Blackstar

Well I haven't had much time but today I sewed one trailing edge with the leech line, and the winglet spar pocket. Sewing the trailing edge was kind of scary haha, I'm pretty sure I snagged the line inside the dacron fold like 10" from the tip, but then I realized I could just use a little tiny piece of tape to keep it in the crotch of the fold. Should be alright. I used some 150lb Hercules for the leech line So the next step is to do the same on the other side Join the 2 halves Sew the T reinforcement Sew the US reinforcement Sew the LE tunnels

So I read this: kites4all - Kite Sewing 101 (google.com) a few times, and basically followed all of his advice. I of course got confused on his stitch recommendations and ended up using the wrong zigzag as previously mentioned.. but he specifies a size 14 with the 30 thread. I will probably try some other stuff as I do a few more projects. I'm really amazed how long the thread is taking to come. I just bought that size 40 thread at a Joanne's because I was Jonzing so hard to start building. My following projects will all be with the high quality 30 I've gotten both sails sewn and a lot of the wing tip stuff on a single bobbin (I have a Brother sewing machine and it uses the class 15 tall bobbins) so I'm sure the big spool I ordered will last for like 50 kites lol.

Using the incorrect stitch definitely answered my questions about the tension, the width between needle stabs and the resulting span of thread in the super thin cloth was guaranteed to cause a little pinching.. so yeah now that I've swapped to the 3 step zigzag.. everything appears right as rain. What size needles are you using? I am using a size 14 currently with some size 40 thread, though I have some high quality furniture polyester in size 30 coming.. It's taking forever though.

Hey thanks man, I'm just trying to learn the sewing machine. I sewed most of the kite with the wrong zigzag stitch.. and then discovered I was supposed to be using the 3 step zigzag.. oh well. It'll hold fine. Ok. I wont use glue, and if it falls apart later I'll just glue that I guess!

Also apparently people glue the Dacron before sewing? What kind of glue would one use for that? Nylon and dacron are basically plastic so I'd need some kind of plastic functional glue like CA glue probably

Sewed both the winglet pieces and then the 1" edge Dacron around the winglet.. it seems to be as intended from pics I've seen of others. Next I'll sew the leech line and trailing Edge dacron.. I still haven't joined the halves..

Alright so the next step is to add the edging, and I have a couple questions if anyone can possibly help: Do I put the leading edge all the way "On" the leading edge of the sail? That is to say I fold the 2" dacron in half, and then the leading edge of the sail panels go all the way into the folded V ? Rather than like sewing the outside 1/4" to the sail and then the rest of the leading edge tunnel sticks out past the sail? I hope this makes sense what I'm asking 😂 Do I double up where the US and LS fittings are? I have seen numerous plans and they all kind of vary. Thanks for looking

Finished the LH side and it came out just fine. They are pretty dang close when I lay them back to back. The soldering iron spot weld technique seems to have worked fine, I guess I'll see if it has any problems once I start flying the kite. Now to go back to the plan and write out the next steps in order. The grass is kind of lumpy and it's windy out so it was hard to get everything to lay flat.

I also learned to pre-iron the cloth before I cut out the panel. This improved my whole operation greatly and the only somewhat wonky panel is the one at the top of the kite there by the pink tip. So I'm gonna have a little break and start sewing the other side. What is the best way to "end a stitch" at the edge of a panel, but inside the area where there won't be any edging? That is to say I have gotten to the end and then done a couple reverse stitches and then just cut the thread.. maybe a drop of glue on each?

Yes I think I have logged one hour on the sewing machine so far.. It's not great, but really not too bad. I can definitely improve as I go but I'm surprised it came out in the appropriate general shape and dimensions! I will need to see if the 30 weight thread helps the tension issue.

Well I learn best by doing so I got out the iron and went for it. Still having tension issues but I'll work through that.

I fooled around with the sewing machine and using my soldering iron to spot weld the panels together on some scraps and got everything pretty decent. I have to tweak my tension a bit as it's bunching a little. So then I decided to just see how it all would go cutting out some actual panels and have come to the conclusion I will definitely need to iron these panels before sewing.

Hey right on man! Looks awesome. What kind of seams are you using? care to share any specifics for a Noob who is trying to learn some techniques?

Yes I think I am in agreement doing the big panels first and then sewing and adding the smaller as I go. I will keep track of the "stack" so I can replicate it on the LH side. Yes, the kite has a total of 4 standoffs which seems pretty sufficient. I have a cheap Kite I bought in Oregon for my son, and it has a really great spine tail velcro implementation that I am planning on copying somewhat, but adding a couple little eyelets for the leech line tensioning. It seems like it's pretty easy to sew with the non-taped variety of velcro. I realize it's all ballpark as I said before, but I try to get everything pretty close. I was into machine work for a long time, and have built a couple guitars from scratch so I'm trying to let the sail be less decimal places than the steel 🤣

So I wont be able to start sewing till Wednesday now, probably next weekend in reality. I am going to wait for the Pyrography pen so I can continue with my plan of spot welding before sewing. To anyone who has experience, Is it advisable to spot weld the entire sail together and then sew it all in one go, or should I do 2 pieces at a time and then sew? I am going to use just a flat lap seam on all pieces with the trailing edge having a hem.

All my templates cut out and labeled with extra 6mm all the way around. Now to draw on them the bias in a small patch to make aligning for cutting easier.

Here are a couple pics of my materials. I am working on the templates today, and I'll probably end up cutting some ripstop. I went to Harbor freight to get the pyrography pen, but apparently they are out and I was informed they are popular item to be stolen.. probably for some sort of meth consumption purpose😑 so I ordered one from eBay and I won't get it till Wednesday

Yes I am planning on making the tail pocket feature either a Velcro pocket with 2 eyelets for leech line tightening, or an actual knock so I can put some 3mm bungee on the end of the leech line to adjust them.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I am not a pro-stunter or anything, but I can keep my kites out of the dirt usually. One I have uses much smaller rods and it's been just fine so I'm not too worried about the 6mm rods. As far as the plans go, yes I realize it's all fairly "ballpark" as far as the seams and overall pattern once you start sewing. I am hoping to just get something that flies out of this first try 😂

Hey guys, I have started building a Le Virus. I will try to document some of the process here as I move through this build (hopefully move through it! 😄) and work out all the issues. I will post some pics of where I am at with it tonight when I get home from work. I'll list my current materials below Sail: 40D Coated Ripstop - 2 mil Mylar for the clear patches and winglet 1- 2-3" 3.9oz Dacron for tunnels and edges (Le Virus has a leech line) 1000D Cordura for nose patch.. I am thinking of sewing a cap of 3.9oz Dacron and then the Cordura over it 300D (size 30?) Polyester thread - Industrial duty (I guess it's less fuzzy etc.) Frame: 6mm pulltruded (all, spine, US, LS, LE) I think these are actually .240" 🤓 APA connectors - 2mm standoff rods (and for the winglet rod) R-Sky T (6mm) Hercules 300# for bridle (in a nice blue) Hercules 80# red for line Going to build my own handles as I do a little woodwork for fun If any of this is folly let me know! 😂 I have printed a full size plan and cut out the template pieces and will be transferring them to card stock tonight. I am thinking to oversize them by about 5 or 6mm as I plan on doing just a flat seam with a 15 spi zigzag. I read about using a harbor freight wood pyrography tool with a spring over the tip to make a "spot welder" which seems like it would really well for this approach - but if anyone has any other advice or can provide some tips I would welcome any! I was planning on testing cutting with scissors vs hot cutting (I have a Weller soldering iron with a nice small tip) and seeing if the coated 40D nylon frays at all. I really don't know anything about this stuff other than what I've read in the last month, I have the Stunt Kite flying and Making book which I've read through, though I feel some of the info from 1992 may have been superseded as technology has improved. I will list my current plan in steps and hopefully someone can advise me if it's sound or not ! Plan: 1.) Make templates oversize by 6mm 2.) cut out all pieces (observing RH and LH symmetry for bias) 3.) "spot weld" pieces together - symmetry in which panels are "on top" for both sides 4.) sew entire sail with zigzag (currently I'm using 15 spi and 7mm width) 5.) Sew LE tunnel ( I have questions about this when I get to it) 6.) cut/sew T reinforcement and US reinforcement patch 7.) sew winglet and leech line (attaches inside winglet) 8.) Sew trailing edge reinforcement (leech line tunnel - I will have questions about this I'm sure) 9.) Sew Tail and Nose Then frame and bridle, which will be a new plan 🥺 Well that's all for now

Hey guys, a bit about me: 42, Got my first Wind Toys Cheetah in probably 1992.. been flying it ever since and recently decided to get into some more stuff. I bought a couple cheap kites for my son (10) to fly at the beach and he's hooked as well. Coworker gave me a Brother XR1355 and I went and go some hot pink Polyester size 30 thread and some 40D coated ripstop. Been reading everything I can on designs, cutting ripstop, sewing, and have started my first Scratch build. I'm in the process of building a Le Virus from the kiteplans.org page. There are many questions I have about it, but after looking at how a few of my kites are assembled I think I'm ready to start cutting. I purchased enough carbon tubes and fittings to build a couple kites so I'll see how this project turns out and go from there. I'm in Eastern Washington state if anyone else is up here. Thanks for looking.