Fireliner

Tried increasing angle between thread and needle but no conclusion yet. Went extreme like the angle in your video riffclown but think something in-between would suit my machine better.

Interesting and I think I would like to reduce the risk eith expensive icarex. I have bought the 3m 9640?! Transfer tape but not tried it yet. The basting tape from a European(metropolis drachen) vendor is leaving lots of residue and sticks easily to the needle. Better with generous silicone added to thread.

8ish mph during test. Using this kite for experiments. Before proper build. I think it weighs about 270 grammes and LE is 240cm vertical spars 80cm. Need to wait for wind to test..

Since the fabric from the traction kite was stretched from the beginning I noticed that the camber of that sail was pretty heavy and also the leech was "hook-shaped". I went ahead and taped up two vertical folds on each sail halves. This made the kite behave better, but still not good enough imo. Frame while testing was Chrystal T2(freilein) and the kite had lift but also behaved jerky(like before), sail filling and kite taking off forwards. Needed a lot of brake. Some of this would possible be frame related(too much flex) but I think it might also be related to the smallish amount of leading edge venting. So tonight I have increased the leading edge venting by adding(70-80pst) holes between the holes in my leading edge "screen". I hope this would improve both the kite acting jerky and at the same time make it less prone to flipping while reversing / heavy braking.

Possible things to try to remedie the problem with glue buildup /thread sticking while sewing through adhesives. Adding more liquid silicone to thread. (Mimic/improve bonding) Some needles also have some sort of coating to prevent glue sticking(i have not tested it) Coating/lubing needle(not tested) I am also curious wether the tread angle into the needle would matter. Seeing your setup riffclown, the angle between thread and needle is extreme, compared to my older viking/husqvarna machines. May be that this angle is beneficial to reduce thread sticking? Like the thread is kept away from the glob of glue on the needle. On my machine the thread nearly touches the glue glob.. This needs to be tested.

It flies, but I think it would be better with some venting and use in stronger winds. ✂️

Fabric from trashed traction kite. Too heavy, but functional. Lessons learned😄

Thank you for your input. Today I almost got grounded due to too much wind (25+mph) flying my freilein WR 3 vtd. So now i need to think about the other end of the spectrum as well. Your mesh designs are looking better and better;) Bought a trio of freilein WR 3s today (UL,STD,and the HVTD) complete sets with handles and lines for 150dollars per set, before tax(25percent) and shipping. should be like 70 percent off.. (end of season sale) Looking for parts but ended up with the complete builds..

Wich of the strips?😉 I do understand that all the strips on this kind of technique builds you line up the fabric in the individual strips in the direction of least stretch lenghtwise. Although they vary in placement/orientation in the finished sail. I am going to try to make a simple "full sail" (two pieces of icarex, plus mesh LE and so on..) and I am thinking that lining up the gridpattern (least stretch) with the lower outline would be best. At the same time I would think that there would be possibility for lots of variations in sail performance by merely playing around with fabric orientation(strech). Not to say I am cabable of understanding this yet. I must say your many creations are impressive riffclown.

I have no special recommendations on witch machine you "should" buy as it seems that most machines has their own shortcomings. (new /old/plastics/metal/longevity/features/condition) I could think of a couple of things that may be helpful and one is "walking foot" and also make sure you get the 3 stitch zigzag. Most consumer oriented machines has comparable power(might need some help for many layers of dacron at low speeds.) Sewingmachines are fascinating little machines.

Hi Planning a lightweight (lightwind) revolution-style build I am trying to determine "optimal" fabric orientation. I see two possible extremes, either lining up warp or weft with leading edge or with the sails "90" degree lower corner. I am thinking the former would be more prone to streching(and bellying) in the belly-area and also in the sailarea "outside" the vertical spars. And a opposite effect with the latter. what to do? (and why?) Warp vs weft is also interesting but I dont know how much of an impact this would have, if any. If little to no effect I would like to cut fabric so that I use as little fabric as possible. 138cmX200cm is the pieces I got to work with. Any inputs?

Hi. Norway or atleast the part of Norway I live in stunt kite flyers are pretty few and far between. This may be because there are only so many places where (quality)wind and open space are available at the same time. Wind directions vs terrain, trees etc. However there are possibilities for traction kiting in mountainregions in winter and also on water in the summer and hard water during the winter. Learning how to fly traction(trainers, and kites on handles) kites sparked my interest enough to buy a cheap aliexpress-Quad, albatross i think it was called. Great fun for a "low" price(with proper lines) but not particulary durable. There are no shops that I know of in Norway that sells kites or supplies other than limited selections of trainers so i ended up doing a lot of reading online and the tinkerer in me soon wanted to try a build. So the hunt for parts and materials began. Sadly many (good)shops/suppliers abroad do not ship to Norway due to beurocratic? VAT regulations and customs. Read good things about freilein and ended up buying the windrider3 vented from emmakites. I also bought a few spare leading edge rods together in lighter weight with some extra bridle line. The Freilein is very good and fun to fly with the right amount of wind, atleast with my limited skills Problem is wind(and direction) so i get a lot of time to dream and read between flying sessions. Soon I modded my Symphony beach 2,1 after reading riffclowns 2.2.4 writeup. I also tore in to an older beyond repair traction kite and the spares from the albatross for materials and started putting together my "full sail". Lack of proper materials led me to improvise a lot and the kite ended up a bit heavier than i hoped for at 270g and with some room for improvements. It handles well at certain wind speeds but the border between enough brake and bowtie is a bit narrow(suspect bridle adjust and better (more)venting by leading edge will help although it might be sail tension/strech). It is however good for catch and throw practice on short lines. I managed to get supplies (icarex ,mesh, tapes rods etc) delivered to me when on vacation in Spain and slapped together shorter rods for travelling. So now I am setting up for a new build, and I want to start by building something for lighter wind days. There is often lighter winds during winter in my area but also much more abundant flyingspace/possibilities, if we get proper sea/lake ice. The dark side I understand is a good thing and I am hoping the dark months combined with the cold could lead me further into the dark..