7/23/2023 0 Comments Stunt kite with long tail![]() Once you have marked your measurements you want a 1/2 inch trimmed out of the fabric. These will be at 7 1/2 and 25 1/2 inches from the tip. Now we can assemble everything! materials and tools needed: -tape measure -scissors -kite parts you've assembled up to this point -superglue -fabric glue -extra piece of wooden dowel (for smoothing out fabric glue bead) getting the fabric ready: The long 36 inch edges will have two cuts made for the tubing on the dowels to stick through. Liberally apply glue to the 1/2 inch and set the other half into the glue (leave the dowel in the sleeve while you do this) Find a safe place to let this dry overnight. Simply take the half with the 19 inch side that did not get a sleeve glued together and trim it from 1 1/2 inches to 1/2 inch. (photo) Safety pins helped when trying to glue the long lengths but they are not necessary. One of the 19 inch length sides will also be glued into a sleeve for the dowel. once the entire length was glued I ran a dowel into the sleeve while it dried. I did this by tracing a line along the edge of the tab and then running a bead of fabric glue along that line and folding it over without the dowel. For starters the longest edge of the fabric will be folded over the 36 inch long dowels. On two of the edges of your fabric there is a 1 1/2" tab that will be folded over the dowels. The other one will be used to glue the two halves of fabric together. safety pins (optional) NOTE: only glue one of the 19 inch sides into a sleeve. dowels -fabric glue -the fabric you just cut out. the 10 1/4 inch long dowel needs a piece of vinyl tubing at its center as well. One 36 inch dowel needs a piece of vinyl tubing at its center. two of the 36 inch dowels need to have 2 pieces of tubing on them. The tip/nose of the kite will have the 3 inch section of tubing on it. once you have the first dowel through you can measure it to 2 1/4 inches long and cut it. you can use it to get some leverage when forcing the dowel through the hole made by the nail. This is why we left the long length of tubing. ![]() It takes a little muscle and determination to get the dowel through the tubing. Do this once then move onto the next step. At this mark you will push the nail through the tubing perpendicular to the length of the tubing. measure half an inch from the end of your vinyl tubing and make a mark. Refer to the schematic picture to see where your tubing sections need to be on each dowel. It just needs to be rounded to get started through the tubing. use the pencil sharpener to round the ends of the dowels. Scissors can be used if you slowly cut into the dowel in a circle around the entire circumference (exercise some patience if this is the route you use). I used a miter box with a hand saw to cut my dowels. The two shorter lengths should come from one dowel. 3 of the dowels shouldn't even need to be trimmed. these two are for the outer ends of the wings to hold the fabric from ungluing/unravelling. vinyl tubing lengths needed: DO NOT CUT THESE LENGTHS OUT YET. The relative long length of vinyl tubing is needed for leverage when you force the dowels through the tubing. Materials and tools needed for this step: -wooden dowels -vinyl tubing -A nail -scissors -tape measure -permanent marker Dowel lengths needed: -3 x 36 inch long. A space to lay out fabric while you measure and cut it out. it has to get a hole started that the wooden dowels will fit through. This is optional for cutting the wooden dowels. ![]() This is for rounding the ends of the wooden dowels. This is the tool that will measure the angles we need for the triangles of the kite. Tape measure and 36 inch straight edge. Measuring out the triangle for the kite once on cardboard speeds things up and helps to keep both halves of the kite symmetrical. Used for marking your measurements on the dowels and the fabric. Used for cutting the fabric and the wooden dowels if you have some patience. These are optional for holding the longer runs of fabric together while you glue. ![]() You have to control the kite while its flying and you do that with kite string! - Safety pins ($1.00 for a package of 25). This is used to glue the fabric to the vinyl tubing when necessary. I bought the cheapest stuff I could find on the shelf at the fabric store when I bought the ripstop nylon. This is what is going to keep the dowels together. 1/4 inch inner diameter vinyl tubing, 24 inches($0.32/inch). 6 of these should be enough for a "mismeasurement" or two ). 1/4 inch round wooden dowels, 36 inch long ($0.57 each). If you cut out the fabric with some planning I think you can get up to 5 kites out of the amount of fabric I purchased. I bought 1 yard of each color which is A LOT of fabric for this project. If it doesn't have a price next to it, I already had it in the garage. My goal was to find materials that were cheap and readily available at any home improvement store.
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