A Box Kite! (that's almost bigger than my wife!)

My wife had a sad little kite, a super grover kite, and she needed a new one. So, I made her a new one. (obviously).

Step 1: Materials

Things you need:

Tools:
Scissors (or hot-cutter)
Needle and Thread
Handsaw


Materials:
8 1/4"x36" Wood Dowel rods
4 1/4"x18" Wood Dowel rods
2 yards .075 oz Ripstop Nylon
3/8" Plastic tubing
(the ID of the tubing is a bit bigger than 1/4")
1" wide nylon webbing.

I obtained my materials from kitebuilder.com. I'm sure you can get all this stuff at a hobby store or kite building shop.

Comments

[stringstretcher]

this kind of box kite will fly with a single bridle point. Your instructions on this seemed a bit confusing to me. could you clarify how you attatched and trimmed your bridle? I love box kites! thanks for sharing.

[marcward86]

ok, sure. I had two pieces of string, and I attached it at the top (looking at the kite from the wide side) of the top sail and at the top of the bottom sail. I just used a needle and thread to sew it to one of the little black things that holds the frame to the sail. So one longer string, one shorter string, and then pull them out as far as they'll reach and you can see the angle the kite will fly at. Tie the two ends together, and attach your kite string there. I used a fishing lure device that allows for quick lure changes, don't know what its called. You could use a key ring, or something like that. Hope this helps!

[gmyers2112]

wow, major over engineering. 4 long sticks. 2 X's (one top, one bottom). Newspaper skin. Tie on the string and go have fun. I built one like that when I was 9. The thing you're doing is heavy and a lot of work for the payoff. AND when you lose it in the wind from a broken string you've lost 10 hours of work. Lighten up. Fly a kite.

[marcward86]

Well, yeah, it could have been simple. Sometimes that's not the point. Since it was a gift for my wife (she's an artist, btw), it meant a lot to her that I did put so much work into it. You may have noticed her happy face in the pictures! And yes, it could have been super simple, but...I had fun making it and we both had lots of fun flying it.

And, in heavy winds, it does make this awesome resonating sound that travels down the string. A newspaper kite won't do that.

I still need to dig out some old pics of the kite in action.

[pyrocop1]

Reference the rip stop nylon for the sail, is there a certain weight or thickness of material that is needed?

[marcward86]

Yeah, its 0.075 oz.

[sciencefun]

I'm using this kite plan  for a school project!!!  :D

[recordcousin]

My wife's bigger than your kite.

[Kiteman]

If you change the length of the cross-spars to make a more lozenge-shape cross-section (make the vertical ones shorter and the horizontal spars longer), you will achieve significantly more lift from the kite. If you have stability problems, make the longerons (the end-to-end spars) about 20% longer (any more, and you'll need thicker spars to prevent bending).

[evilution]

Nice looking wife.

[barnes]

Great job! I might take a break from my power kite obesssion to try buuilding one of these! How much do you think the parts cost you?

[marcward86]

about $10, then $7 for shipping.

[Ohm]

Nice work, well documented too. I thought that kite looked familiar, then you mentioned the book which I have also, good book with lots of cool kites.