Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 11:56:48 -1000 From: andrewh@hal.harvard.edu (Andrew Hawken) Message-Id: <4cuob0$a8@epsilon.qmw.ac.uk> Organization: Queen Mary & Westfield College, London, UK Subject: Another Sput YANS - Yet Another Sput I finished a sputnik today (3am!) and have just got back from test flying it (3pm). Who says I am impatient. Anyway, this 10sqm giant, short of some bridling adjustment, seems pretty good so far. Its not a buggy engine, its a tractor! I learnt some lessons though.... 1. Keep the hot knife sharp/clean. I use a home made knife, a soldering iron with a copper semicircle braised to the bit. Its not really hot enough for the job, but as long as I keep it clean / sharp (still blunt to the touch) then it works well. I found giving it a buzz with a sander (used more as a grinding wheel) before every profile made it sooo much easier. Shame its not hot enough to weld while cutting though. Must get something better :-) Whens Christmas ? 2. Dont try to make a 10sqm kite from a complete 1:1 plan. I wrote some software to print the kite *Skin* plans on Epson 9pin type printers. I use tractor feed paper to give a page length of 8 by kite length, meaning that a 1:1 plan comes out on 7 or 8 strips which are easy to join and work on, but unwieldy for my house! Andrew Beattie is Beta testing the software, with some slight mods to improve speed (the version I used only kept marginally ahead of the printer, on a P90! :-) Drop me a line if you are interested. 3. Knotless arch bridle. Previously I have had trouble making a light weight arch for the catenary bridle. This time I tried a new approach...I used a fid to thread the secondary bridle lines into the arch, and then sewed over to keep them in place. I would not follow this example for a couple of weeks until I have had a chance to buggy with it (or better still let Andrew tandem with it). If it falls apart I will let you know, otherwise I have 80lb primaries, 300lb short v lines, 80lb secondaries and 300lb arch. The only exceptions are the wing tip primaries and secondaries where I have gone for 150lb, as I think they get more abuse. 4. Water your Icarex. This was a tip that I picked up on r.k. A little wet between two layers and they stick like glue. I used a plant sprayer. The 4.24m seams showed no noticeable slippage, this is a first for me! 5. Get a Cording Foot. This is a foot designed for sewing reinforcing onto ribs! It made that job the easiest one in the whole kite construction. My Cresta machine (20 Ukp from boot sale + 4 hrs with a screwdriver) came with it as standard. If one is available for your machine, get it. I just guided the fabric, and the chord sorted itself out. 6. Follow Andrews instructions on sewing order/direction. It really helps! However I made an error which meant that I completed both end ribs first. I think that this made finishing off the kite easier, as the last rib (actually second to last) was easy to do, easier than I remember turning the 5sqm inside out to be. When working on very big kites this is an option worth considering. Have fun, Andy -- __ Andrew Hawken ________________________________________________________ a.hawken@qmw.ac.uk __ As far as I can make out, *I* am responsible?! __ andiih@micromuse.com ____________________________________________________ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 20:23:05 -1000 From: andrew@tug.com (Andrew Beattie) Message-Id: Organization: /usr/lib/news/organisation Subject: Re: Another Sput a.hawken@qmw.ac.uk writes: >[good stuff deleted] >5. Get a Cording Foot. This is a foot designed for sewing reinforcing >onto ribs! I've been trying to get one of these, without success. All I can find is a "piping foot", which has the groove in the footplate to one side, so that you sew through the very edge of the chord, rather than straight through the middle. If anyone knows where I can get one for a 1965 Singer (still don't have a Pfaff or industrial), or if anyone would be willing and able to carve a smooth groove in the bottom of a flat foot, please let me know. Andrew -- Jan S M Tu W Th F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9[10]11 12 13 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 04:33:27 -1000 From: pdjnjvt@knoware.nl (Peter de jong) Message-Id: <4d0ipd$ng@news.knoware.nl> Organization: Knoware Internet Subject: Re: Another Sput andrewh@hal (Andrew Hawken) wrote: >YANS - Yet Another Sput >I finished a sputnik today (3am!) and have just got back from test >flying it (3pm). Who says I am impatient. Anyway, this 10sqm giant, >short of some bridling adjustment, seems pretty good so far. Its not a >buggy engine, its a tractor! >I learnt some lessons though.... >1. Keep the hot knife sharp/clean. I use a home made knife, a >soldering iron with a copper semicircle braised to the bit. Its not >really hot enough for the job, but as long as I keep it clean / sharp (still >blunt to the touch) then it works well. I found giving it a buzz with a >sander (used more as a grinding wheel) before every profile made it >sooo much easier. >Shame its not hot enough to weld while cutting though. Must get >something better :-) Whens Christmas ? I use a soldering iron too. 100 watts 20 Brand: Weller. Also found out that the supplied tips don't get hot enough. Now I use homemade tips: Take a piece of copper wire 1.8 mm diameter (electric wire, overhere it's the standard blue or brown wire) strip it, bend it in a half loop and flatten the rounded point with a hammer. Be careful not to make it too thin because it gets softer when heating. The whole thing should not be longer than about 1" when fitted. During cutting I now and then sharpen the cutting edge with a file. First time you use it make sure your iron does not overheat. ( some cheap ones do: so be careful, no guarantees ) It heats up more than enough to cut cleanly, if you keep it sharp you will get less ( harmful) vapours, and you never run out of them on saturday night when stores are closed. If you want to weld the layers together try using a aluminium strip >From a venetian blind as a ruler, because it's thin and rounded it presses the layers firmly together and you can cut very close to the edge. Hope it helps. Peter Greetings from Holland Peter de Jong A&F Custom Kites Werkhoven NL = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 10:02:59 -1000 From: miel@knoware.nl (Emiel Stroeve) Message-Id: <4d15oe$2rb@news.knoware.nl> Organization: Knoware Internet Subject: Re: Another Sput andrew@tug.com (Andrew Beattie) wrote: >a.hawken@qmw.ac.uk writes: >>[good stuff deleted] >>5. Get a Cording Foot. This is a foot designed for sewing reinforcing >>onto ribs! >I've been trying to get one of these, without success. All I can find >is a "piping foot", which has the groove in the footplate to one side, >so that you sew through the very edge of the chord, rather than >straight through the middle. If anyone knows where I can get one for a >1965 Singer (still don't have a Pfaff or industrial), or if anyone would >be willing and able to carve a smooth groove in the bottom of a flat >foot, please let me know. That's not a problem, just buy yourself another foot and use a small (2-3 mm dia) rounded sander also know as a rat's tail or in this case a mouse's tail. Be very carefull, you can end up snading just to much out of the ends of the foot. Works not perfect, but better than a normal foot. emiel Emiel Stroeve The Netherlands miel@knoware.nl --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< *** http://www.euronet.nl/users/mielse/index.html *** >>> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 10:02:45 -1000 From: miel@knoware.nl (Emiel Stroeve) Message-Id: <4d15o0$2rb@news.knoware.nl> Organization: Knoware Internet Subject: Re: Another Sput andrewh@hal (Andrew Hawken) wrote: >YANS - Yet Another Sput >I finished a sputnik today (3am!) and have just got back from test >flying it (3pm). Who says I am impatient. Anyway, this 10sqm giant, >short of some bridling adjustment, seems pretty good so far. Its not a >buggy engine, its a tractor! I only have 8 m^2 of YANS ;-) What's the aspect ratio you use on your 10 m^2 ? As I understand from the rest, you're using the standard cat bridle, no problems steering the tractor ? emiel who's still waiting for the perfect combination of spare time and good winds...... And in the mean time rebridling the sputs... Emiel Stroeve The Netherlands miel@knoware.nl --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <<< *** http://www.euronet.nl/users/mielse/index.html *** >>> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 00:28:37 -1000 From: dquad@aol.com (DQuad) Message-Id: <4d5d4l$91i@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Subject: Re: Another Sput In article <4d15oe$2rb@news.knoware.nl>, miel@knoware.nl (Emiel Stroeve) writes: >That's not a problem, just buy yourself another foot and use a small >(2-3 mm dia) rounded sander also know as a rat's tail or in this case >a mouse's tail. Yep. This works real well. Make sure the groove is straight when ground. The first one I did was off. Made sewing the line on ribs, arches, etc. a little difficult. Another reason every kite flier/maker should keep yer battery powered/variable speed dremel on hand at all times!!! Hook up the wagons, we are headin to the desert on Sunday. dave arnold = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =