kite making

Ordinary kites are generally made of bamboo as the frame and paper as the flesh. Bamboo is the main material for making kite frames. Bamboo with a wall thickness of 3 to 5 cm is selected and cut into bamboo slices, and the toughness of the bamboo slices is used to make the kite skeleton. Make various kite frames according to your own preferences, such as dragonfly shape and butterfly shape.

Paper is the main material for masking kites. It is better to have thin fibers with long and uniform fibers, high toughness, resistance to moisture and impact, and white and clean color. Paste the paper on the frame and tie the string, and the kite is ready. At this time, you can also paint the finished kite with your favorite color, add lace, or tie it with a ribbon or hang a paper ring. But it cannot affect the kite's flight in the air, because too many accessories will make the kite fly unbalanced.

The shape of the kite mainly imitates natural creatures, such as birds, insects, animals and geometric solids. In terms of patterns, they are mainly designed based on personal preferences, including promoting Peugeots, animals, butterflies, birds, etc.

In addition to silk and paper, kite construction materials are also made of plastic materials. The bone poles are made of bamboo strips, wood and glue sticks. Recently, someone has designed a boneless kite. Its structure is to introduce air into a wind pit made of silk, so that the kite forms a gently floating air pillow, and then rides on the wind. China, Malaya, the Philippines and Japan also have a large-scale kite. Every time during the Kite Festival, it is released into the blue sky. The size of the kite ranges from 10 to 20 feet. The bone poles were made of large bamboo poles and were placed by more than a hundred people.

To make a kite, we first prepare tools such as paste and paper knife, and materials include bamboo strips, gauze paper strips, and horse-drawn paper.

Here’s how to make it:

1. First soak the bamboo strips in water to make them soft, then use a knife to break the bamboo strips to about 1/3 thickness, and then trim the half shape. Because the bamboo strips will be attached to the Mala paper later, if they are too thick, the bamboo strips will tear the paper. At the same time, if the bamboo strips are too thick, the gauze strips will not stick firmly. Cut the repaired bamboo strips into two pieces of appropriate length, about 16~23 inches. Then cut the horse-drawn paper into a square shape, about 24 inches long. Maratha paper is a very rough paper that is most suitable for kites.

2. Next, you can stick the bamboo strips on the paper, but remember: tie the long bamboo strips to the short ones 1/3 with gauze paper, and then slowly bend them until the two ends of the long bamboo strips touch. Go to the opposite corner of the paper and tape it in place.

3. In the next step, stick the tail of the kite to the bottom of the kite. After adjusting the angle between the string and the kite, you can fly it.

4. The tail of a kite is the main tool for balancing the kite. When the kite rides up the wind, if one side is heavier, the kite will deviate to that side. It is best to have a longer tail, because the longer it is, the more likely it is that the head of the kite will rise, exposing the entire body to the wind and balancing the slanted side.

5. The silk thread of the kite can be made of cowhide thread, cotton thread, glass thread, etc., and the thread reel can be divided into round thread reel and row reel. The string should be tied to the kite at an oblique angle.