Sail Kite

When you are satisfied that this has been achieved, stick strips of insulating tape over the ends of the frame. They will keep the string in place and prevent the wood from splitting.

Use cambric or very fine calico for the sail. Pin the material to a board. Lay the framework upon it, and with a soft-grade pencil, mark the shape. Add a margin of 1 in. all round. The cover may be decorated at this stage. Use fabric painting oil colours. The design should be simple and bold, for example, it might be a large centre circle or diamond-shape, with the surround edged with the same colour; or one's initials, in the form of a monogram could be painted on. When the paint is dry, cut out the cover.

The method of securing the cover to its frame is as follows. Roll the material on to a 3 ft. length of 1/2 in. diameter dowelling. By doing this, the cover can be stretched evenly as it is being attached. Fasten the cover to the top of the two longerons, D and E, by means of fretwork nails. Place small cardboard strips between the material and the nail heads. Roll the cover down and fasten in the same way to the ends of the top crossbar. Next, keeping it as firmly stretched as possible, fasten at the ends of the bottom crossbar, and lastly, to the bottom ends of the longerons. A better way, instead of using nails, would be to use 1/4 in. round-headed fine brass screws, with small washers, which may be cut from tin or obtained from model-makers' shops. Drill holes part way through the wood to receive the screws, as one would also do for nails. Now fold the margin over the bracing strings and sew down. The cover may be further secured by the use of a few extra nails or screws along the crossbars. No more than two or three should be used, as too many will tend to weaken the cross­bars. The result should be an evenly stretched, firmly secured and well-balanced sail.

The next stage is to complete the triangular shape. Two cloth bands, as at I (Fig. 17) are needed. Cut two pieces, 223/4 in. in length and 9 in. in width. Fold over 1/2 in. of the material all round, make a crease at the folds and sew down to make a hem. Now make a sharp crease along the centre of the bands, going across the width of the material. Fasten the bands at these creases to the third longeron, so that one edge of this fits into the creases.