with the plywood and steel.....
I remember when I was a kid, my mother never cussed until she got near her sewing machine.... Thread everywhere, then she would oil the machine with special sewing machine oil, and cuss more... Juat getting the thread onto them things is a major project that requires a college degree.
LOL, I couldn't have said it better.....
Last summer I had to sew a strap onto my canvas tent. It came off while I was setting the tent up. I went and bought a pack of thick needles made for leather or canvas, and some thick heavy duty thread.
After fighting with the needles, poking my finger till it bled (several times), I got out plyers, and broke the needle, I got vice grips and broke another needle, and so on.... 2 hours later, I was considering taking down the tent and driving to town to see if I could find some company to do the sewing, but it was a weekend so that was not likely. Thats when one of my friends walked by and asked what I was cussing about. After looking at my project, he said "I'll get my wife, she can do it". She came over, and asked me to find a block of wood. That was easy. She used the wood block to push the needle (instead of fingers or plyers, etc). Ten minutes later she had it sewed on, and it was better than than the original stitching. She refused the $20 bill I handed her, so I gave both her and her husband a couple beers... Well worth it, because my nerves had gotten real frazzled trying to sew that f^#$(&^ thing...