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EdPolley
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:46 am Post subject: What type of cloth material can be used ... |
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for making kites ... like making a delta ? I mean like old bed sheets or ? Now dont laugh !!! im serious and new at this and cheap !!!! but i read something about using cloth as cost cutter !!! please inform me on what i can use ...and the amout of wind to use as lift ? like mph or ?  |
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Stan
Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 763
Location: San Diego
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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If you are a beginner, it might be a good way to start out.
You can use bedsheets, but I'd recommend new fabric to increase strength. Old bedsheets tear pretty easily, and tend to stretch a lot making sewing difficult. A friend of mine has good luck with fabric store cotton/poly material for large kites, but in damp weather they get pretty heavy.
Kitebuilder's fabrics are much easier to work, lighter, virtually non-porous, and come in durable bright colors. You may find Steve's prices for seconds very close to the cost of lesser stuff at a fabric shop.
Arrrrgh! I sound like an infomercial! |
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KiteSquid
Master Kite Builder
Joined: 29 Aug 2003
Posts: 3513
Location: USA Virginia King George
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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Tech Sheet #10 or #11 addresses your question quite nicley...
Click HERE for the Tech Sheet index.
Almost any fabric will work for a kite, it depends on the wind range, weather range, durrabilaty and longevety you want out of the kite.
My personal views are, as long as there is food on the table, I can spend the rest of my money making my wife and I happy. She flys kites too!!!!
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA
P.S. Yet another post by the Squid.....  Doesent he ever shut up???
P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier. |
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kiteguy
Kite Builder II
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 1457
Location: USA - Kansas, Overland Park - Near Kansas City
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:29 pm Post subject: Re: What type of cloth material can be used ... |
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| EdPolley wrote: | | for making kites ... like making a delta ? I mean like old bed sheets or ? Now dont laugh !!! im serious and new at this and cheap !!!! but i read something about using cloth as cost cutter !!! please inform me on what i can use ...and the amout of wind to use as lift ? like mph or ? |
Yes, you can use about ANY material for making kites. It has only been a few years that Ripstop has been used for making kites. About a blink of the eye when compared to the 2500 years or so that kites have been around.
All the early kite makers used paper or cloth for their kites. Many still use cloth. In fact one of the best kites in the last AKA National Convention was made from cloth other than Ripstop nylon! (Dave, are you there?)
You can use wood ripped from a board for the spars. Or for ease use wooden dowels from the hardware store. Or perhaps bamboo canes from the garden center.
Look at some old kite books for some kites to make from cloth. By the way, I made a Rokakku from a bedsheet from a garage sale. It was plenty strong to last through some strong Kansas winds without tearing. In fact, I don't even remember any tearing even in crashes...sure, broken dowels, frame falling apart, etc. But the material remained intact. It did require much more wind than with moderen materials, though.
So grab an old sheet, some cheap lumber for spars, and go for it. Finding good, cheap, strong line is another story. Using that twisted, cotton stuff is the most frustrating part of kite flying that I came across.
_________________
Dave Ellis
Kites + Kids = Education |
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Grant L
Kite of the Year 2004
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 745
Location: USA IN Indianapolis
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Ed,
I agree with Stan about new material, ( or at least not too worn,) and you can get new material cheap if you look around.
I'm not sure where you are from, but I made this Bol from $1 a yard material from Wal-Mart. It's not Ripstop, ( more like suit lining,) but it doesn't let too much air through and doesn't stretch too much. The bol is 14 foot and the $1 stuff worked fine for it 
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KiteSquid
Master Kite Builder
Joined: 29 Aug 2003
Posts: 3513
Location: USA Virginia King George
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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For LOTS of information on how to make some of the best deltas out there I recomend you go to IMHO THE expert...
Dan Leigh
ClickHERE for his web site.
He manufactures great deltas and gives away LOTS of great data on them too!!!!!!!!!!!
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid
AKA TakoIka
AKA Harold
King George VA
P.S. Yet another post by the Squid..... Doesent he ever shut up???
P.P.S. The wind is like the air, only pushier. |
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