Foilmaker

[surf1973]

Im thinking of making my own kites, well I design, Wife sews them together, I was told Foilmaker was a good place to start but keep hitting dead links anyone know anywhere else to find this info...

[speed_freak]

The site owner has recently changed ISP's and fouled up BIGTIME. The software is availible to download at http://www.bicycle.eclipse.co.uk/fm/fm172.exe as of 9th Oct.

 

He says that the site should be up and running soon... whenever that may be.

 

As for help, well there are a few pointer sites (should work )

http://members.tripod.com/daniel_gagnon0/index.htm

http://foildesign.org/

http://www.wingine.nl/

 

An alternative to Foilmaker is Surfplan - http://www.surfplan.com.au suits me better than FM, but there's no manual really (just http://kitesurfingschool.org/kite.htm)

 

Hope it helps

 

Phil

[Active-8]

i use both with foilmaker being my favourite, at the moment im making race kites with surfplan. they just take a bit to get use to, once you get your head around them then there not to bad.

 

what sort do you make/thinking of making.

[Mikey P]

Foilmaker has worked for me 80% of the time. Occasionally the bridles don't work out and thats usually one of the key reasons why the kite won't fly. Trouble is altering the bridle can be mind numbing. Start small 2M ish and work up when you have a proven design. The sewing is a killer over 4M and my wifes pretty proficient at it. Its just the size of material you end up dealing with that causes the problems. Don't forget to use bonded nylon for the stitching and we have found zigzag stitch to be the most versatile. I use folded dacron for the edging and reinforce the front of the ribs with self adhesive ripstop tape. Oh Yes and do't forget to sew your bridle attachments in between the ripstop when your putting the cells togther. These were tacked into position first before running down the length. We ended up pinning the ripstop together - keep your pins in the overlap (foilmaker gives overlap choice - 1 cm works out OK) . We tried cellotape, superglue etc but no good. Don't spend out on good quality chikara on your first kite just in case things don't work out. I love making mine out of Cameron Balloons offcuts £10 bag for a variety of colours. The ripstop is first class and has a wonderful sheen if a bit heavy but in the right winds it really doesn't matter. If your happy with it you can always make another in half the time out of top grade stuff because you'll have all your patterns cut (remember to keep them).

 

Mike

[surf1973]

Thanks for the tips guys, thinking of making just a few small ones to start with thought it might help me understand them more and give me something to do on non flying days

[DJA410]

Hi,

One tip use 5mm double sided tape stuck every 5 or 6cm to hold the peices together before sewing, keeping them away from the sewing line. They can be left in as well.

 

Dave

[Active-8]

6mm on eBay at the moment. 99p for 50mtrs with 50p postage. 4 rolls ordered last week. bargain. i put the D/sided all the way up the seam as i find it hold the roll of the leading edge better for sewing.

 

when cutting the loops for the bridle i use a solder gun with a tip i made, flat and sharpened and 20mm wide. i use this to cut and seal the edge. with the same gun but a different tip for cutting the ripstop.

 

i too use ripstop tape to stiffen the tip of the rib on both sides. but i also use it on either side of the cross holes to help with the distortion. I'm still trying to find a 10mm Mylar strip to use on LE as i used gauze on all the other kites i made, the ones I'm doing now are race style kites and i want to keep them as light as possible but still with the strength.

 

more info at kitebuilder.com or the one i use is the yahoo newsgroup.