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Mikaya
Since 10 Sep 2008
26 Posts
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 Tue Jul 09, 13 10:23 am custom made kite? |
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| Anyone have any ideas about how to get the materials needed to make your own kite, or have someone make it from a pattern which I could provide? Or who has a really good sewing machine and the nouse to do this kind of sewing? (Not Sparetime, they would be too expensive). Thanks, Mikaya |
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aksurfer
Since 30 Aug 2010
92 Posts
Anchorage, AK
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| Tue Jul 09, 13 10:35 am |
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| Check Coleman at Engine harnesses, he sewed his own and a video was on this forum at one point. |
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beech
Since 21 Aug 2010
486 Posts
Longview, WA
Obsessed
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| Tue Jul 09, 13 10:36 am |
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this should be interesting
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Haole |
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dangler
Since 26 Feb 2006
1781 Posts
WINDY SPOTS
XTreme Poster
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| Tue Jul 09, 13 10:43 am Make your own kite |
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If you don't mind working for a dollar an hour, you can make yourself a kite.
Of course its gonna be a crap kite unless you're really really good.
Would you make your own car from the ground up?
Mass production makes a thousand dollar kite possible. If they were one off custom things, they would not be affordable.
I could make a pretty nice kite, I think. I can buy a really nice kite for five or six hundred dollars. No brainer for me. I'd rather spend the time kiting.
If you're not discouraged yet, you need polyester ripstop material, one to 1 1/2 oz. psy. Dacron for LE and struts. You can get the material from a sail supplier. It aint cheap. Then you need bladders, valves, bits and pieces, a computerized cutting table, hundred and fifty chinese girls, and your in business.....
Made myself a windsurfing sail back in the day, how I learned to sew actually. First time I rigged it at the beach, Klickitat Kyle (who actually COULD make a good sail) asked me how I got the shape in it.
I looked at him dumbly and asked "Shape...?"
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Kite Repair? AND WINGS Call me.(509) six 37-four five 29 |
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stevegriffith22
Since 14 May 2006
434 Posts
Obsessed
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| Tue Jul 09, 13 10:58 am |
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Not to bust on dangler......or to agree with him too much.
But remember: they told carol Shelby he was a moron.... Then when Ferricco Lamborghini suggested different ways for Enzo to make parts that would last, Enzo Ferrari told him to go back and make his tractors and leave him alone. Look where that got him. For that matter, When enzo told ford where to go, Ford just took over Lemans racing and bullied Enzo back to F1. (for those who don't know, those were car references, which only proves I'm a meathead) 
So I for one wish you the best, and remember some of the best ideas came out conversations like this. |
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frmercado
Since 16 Feb 2011
34 Posts
PDX
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| Tue Jul 09, 13 8:23 pm Engineering challenge. |
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I really wish you the best of luck, but if you are asking what you need to build your own I think you need to plan this project a little better and more in depth before you start. As I see it putting the kite together, although hard its not even half the problem; aerodynamics are the key when designing a modern kite; unless you are a competent aerodynamisist and engineer and have the right software to design the shape of the kite I really think this is going to be a really hard one to pull off. You can always copy a design out there but that would be copyright infringement, unless you get permission from the manufacturer (good luck with that one). Remember that you are pretty much shaping a wing, the surfaces have to bend and react to the wind in a predictable and stable manner, just like any aircraft out there. This is aeronautics 101 but its still complicated.
Sails have existed for thousands of years, wings only a hundred. You can get away with a poorly designed sail but not a wing.
Best of luck though.
Frank |
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keithvoncoyote
Since 13 May 2011
49 Posts
The Gorge
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| Tue Jul 09, 13 9:53 pm |
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| Do it. But only if you post pics of the final product in action. Not worth your time if we dont get to see it. |
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Pete
Since 29 Oct 2007
844 Posts
Opinionated
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| Wed Jul 10, 13 8:06 am Re: custom made kite? |
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| Mikaya wrote: | | Anyone have any ideas about how to get the materials needed to make your own kite, or have someone make it from a pattern which I could provide? Or who has a really good sewing machine and the nouse to do this kind of sewing? (Not Sparetime, they would be too expensive). Thanks, Mikaya |
Double Troll. |
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Certeza
Since 13 Aug 2012
24 Posts
Northern Utah
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| Wed Jul 10, 13 12:28 pm Re: Engineering challenge. |
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| frmercado wrote: | I really wish you the best of luck, but if you are asking what you need to build your own I think you need to plan this project a little better and more in depth before you start. As I see it putting the kite together, although hard its not even half the problem; aerodynamics are the key when designing a modern kite; unless you are a competent aerodynamisist and engineer and have the right software to design the shape of the kite I really think this is going to be a really hard one to pull off. You can always copy a design out there but that would be copyright infringement, unless you get permission from the manufacturer (good luck with that one). Remember that you are pretty much shaping a wing, the surfaces have to bend and react to the wind in a predictable and stable manner, just like any aircraft out there. This is aeronautics 101 but its still complicated.
Sails have existed for thousands of years, wings only a hundred. You can get away with a poorly designed sail but not a wing.
Best of luck though.
Frank |
Not 100% correct. If one of the major kite companies has a kite design that they have fixated (expressed in a audible or viewable form) and then copywrited, that only protects the document that describes the design. It doesn't legally prevent anyone from going out and reproducing the kite itself. It only prevents someone from reproducing the document that contains the design.
OTOH, there are many aspects of kite design that are patented. The original LEI kite patents have long since expired. Features like the 5th line were issued patent recently (2003 and owned by North I believe). This is precisely why certain brands are reluctant to change technology. But the sport is evolving so quickly that there are always arguments about whether a certain feature is patentable; e.g. there is public record of people modifying kites into 5th line setups years before the patent was filed for. In the US, you cannot technically get a patent if the invention is publicly documented or in use more than 1 year prior to application. This prevents a lot of kite tech from getting patents because the pioneers of kiting are constantly tossing around ideas that eventually become the next big thing a couple years later.
Anyway, in my profession I've learned a couple things. Patents are only as good as someone's ability to pay to enforce them. Also, patents don't realistically prevent anyone from reproducing the item. In fact, the patent is required to contain the best method. In reality, a patent prevents someone from reproducing something for generating revenue. |
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frmercado
Since 16 Feb 2011
34 Posts
PDX
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| Wed Jul 10, 13 3:34 pm Patent |
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| I agree, might have overestated the importance of the patents in the design process of a kite. Still, designing a kite is no doubt pretty hard. |
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Mikaya
Since 10 Sep 2008
26 Posts
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| Wed Jul 10, 13 3:52 pm |
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| Thanks to everyone for their replies. I am not easy to discourage! And, I would not be designing it from scratch, not even close. It would be very similar to an existing kite, which is one I happen to like very much, that is not being made any more. In fact, I would probably start by using the struts and leading edge from an existing kite, replacing only the canopy (with a slight difference). I'd see how that went, financially and otherwise. So what I need to know is where to get the Dacron and someone reliable to sew it. I'll be talking to a lot of people about this before it actually happens. I'm only in the stages of thinking about it right now. |
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Jackal
Since 17 Dec 2005
147 Posts
WS
Stoked
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| Wed Jul 10, 13 4:32 pm |
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Way to go! Maybe you'll bring the next innovation to kiting. All the naysayers are just people without the balls to follow their own dreams.
Have fun and try new things!
Chris |
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scottman
Since 08 Jun 2007
150 Posts
hillsboro
Stoked
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| Thu Jul 11, 13 10:37 am |
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| There is a place in China that will make a kite. Don't know where it is. Maybee you can find it on alibaba? |
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Windance Crew
Since 18 Apr 2008
473 Posts
Hood River Kite Shop
Obsessed
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| Fri Jul 12, 13 11:22 am |
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I saw two guys in Hatteras back early in the game who built their own kite: they used an inflatable mattress & some blue tarp. Seriously
_________________
Windance Boardshop- Hood River
www.windance.com |
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SalmonSlayer
Since 27 Nov 2005
648 Posts
Addicted
CGKA Member
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scottman
Since 08 Jun 2007
150 Posts
hillsboro
Stoked
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| Fri Jul 12, 13 1:30 pm |
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| A couple years ago, at the spit, I launched a kite that had no markings, all one uniform color. Asked the guy where he got it. He said he had it custom made in China at some manufacturing facility that all the OEM's use. I am sure it was expensive. I think? he had to send in some cad drawings. |
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Justsmile
Since 20 Jul 2009
1530 Posts
Not Portland
XTreme Poster
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| Fri Jul 12, 13 1:44 pm |
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| scottman wrote: | | A couple years ago, at the spit, I launched a kite that had no markings, all one uniform color. Asked the guy where he got it. He said he had it custom made in China at some manufacturing facility that all the OEM's use. I am sure it was expensive. I think? he had to send in some cad drawings. |
probably the north prototypes they did not want to say anything about. Saw mr solbach out two years ago on solid black and blue prototypes!! two weeks ago I saw a white prototype in Maui that I had no idea what it was. Look liked a hybrid!! |
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