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DIY onestrut kite

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downunder
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Re: DIY onestrut kite

Postby downunder » Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:01 am

kitexpert wrote:
Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:38 am
PanTau wrote:
Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:56 pm

Would be great if more of you guys would build kites and start to share your knowledge.
Absolutely. What I know is mostly about foil kites, so with LEI's guys like you PanTau have a leading role. And of course it is wonderful when there is some real professionals like Mr Hansen giving advice and explaining things. Although working with kites is quite rare hobby there is many other who have opinions/knowledge worth listening.

I like and appreciate your work because you have quite clear and physical approach to kite design and you give detailed specs from your kites to learn from. If I'll get some experience worth sharing from this one strut kite project I will do so, I just hope it will be more than don't do like this etc.. :)
Hi Karsten

please see my reply from here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2392855&start=60

As I see it, there is no enough information available to 'would be' DIY kite builder. Or is awkward to find it. Put it this way, we have a significant knowledge shared for board building, with pic's, videos, tweaks etc etc.
Just yesterday I've posted a vid about pulled SS board inserts, with pic's for fixing it.

None of that exists for the kites unfortunately (except this from my knowledge: http://www.zeroprestige.org/sewakite.pdf which explains how to connect everything together! This is extremely important. Does it exist on wingworks? ).

And guys, let's be fair, only you who are building it can change this. It sounds harsh, but it is the reality. Even the best project with no traction fails.


D.

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Re: DIY onestrut kite

Postby galewarning » Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:17 pm

Here's a photo of the profiled zero/single-strut prototype Bill let me fly back in October, at Bodega Bay. I flew it both with and without the center strut. In the light and variable conditions we experienced that day, I liked it better with the strut installed, even at the small expense of slower turning [not to say that is was slow turning]. After flying his two single-strut protos, I now appreciate the appeal of a lightweight design. BTW, the 'telltales' are what I call fettuccine sea grass, which is ever-present at the Bodega launch area...
-Barry
Hansen Design wrote:
Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:14 pm
...snip...
I'm currently testing these for hydrofoil use. Both have either straight (luffable) or profiled user remove-able center struts and short fixed no pulley bridles. True 9sqm weight is 2Kg without strut, 2.5kg with.
Cheers!
...snip...
Attachments
V2-800.jpg

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Re: DIY onestrut kite

Postby Chris659 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:11 am

kitexpert wrote:
Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:21 am
:) Thank you again, PanTau.

Now I understand what you mean by that TE kink. For me it is hard to say how significant it is, I don't see it so worrying. Adding AoA there would of course counter if there is excessive fabric there.

There is 1.5 degrees AoA at the center and 2.5 degrees for the wingtips. This is a bit difficult parameter because amount of canopy curve affects it.

You are correct, LE looks fat. But I don't want to make it thin either. I'm afraid thin LE's are gone, it was tried very seriously with Nemesis kites and it wasn't so beneficial. I have those kites, but I use them rarely.

I have had an intention to just take some measurements of my existing kites of similar size (not Nemis :) ) and then decide final size of LE, but I've done it yet.

Kites in thread have been 7.5m to 9m. I think it is quite reasonable range. If smaller it is more difficult to say how good finished kite is, if bigger there will be too much work and material use for first try.

I like round nose for strut, it is a rigid joint to LE. It looks a bit challenging to sew, but I think I can do it.

I own many sewing machines, actually I could be some kind of sewing machine technician. Even thickest of materials are not a problem. For heavy work I use a machine with 140 needle and 20 thread - it could have even thicker ones but it would be too much for kite work. Normal sewing line is 60 and needle sizes are 70 to 90. For thin fabrics I've been using lately mostly a roll feed machine, it feeds so well I can recommend it for kite work.

Seam angle is low. I check this as well how it usually is or just move it upwards. BTW, there is something strange how Surfplan does that seam at the wingtips, it goes inside of strut. Apparently a bug, but panel shape is however quite correct.

I had some idea for the bridle earlier, but for this latest one it is normal four point bridle. Again some unconventional design work have to be done because Sp doesn't give free hands to locate bridle points.
I see you have a great experience in sewing matters. Tell me, I want to patch the straps and a piece of equipment, nothing global. Which of these options can handle this task?
Last edited by Chris659 on Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: DIY onestrut kite

Postby kitexpert » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:53 pm

Chris659 wrote:
Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:11 am
I see you have a great experience in sewing matters. Tell me, I want to patch the straps and a piece of equipment, nothing global. Which of these options can handle this task?
Sorry I don't know about new sewing machines. Because I need only three different stitches (straight, zig-zag, three step zig-zag) in my work I use old mechanical machines, both domestic and industrial.

I guess those new machines will work fine as long as there is not very thick and stiff materials to sew. LEI kite main seam is a limit for usual domestic machines, for many of them it is too much. In segment seams there will be 8-fold dacron which is thick and quite hard to sew. Also sewing thread for main seam should be reasonably thick, this is a challenge to tensioner mechanism.

For canopy work any good sewing machine will work well enough. To use high quality polyester thread and to adjust both upper and lower thread tensions correctly are essential for good results.

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Re: DIY onestrut kite

Postby Schietwedder » Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:22 pm

As a sailmaker I can only advise getting a good old fashion industrial machine, which -if you´re lucky are even cheaper than those electronic pieces for grandma doing stitch patterns that look like kangaroos, or sheep or whatever.
Best machine for light sails and kites (also will sew the final stitch on a tube) in my opinion is a Bernina 217 (217N -> tripple cross zick zack) I got lucky to get one for 500 EUR 40 years old and it will do another 40 years at least (Swiss quality) . There is some modern copies of this machine from companies like Globalsew, Juki etc. and also some Pfaffs that have same functions and also good quality but nothing beats those old pieces. Maybe also Dürrkopp/Adler did some sailmaking machines back then but they are usally more popular for their walking foot/heavy fabric machines.
I think about removing the clutch motor though and replace it with a modern servo motor with needle positioning as I will sew more foilkites this spring to make it sew at very slow speeds stitch for stitch around the leading edge. This was not necessary before for average sailwork.
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Re: DIY onestrut kite

Postby downunder » Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:40 am

I think Chris might be from Australia :)

Hence, it is almost impossible to find a decent and cheap machine no matter of style. For his purposes, the best would be not to buy a machine anyway, and talk with our guys who fix the gear in AU.

I got my 35 years old metal Janome from Gumtree. For $100. It is a domestic machine, but can go through 8 dacron layers no probs. That is, with a special needle, but did not test it with v69 thread. Which is thick.

So, if going Gumtree, metal body machine, with front loading bobbin is a go. Walking foot can be mounted as well, but no need for just fixing the stuff.

The problem with old style machine is a foot pedal with carbon disks inside to drive the current. THAT is not easy to fix, but I did it successfully and know how to. The other option is to buy a new pedal but hey, costs more than a machine :)
This:
https://archaicarcane.com/what-a-pile-of/

Already made 5 simple kite bags, 2xHF mast and wings covers, etc in short time I have it.


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