mystainedskin Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 I had to make some repairs to my old full vent this evening. While I was at it...I went ahead and made another mod Mr. Paul Lamasters and Mr. Paul Dugard had mentioned several times before. To start..I added extra "tabs" at the folding points and the center bridle point in the l.e..... I will load some pics later. This gives you 7 tab attachment points in between the l.e. and the actual sail.This is well worth it in my opinion. Prolonges overall life of the kite and the l.e. mesh. The next mod..bungee covers on the lower verticals. I dig this one...and super simple. I used whatever material i had available. Just so happened to be a variety of webbed strapping. Sort of heavy...but all in the name of learning and old sails. I would definitely use a l.e. type material for these mods. These mentioned items will be done to all my new sails........ What do you do to trick your ride? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 Webbing? WHAT? next time ask around on the forums with us and see if somebody will mail you a right stuff packet, I hate to see double effort or redo work. One thing's for sure Scott,.... that knot covers-solution is going to be durable! The extra LE patches are a many times proven mod, sure eventually the venting will still rip away, but you've effectively doubled the sail's lifespan with 'em. Honestly?,... I don't carry but maybe a couple of kites that don't have those tabs built into the leading edge initially. I consider it a necessity as a hard flailer, plus giving lessons is tough on your equipment as well. What tricks do I do to my ride? Ha!,... I replace pretty much everything on their kite except the logo (in an effort to get my own unique feel) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyzakite Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 I've looked at the weakest point on a Rev 1.5, whether it's an EXP, SLE, B, B-PRO or Masterpiece. Where the vertical meets the Leading Edge, Rev uses a thread protector on the vertical end cap and it works fairly well, on the outside. However, there is no extra protection on the inside. The result is that the inside of the leading edge pocket wears through to the Kevlar patch they use in that spot by the leading edge tube rubbing from the inside out within a week of getting that new kite and flying in perfect kite festival conditions. The wear area/scratches you see on your leading edge tube 18 1/2" in is the tube rubbing on the now exposed Kevlar. Padding your tube will slow the wearing down on your b-pro or exp. Because latex tubing is very soft and very flexible a 1" piece of 5/16" id can at least slow down the wear. The latex tubing just can take the heat. A bandaid might work it's got some padding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystainedskin Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I used Icarex on the Standard tonight for the bungee cover. Had to do 3 patches and replace a trailing edge. Darn kite eating trees...dropped a handle and it perched,twisted and tangled right in the top. Hope it flies ok.Re-bridling sticks as i type I basically wear through the l.e. at the top verticals... same at the center bridle. It cuts through over time. Big beach flier...daily..and never wash my stuff or the l.e. pocket...sure that contributes to the issues. Granted a new l.e. pocket,mesh,and said tabs would be the ideal repair...and will be as my sewing skills improve. Just trying to get more life out of what I have and what is available. Old kites..learn sewing..test stuff...stir the pot. Maybe some others will venture along with deeper into the darkside... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Eliot Shook for example builds the leading edges in advance. That way you can reinforce INSIDE at specific points and still keep a silky smooth outer leading edge surface. You don't want the end-caps to be pushed above it when tightening bungies either. Add a square inch of kevlar material where you want a hole eventually, maybe even affix 3.9 ounce dacron "over-patches" on top of the kevlar, so the inside of the L.E. sleeve is less abrasive. Punch a hole (don't hot-cut with a soldering iron) and affix a metal grommet (they can be acquired in colors to match the sail too!) that goes thru all the patch pieces and the sail fabric. You'll still use a plastic washer and a knotted piece of elastic (unless you opt to experiment with an "oh-ring & belt-loop" sail tensioning method so there are no knots whatsooever. You can fold in the L.E. ends to prevent fraying too, all before affixing it to the sail. Building the leading edge flat means you can drop functions into the leading edge prior to it acquiring it's 3-D shape much easier. Say you wanted rare earth magnets sunk into the leading edge sleeve (probably in a pocket of Icarex?, so they can be removed easily and that fabric thickness will not interfere with the polarity/adhesiveness/magnetism, so kites could LOCK together when kissed in flight. Or you want mounting tabs for magic sticks built into the L.E, but you want each wing to remain independent (Dave Ashworth's style). Maybe you have a solution for affixing LEDs? Building the leading edge in advance means you can play Thomas Edison, not just Tom Copy-cat. It is extremely rewarding to make you own kite, removable covers over the sail venting strips or active sail vents, different positioning of the basic components, what happens if you move the location of the down tubes, chafing the angles? What about a leach-line, or micro-carbon fingers along the trailing edge? Graphics are only limited to your imagination and the ability to manage the sewing machine. Folks are so intimidated by sewing,... it's less than 10% of your time! Planning & acquisitions, pattern creation, transferring the image, all that crap is way more time consuming than the actual time you will sit at the machine. I used to make kites and still have a room in our humble home dedicated to these endeavors. But I've gotta' tell you how sweet it is,..... to just email\call Bazzer, or Eliot or Lolly and have them respond to my wild ideas and then build my kite beyond my own meager abilities. They could probably bang it out is a few hours where it would take me hundreds alone! Sometimes they even agree that the modifications I desire actually have merit. I wholeheartedly endorse that everyone should build a kite personally, even if it's out of a dihedral and some wooden dowels with a trash bag sail. For me personally though, I stopped building kites when Bazzer and Shook came on board with Revolution. Since that time Rev's own in-house QC capabilities have risen four-fold as well. Forced to exceed even their own previously high-held standards. I can assure all the readers that building a kite yourself will not be cheaper unless you attend a workshop where borrowing tools and sharing building experiences are included. I've built several kites out of the parts bins of Harold Ames and Dave Ashworth. In fact you should sit near them so it's even handier access,... HA! One time I borrowed a sewing machine and got lessons before the classes started. I've seen folks building a workshop kite with a sewing machine so old it would not do anything except a straight stitch! I've built kites with no sewing at all and then flown them for thousands of hours (9460 bonding) What's your time worth? If you're like me, I'd rather be flying then fiddling with bits in the house! I so enjoy your kiting efforts though Scott, I just wish we lived closer together to share some of these design/build adventures regularly. Thanks for pushing the content, great fun sharing your adventures my friend. -plm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystainedskin Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I dig that ya'll do what you do up there. I love the tinkering and thinking outside of the box. Alot of my ventures are inspired by you and your ability to pass that knowledge along...be it your idea or not. My most recent... Magic Stick bridle...2 wraps around the cap and back out the way it came in. Twice i have used it now. First time was a p.i.t.a. Second...wow! So much easier to adjust and lock getting things squared up and tensioned correctly. I now sport a super sleek ..NO KNOT setup..nothing but smooth slick line . ....and Icarex bungee cover/ rod slip.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Soon you'll have more moves than ex-lax®! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 I add 7 tabs to the mesh as well, all my new kites now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystainedskin Posted February 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 I have flown both the standard and full vent with the bungee covers now...and dig it. I am having issue on the standard with some stuff. The rod slip...It just grabs the rod different and my axels and flicflacs are off... I can correct it in my hands, but it takes thought to do so. Loved it on the full vent. Pounded down some time today in some steady good wind that changed to gusty...it felt real good. No sticks on that kite though. Which leads me back to no sticks...I just feel so much looser and free in the air without them. But when pushing the envelope..snags happen..which bring more walks to the kite...with sticks recovery is so much easier. I have made alot of changes lately...it is just time for flight for awhile.......until I tear something else up .....this weekend possibly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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