Subject: Cube Plans for you! Date: 16 Jun 1998 00:00:00 GMT From: skysetter@aol.com (SKYSETTER) Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Newsgroups: rec.kites Hey! I have plans for a 12" x 12" cube (I call them Dancing Boxes) and anyone can have them! (1) SAIL: Make a template 51" x 13" rectangle. Cut one piece of 3/4 oz ripstop with template. (2) Hem both 51" sides with 1/2 inch hem. (3) Fold sail in half and mark. Then fold in half again, and mark. (4) POCKETS: Pocket material can be 400 denier nylon or belt webbing from Wallmart. Center pocket material on the half and half again marks and sew to sail on hemmed side or backside of sail. (5) Sew sail together on the 13" sides (the 13" sides are now 12" sides) with 1/2 inch hem. (6) Place two more pockets on the hem you just made at the top and bottom hemmed side. (7) SPINES: Cut four 1/4" dowels at 11-7/8" (8) CONNECTORS: Cut eight 1/4" i.d. tubing (plastic) 1" long . Then cut those pieces at the 1/2" point, half way through tubing. (9) Place two pieces of tubing on the 1/4" dowels (making sure to only thread the tubing to the cut point so the tubing is half on, half off the dowel making a connection point for the cross spreaders) and place dowels in the pockets on the sail and slide the piece of tubing which is on the dowel into the pocket also. (10) CROSS SPREADERS: Cut four 1/8" dowels at 17-1/2" (Cross Spars). Place these dowels in the connection tubing points on opposing corners at the top and bottom of the cube. (11) BRIDLE: I use 75 lb braided dacron for the bridle (way to heavy but its what I have on hand) (You can use some old spectra line if available also). Cut one 24" length of bridle material and seal ends with a flame. Thread one side of the bridle material into a sail needle and pass through the 12" hem at the point where a cross spreader and connector meet. Tie off and do the same to the other end of the box. Take your cube out into the wind, hold it by the bridle and slide your fingers on the bridle until you find a good flight point (usually 5 degrees above the actual box). Mark it and either tie a loop in that area or use a separate link loop and a double larks-head knot so the bridle point can be adjusted for different wind settings. Happy Cube Flying! Carolyn Weir P.S. These are plans straight out of my mind and workshop. I have made many of them and they are a joy to fly and watch dance in the sky. I have not, nor do I ever intend to copy someone elses plans, but also feel that everyone should have the chance to create a little something before having to come up with their own designs. I have posted this as a courtesy to novice kitebuilders with the intent of giving them the chance to try something they are interested in. I hope this doesn't bother anyone and only brings joy to those who are curious. From SKYSETTER@aol.com Thu Jun 25 14:57 BST 1998 Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 09:45:26 EDT To: pleriche@dumbo.uk03.bull.co.uk Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: Cube plans Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 16-bit for Windows sub 41 Status: RO In a message dated 98-06-25 07:42:38 EDT, you write: << After all the discussion on rec.kites I just had to build a cube, so was very glad to see your plans. However, I don't quite understand how you do the pockets for the 4 longerons. I use 1" x 3" dacron as pocket material. I fold the material at the 1" point and sew it to the sail, possibly that is what you would call a blind end pocket. I cut my longerons to fit, meaning they are not exactly 12" but usually a little shorter and yes, I have to bow them into the pockets and some do break (not many). On larger kites I normall do blind-ended pockets and bow the spar to get it in. Or if I really want the tension to be adjustable I make a tube out of ripstop (maybe reinforced with dacron) and fold it over to make an adjustable blind end. I use velcro to keep it folded. Velcro would be too costly. Don't worry, if the rod is a little too short, you will clean that up with the plastic tubing for the cross spars which will be placed into the pockets also. And do you find you need 4 diagonal spars? I'd have thought 2 would do, set perpendicular to the longerons. Maybe you need a good tight sail. >> I have tried the 2 cross spar method and it just doesn't seem to keep the tension on the longerons that I look for. 2 gets a little sloppy in the air, 4 keeps things nice and tensioned. The cross spreaders are actually bowed quite a bit when placed into the plastic tubing to spread the sail giving the tension I look for. The only other thing I can think to make the sail tighter is to lengthen the entire template by 2" (long side) and actually sew the longerons into the inside portion of the sail, leaving slits for the plastic tubing to go into. Please realize that I learned to make kites from books strictly. I have never been to a kitemaking workshop or had assistance from other kitemakers, other than rec.kites. I have a lot to learn, and if you find better ways to make the cube, please pass them on. I'm always open to new ideas. Carolyn Weir