Free kite plans on GitHub

[VP22]

yes for The LE. At the first time i use the usual seam with just one insigna. It was'nt enough. At the end of the first session i saw many rips (perpendicular at the LE seam, near 8mm) along the seam . But the LE didm't explode even with 0.8bar pressure. Unfortunately It was a "good test"
Now it's ok (from 6knots to 20-25knots). I'll see at the end of the season when we'll go back to the water.

And how did you reinforce the segment seams?

usual method :

[nixmatters]

yes for The LE. At the first time i use the usual seam with just one insigna. It was'nt enough. At the end of the first session i saw many rips (perpendicular at the LE seam, near 8mm) along the seam . But the LE didm't explode even with 0.8bar pressure. Unfortunately It was a "good test"
Now it's ok (from 6knots to 20-25knots). I'll see at the end of the season when we'll go back to the water.

And how did you reinforce the segment seams?

usual method :

Try a lap seam! Much better on DCF as you can glue the 2 segments really well with double adhesive tape (15-20mm)! Then insignia on one side and 2x tripple zigzag with a finer needle/thread.

You can also see how the LE closing seam is finished here, with a dacron tape running on top of the segment seam. The most reliable and durable construction.

[PanTau]

Try a lap seam! Much better on DCF as you can glue the 2 segments really well with double adhesive tape (15-20mm)! Then insignia on one side and 2x tripple zigzag with a finer needle/thread.

Hi nick,
we tried overlap seams a few times but always failed. At least with the Dimension Polyant dacron. Too stiff and most of the angles of my kites are too sharp. Maybe there is a "trick" we never found out
Our overlap seams always ended up getting nasty wrinkled and started to fray out along the cut since we are not heatcutting the dacron. Maybe its different with the DFC or softer dacron but for me the standard folded seam is still the best option. At lease for the standard kite fabrics. Never had a seam failing.
Do you know how they do these overlap seams in the factories? Not many kites have them... core?, spleen?, ...???

[VP22]

Try a lap seam! Much better on DCF as you can glue the 2 segments really well with double adhesive tape (15-20mm)! Then insignia on one side and 2x tripple zigzag with a finer needle/thread.

Hi nick,
we tried overlap seams a few times but always failed. At least with the Dimension Polyant dacron. Too stiff and most of the angles of my kites are too sharp. Maybe there is a "trick" we never found out
Our overlap seams always ended up getting nasty wrinkled and started to fray out along the cut since we are not heatcutting the dacron. Maybe its different with the DFC or softer dacron but for me the standard folded seam is still the best option. At lease for the standard kite fabrics. Never had a seam failing.
Do you know how they do these overlap seams in the factories? Not many kites have them... core?, spleen?, ...???

i keep the usual folder seam because with DCF the result is bad with overlap. Overlap is ok with low curve (we use it in sailmaking) . DCF is very stiff.

[nixmatters]

Try a lap seam! Much better on DCF as you can glue the 2 segments really well with double adhesive tape (15-20mm)! Then insignia on one side and 2x tripple zigzag with a finer needle/thread.

Hi nick,
we tried overlap seams a few times but always failed. At least with the Dimension Polyant dacron. Too stiff and most of the angles of my kites are too sharp. Maybe there is a "trick" we never found out
Our overlap seams always ended up getting nasty wrinkled and started to fray out along the cut since we are not heatcutting the dacron. Maybe its different with the DFC or softer dacron but for me the standard folded seam is still the best option. At lease for the standard kite fabrics. Never had a seam failing.
Do you know how they do these overlap seams in the factories? Not many kites have them... core?, spleen?, ...???

Hi Karsten and VP22,

The only 'trick' is to use the overlap seam only in the middle ~1/2 of the arch, towards the tips it's almost impossible.
Hot knife cutting is a must against fraying edges.
Offsetting correctly the facing segment seams when closing the LE can be tricky too, but not a great hassle.
The main advantage I see - less uneven thickness in the LE closing seam, which is often a cause of thread breakage in the 2nd seam (12 layers of dacron next to just 4 + same number of insignia or more in the thickest part).

Not sure which brands still use overlap segment seams, I know of a big brand that tried it years ago and dropped it due increased default rate in bulk production.

And not surprised to hear that DCF is not easy for overlap seam.

[kk0239]

I really wanted to do this diy kite during this lockdown.. but not sure what and which documentation to follow. Let me know if anyone has tips

[PanTau]

I really wanted to do this diy kite during this lockdown.. but not sure what and which documentation to follow. Let me know if anyone has tips

Hi, this weekend I will publish the first version of the updated documentation and some more new kite plans.

[downunder]

I really wanted to do this diy kite during this lockdown.. but not sure what and which documentation to follow. Let me know if anyone has tips

The tip is no need for docs.

Just rip half of your old kite and try to assemble it again.
This will give you indication of work needed Have a few build's under your belt first and than go for real treat.

[kk0239]

I really wanted to do this diy kite during this lockdown.. but not sure what and which documentation to follow. Let me know if anyone has tips

Hi, this weekend I will publish the first version of the updated documentation and some more new kite plans.

Ty.. looking fwd

[ludwig-hoerni]

Hello to all,
I am new here, and first of all I wanted to thank PanTau for the free plans on github and for the great instructions on http://www.wingworks.de/ on how to sew tube-kites. All the posts here in this forum, were quite a big help, too.
To begin small, and improving my sewing skills I started to build the smallest ventus (Ventus-2). Cutting all the panels and sewing the wing was quite straight forward. Now I am at the point, where I have to start to sew the LE. I want to sew it as described in http://www.wingworks.de/bauanleitungen/ ... e/#toc-le6 . Attach both panels with a straight stich, apply reinforcement dacron-tape and then fold over the seam-allowence to fix it with a 3-zigzag stich (1-7 in the manual). Now, I have following difficulties: The radius of the LE is quite small for the Ventus-2. Thus, the curvature in the segments is high. The dacron is very stiff, so when folding over the seam-allowence to fix it with 3-zigzag I got a lot of wrinkles and it gets very difficult to sew. How can I manage to reduce wrinkles? I can imagine, that for kites with thicker LE thsi problem is less pronounced. Do you have any idea?
I hope I explained my issue well.
Thanks a lot