riffclown Posted September 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2019 4 hours ago, dragonfish said: Ooooh, I really like this one, especially when backlit. It's my favorite of all your diamonds so far. Any chance you'd sell it? (And yes, I've still been lurking on this forum, just not posting much lately. Logged in just to come comment on this.) You've been missed.. Sent you a PM.. I do need to fix it before anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frob Posted September 9, 2019 Report Share Posted September 9, 2019 The colors turned out beautifully. You've almost convinced me to buy a pile of fabric and try it myself, you make it look easy. Fortunately I know better, the work involved is significant. Keep it up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Klaiber Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 The colors turned out beautifully. You've almost convinced me to buy a pile of fabric and try it myself, you make it look easy. Fortunately I know better, the work involved is significant. Keep it up. Have you seen Rob? He has no hair from pulling it out learning from his mistakes [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] I own one of his early diamonds and recommend trying his approach if your going to make one. Otherwise grab one you see! Love you Rob [emoji173]️[emoji41] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted September 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 7 minutes ago, Mike Klaiber said: Have you seen Rob? He has no hair from pulling it out learning from his mistakes I own one of his early diamonds and recommend trying his approach if your going to make one. Otherwise grab one you see! Love you Rob ️ Never said it was easy. Never said it was stressful.. This is honestly how I relax after a day of staring at computer screens. I make kites literally to unwind.. @frob Mike has the original Purple. One of the first three Icarex sails I ever made. @Mike Klaiber Eternal Friends The feeling is mutual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frob Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 I made a patchwork quilt with my wife (then fiance) decades ago, so I know the work involved for sewing that kind of monster. Hours and hours assembling everything. I'll willingly sew my own kite bag, and I've sewn a few modifications to my own sails, but so far the temptation to sew an entire sail (along with buying all the requisite fabrics and tapes) hasn't been enough to make the leap. Maybe someday. I've got a few patterns like an Archimedes Screw kite design bookmarked, but I'm not quite ready yet. I love seeing your creations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted September 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 I guess you could get a kit kite.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frob Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 Yup, that's exactly the temptation I know eventually I will succumb to. But for now I will just appreciate your effort and results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted September 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 The only true advice I will give you is to don't be afraid to experiment and failure IS an option. Learn the basics and do it how you want to.. I'll answer any questions you have but I'm not the authority and I will never claim to know it all. The moment you stop learning you start forgetting. Personal experience. I've only been making sails from scratch about 2 year. I made them from Tails when I first started. Many of my latest kites are constructed with intentional straying from the wisdoms of kite making.. Some rules are there for a reason. Why does this work? Why doesn't this work? To be honest, with the exception of kites I've made specifically for other people, every kite I make (for myself) is experimenting with something (venting, sail shape, balance, weight etc..) I learn a bit from each kite. I had some true successes which I've shared here in the Kite Making and Blogs. I've had some that once finished almost never get flown after the first few flights. But the lesson they teach me makes every kite after that better. FWIW, I still don't use a pattern except for the leading edge. In my diamonds kites, even the latest ones, the diamonds are cut from what looks right. If I take scrap diamonds from several kites and put them side by side the diamonds have slightly different angles.. I still haven't found the perfect dimension that gives me the center panel I'm looking for without wasting fabric. The good news for me is the wasted trim from the panels makes a matching bag for the kite most of the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frob Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 I've never really seen a list of materials. The sail cloth generally I know is Icarex if you're going for brand name, or treated (water and UV resistant) PC31 or even lighter PC25 / PC21 for indoors or if you don't mind occasional patches. Stitching is preferred to be a wide zig-zag for body pieces, although the machine I've got doesn't have the same shape I see on all my professional kites. Trailing edge and stretch strips use a straight stitch. I recall reading Kevlar or Dacron for the leading edge, but I don't know what specific fabric works well for leading edges or for meshes. Fittings and connections can be purchased from many different kite stores. I know people use a board to tie knots. I've watched them be used on three different occasions, but other than knowing it lets you tie knots at the exact distance the nails are pegged in place, know little more. Before I actually make them I'll probably hit one of the kite building clinics near a festival, but that requires me actually traveling to another festival that has them. I've only been to Oregon / Washington coast kite events twice (it was a 13 hour drive at the time, I lived in SLC), and two California beach events with a similar drive. About the biggest thing that came to SLC was iQuad's final fly at one of the big events that was only held a few times. I moved from there about three years ago from work, now in Austin. At my current home it is only 6 hours to the SPI festival, a major event I haven't missed since the move. There are occasional events out by Houston / Galveston that's only a 3 hour drive for. There is an event in Dallas I'm driving out with a 2.5 hour drive this weekend (and participating on the fun side of the ropes), but no kite making there. The Austin End of the Line kite team are great, and I've met with them at their practice and a few individuals a few times for personal flying, but they're far more casual than me in regards to what they do. While they have more experience team flying on duals, they don't have skills in topics I want to learn like better indoor flying, trick flying, quad team fly, and modifications. It would be nice to have more options to learn, but geography is a limiting factor. But that's leading in to a different topic. I'd love to learn and do so much more, but would need to overcome both time (scheduling) and space (distances) to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonFibonacci Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 5 hours ago, riffclown said: The only true advice I will give you is to don't be afraid to experiment and failure IS an option Agreed. I'm a perfectionist, so I was paralyzed for quite a while by a fear of doing it "wrong". But in the end, I built my first quad just by reading everything I could find on forums like this, closely examining a store-bought kite, buying some fabric on clearance, and then finally just going for it. The end result wasn't perfect, but really only I can tell. And it flies! And I learn more each time I build a new one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted September 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 FWIW, for a first kite I'd suggest a simple 2 piece sail. My first one I made was a simple an overlap.. I used the lightest I could find for it and it worked out pretty well. I have another one just like it in the build stage since I can't seem to keep these. I use Icarex almost exclusively now but I still have quite a bit of the challenge PolyMax if I want another very dark kite. Some of the Kite (.75) RipStop Nylon (RSN) would be very good as well but generally not a kite you'd want to fly around water. For Leading Edges I use Dacron Tape and Poly Screen. On very light kites like the Indigo Sunrise I use 1.5 Coated RSN. For Edge Binding I generally use the RSN 1" Ribbon or if I need a specific color I'll spring for a 1" Tail from Prism or Skydog. I buy my -caps from OSK, -Screen from FlyMarket or Lowes, -Dacron and Bungee comes from FlyMarket, Kites and Fun Things, or Goodwinds, -Icarex, Skyshark and Bridle Cord from Kites and Fun Things. (The PolyMax came from FlyMarket while it was on blowout.) That about covers my entire materials list FWIW, My LE still uses Screen. I'm not a fan of the holes there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted September 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Back on topic with the Purple Fade. I redid the Leading edge and was able to test it today in very light wind 2-3 with gusts of maybe 7. It still has a slightly flatter glide slope (a bit of float) than I'm used to but flies like a dream. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Klaiber Posted September 30, 2019 Report Share Posted September 30, 2019 Got the chance to fly this purple fade at Coyner Springs. I hate to say it but Rob has come a ways in his craft since making mine. Flies very well and stable with a fantastic inverted hover and glide. Lucy is jealous-Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted September 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2019 @Mike Klaiber Thank you Mike. Your opinion means a lot to me. Every kite is still a learning experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted November 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2019 This Kite has a new home.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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