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[wdrwilson]

Week 2 - Add edge binding and reinforcement
You should have all your fabric and reinforcements cut and ready to go. If not head over to week one and get caught up

This week we will cover:

• Reinforcements
  
• Edge Binding
  
• Longeron Velcro/gross-grain restraints
  

Reinforcements

I chose to go fairly light on the reinforcements, this kite is designed for light winds and I didn't think it necessary to have heavy reinforcements. Having said that I still chose to use 4oz Dacron on the keels and wings, you could easily use something lighter. Refer to the diagrams in week one for reinforcement position. Ensure that you have placed the reinforcements so that you have a left and right wing with the reinforcements on the reverse of each wing. For the keels I chose to have the reinforcements on the inner face of the keels i.e. they face each other when the finished kite is assembled.

1) secure your keel and wing reinforcement patches with a small strip of double-sided tape. Sew along the back edge of the reinforcements. The other two edges will get sewn down when the edge binding is applied.






2 ) Remove the adhesive from the Kevlar center point reinforcement and place at the top center point of the body panel. This will also get sewn in place when we add our edge binding.


3 ) Secure your longeron tunnel reinforcements with a small strip of double sided tape along top. Sew it down across the top of the reinforcement. don't bother backtacking the ends as it will be sewn when we create the longeron tunnels.

It's important to note that you place these on the back of body panel. i.e. that is the portion of the body panel that will be facing away from you when you fly as the reinforcements will end up inside of the longeron tunnel.


Edge Binding

For this kite I use pre slit 1" .75oz nylon.

There are many ways to edge bind kite fabric including, sewing machine attachments, specialized presser feet, jigs to fold the fabric, etc. The technique I will present here is just the way I like to do it. This technique was explained to me by another Kitebuilder (or maybe it's been explained on this forum before). I find this technique saves me a lot of time and allows me to accurately apply the edge binding.

1 ) The first thing I do is get my cutting mats lined up next to each other. This gives you a 1" x 1" grid that is about 72" long. **



2 ) Lay a quilting ruler over the mat and use the ruler's markings to divide one of the mat's 1" rows in half.




3 ) Leave the ruler in place and lay your fabric so that it butts up against the edge of the ruler and secure it in place with some tape.



4 ) Cut a strip of 1" edge binding the same length as the edge you want to bind. Be a little generous with the length, maybe a 1/2" extra.



5 ) Lay a strip of double sided tape down one edge of the 1" binding. The tape gun comes in really handy here. If you don't have a tape gun, lay down the tape by hand and be sure to burnish it so that it will adhere to the binding properly then remove the backing.




6 ) Since the fabric is secured to the mat keep using the 1" wide row markings on the cutting mat as a guide. With the sticky of the binding facing down, use the lines on the mat as a guide to affix the binding so that it covers a 1/2" of the fabric. When you have the binding positioned the way you want, press it down firmly or burnish it to make sure it adheres well.




7 ) Flip the edge of the fabric up. Now you can fold the edge binding in half using the edge of the fabric as a tactile crease guide.





8 ) Take it to the machine and sew using a triple-zig-zag, zig-zag or straight stitch. Trim any excess binding.

***If you don't have two cutting mats you can create a simple jig with a long piece of cardboard (or multiples attached together). Mark 3 parallel lines on the cardboard 1/2" apart and as long as your longest edge to bind, use these as your guide as in the instructions above.
NOTE
Edge binding is NOT applied to the 65" long sides of the wings, keels, or body. It's only applied to the top and bottom of the center panel, the angular edges of the triangluar keels and wings and the tops and bottoms of the 4 drogue panels. As you apply the edge binding you should be sure that your reinforcements are in place and that they end up under the edge binding.

Top Panel Edge Binding
The top panel can be a bit tricky, here is how I handled the center point. (note: I have not included (forgot) to put on the kevlar reinforcement)

1 ) I edge bind to the center point, when I reach the center point and the edge binding starts to buckle I usually crease that last bit of edge binding in the middle and cut down the seam. This allows the edge binding to lay flat.







2 ) I repeat this process for the other edge.





3) Once the two pieces are sewn down I trim the excess binding. (you can see where I ran out of bobbin thread DOH!)




5 ) I then edge bind across the tops of the spar tunnels, this will give a nice clean finish when we sew the tunnels next week.

Longeron Restraints
The end result of the next few steps will is shown in the photos below. The restraint system is made out of high quality gross-grain and velcro. I find the fabric store versions of gross-grain are not up to this task. If you prefer you can use a heavier Webbing.

Longeron Restraint - finished photographs

1


2


3



Longeron Diagrams and assembly

The diagram below shows the measurements and placement on the kite body of the restraint. (PDF version here)



I start with 3/4" Velcro which I cut down to 1/2" to fit on the edge binding neatly.









Referring to the diagram above, attach these pieces to the left and right sides of the front side of the body panel. note: the length of the gross grain in the photos is 1/2" too short. Use only the diagrams to obtain measurements

Ok that's it until next week...

Next week we will cover:

• Bridle attachment points
  
• Assembly of body to keels and wings
  
• Adding tail attachment points
  
• Spreader tie-downs/loops
  
• Spreader Pockets/Velcor flaps
  
• Assembling the drogue and adding attachment points
  
• Bridle
  

There is a lot too cover....should be fun...
_________________
Bill Wilson
www.steadywinds.com
Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. - Lauren Bacall