A Box Kite! (that's Almost Bigger Than My Wife!)
by marcward86 in Outside > Kites
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A Box Kite! (that's Almost Bigger Than My Wife!)
My wife had a sad little kite, a super grover kite, and she needed a new one. So, I made her a new one. (obviously).
Materials
Things you need:
Tools:
Scissors (or hot-cutter)
Needle and Thread
Handsaw
Materials:
8 1/4"x36" Wood Dowel rods
4 1/4"x18" Wood Dowel rods
2 yards .075 oz Ripstop Nylon
3/8" Plastic tubing
(the ID of the tubing is a bit bigger than 1/4")
1" wide nylon webbing.
I obtained my materials from kitebuilder.com. I'm sure you can get all this stuff at a hobby store or kite building shop.
Tools:
Scissors (or hot-cutter)
Needle and Thread
Handsaw
Materials:
8 1/4"x36" Wood Dowel rods
4 1/4"x18" Wood Dowel rods
2 yards .075 oz Ripstop Nylon
3/8" Plastic tubing
(the ID of the tubing is a bit bigger than 1/4")
1" wide nylon webbing.
I obtained my materials from kitebuilder.com. I'm sure you can get all this stuff at a hobby store or kite building shop.
Prepare the Dowels!
I ordered four 48" dowel rods so that I could saw them and have eight that are exactly 18", because if I used the 36" ones, they would have been 18" minus the kerf of my saw blade. Little did I know that I needed them a bit shorter than 18". So, if you can help it, don't get rods bigger than you need.
So you should have eight 17 and 3/8" dowel rods.
So you should have eight 17 and 3/8" dowel rods.
Prepare the Connections!
The connections will be made of 3/8" plastic tubing. Cut it into 1.5" pieces, and then make another cut halfway through each piece in the middle. Careful not to cut all the way through them, because they will be used as elbow connectors for the frame.
Prepare the Sails!
Unroll the ripstop nylon, and then cut it into four panels, each being 12"x41".
Put the first panel on top of the second panel, and sew them together at the ends, 1/4" in from the edge. Then hem the top and bottom edge 1/4" in from the edge. Do this on the third and fourth panels as well.
After the sewing and hemming, you should have 2 loops, and when laid flat they should each measure 11"x40.5".
These will be the top and bottom sails of the kite.
Put the first panel on top of the second panel, and sew them together at the ends, 1/4" in from the edge. Then hem the top and bottom edge 1/4" in from the edge. Do this on the third and fourth panels as well.
After the sewing and hemming, you should have 2 loops, and when laid flat they should each measure 11"x40.5".
These will be the top and bottom sails of the kite.
Prepare the Frame! Assemble the Kite!
Now, remember how the dowel rods had to be slightly less than 18"? That's because we are going to butt it against another dowel rod and we need the kite to be about 18" wide, and 36" long.
Because of my awesome sewing abilities, the sails didn't end up exactly 40.5" long, so I didn't need to cut my 36" dowel rods to adjust them.
Enough. Now assemble the kite, using the 18" and 36" ones to make four crosses, and then use the remaining 36" dowels for the edges.
Now, put the sails on. (this isn't the final kite product, so don't worry.)
If the sails are too tight, you may have to cut off a bit of length on the dowel rods. if they are too loose, you may have to restitch them to make them tighter.
Try to get them snug enough to stay put without sagging, but loose enough to be able to slip on the frame.
Because of my awesome sewing abilities, the sails didn't end up exactly 40.5" long, so I didn't need to cut my 36" dowel rods to adjust them.
Enough. Now assemble the kite, using the 18" and 36" ones to make four crosses, and then use the remaining 36" dowels for the edges.
Now, put the sails on. (this isn't the final kite product, so don't worry.)
If the sails are too tight, you may have to cut off a bit of length on the dowel rods. if they are too loose, you may have to restitch them to make them tighter.
Try to get them snug enough to stay put without sagging, but loose enough to be able to slip on the frame.
Prepare the Loops and Pockets!
Now, get the Nylon webbing.
Cut it (hotcut if you can) into eight 1" pieces, and eight 1.5" pieces.
fold the 1.5" pieces in half, and then sew it into a little pocket. Sew these little pockets on the top of the sail (on the inside) at even intervals, so that they match up with the vertical dowel rods. Sew two sides of the 1" pieces on directly 11" under the pockets, so that the vertical dowel will slide through it.
Do this for both sails.
Cut it (hotcut if you can) into eight 1" pieces, and eight 1.5" pieces.
fold the 1.5" pieces in half, and then sew it into a little pocket. Sew these little pockets on the top of the sail (on the inside) at even intervals, so that they match up with the vertical dowel rods. Sew two sides of the 1" pieces on directly 11" under the pockets, so that the vertical dowel will slide through it.
Do this for both sails.
Assemble the Kite!!!
Now assemble the kite.
slip the Dowels through the loops and pockets we just made, and then attach the cross-spars and longerons (technical name for the horizontal pieces of the frame that form the cross).
The kite should be in the shape of a Rhombus. After your kite is assembled, turn it to where you are looking at two sides (the front of the kite.)
At the top, attach a 30" line of 50 lb. test line. Sew it through and attach to the sail and around the longeron. Do this on the bottom, as well, but at the top of the bottom sail, using a 39" line. this will make the sail the proper angle. Tie these two lines together at the ends, and attach a key ring.
Attach the kite line and fly it!
slip the Dowels through the loops and pockets we just made, and then attach the cross-spars and longerons (technical name for the horizontal pieces of the frame that form the cross).
The kite should be in the shape of a Rhombus. After your kite is assembled, turn it to where you are looking at two sides (the front of the kite.)
At the top, attach a 30" line of 50 lb. test line. Sew it through and attach to the sail and around the longeron. Do this on the bottom, as well, but at the top of the bottom sail, using a 39" line. this will make the sail the proper angle. Tie these two lines together at the ends, and attach a key ring.
Attach the kite line and fly it!
Notes on Safety, Design, and Credits.
Safety
Standard kite safety applies with this and all other kites.
Don't fly near power lines, trees, or in thunderstorms. Or near airports. Or in highways, places with obstacles, cliffs, lions, tigers and bears.
Wear gloves so the kite string doesn't cut up your fingers, and don't stare into the sun.
Design
You'll probably be most concerned with min. wind speed required.
the handy equation I used was 7xsqrt(weight/area). weight in oz, area in sq feet. the area is the effective area presented to the wind, which in our case is 36"x11"x4sails. divide by 144 to get square feet, and we have 11sq feet. quite a bit, that's why you should wear gloves.
7 is a coeffecient, .075 oz ripstop nylon weighs .075 oz per square yard, and these dowels probably weight around 60 pcf. after a bit of math, I came up with a wind speed of around 6 mph.
Credits
Design taken from The Magnificent Book of Kites: Explorations in Design, Construction, Enjoyment and Flight by Maxwell Eden.
You may have noticed it in the background of some of the pictures.
And to my friend spencer, who let me borrow his apartment so i could hide the thing from my wife until christmas, and for letting me borrow his digital camera to document and create this instructable.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures of the kite in action soon.
Standard kite safety applies with this and all other kites.
Don't fly near power lines, trees, or in thunderstorms. Or near airports. Or in highways, places with obstacles, cliffs, lions, tigers and bears.
Wear gloves so the kite string doesn't cut up your fingers, and don't stare into the sun.
Design
You'll probably be most concerned with min. wind speed required.
the handy equation I used was 7xsqrt(weight/area). weight in oz, area in sq feet. the area is the effective area presented to the wind, which in our case is 36"x11"x4sails. divide by 144 to get square feet, and we have 11sq feet. quite a bit, that's why you should wear gloves.
7 is a coeffecient, .075 oz ripstop nylon weighs .075 oz per square yard, and these dowels probably weight around 60 pcf. after a bit of math, I came up with a wind speed of around 6 mph.
Credits
Design taken from The Magnificent Book of Kites: Explorations in Design, Construction, Enjoyment and Flight by Maxwell Eden.
You may have noticed it in the background of some of the pictures.
And to my friend spencer, who let me borrow his apartment so i could hide the thing from my wife until christmas, and for letting me borrow his digital camera to document and create this instructable.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures of the kite in action soon.