How To Build A Roller Kite

Complete Instructions For The MBK 2-Skewer Roller

This set of instructions on how to build a Roller kite assumes you know absolutely nothing about kite making. You might already have some of the simple tools and materials required. Anything you don't have is easily bought. If not exactly what I used, then at least something pretty similar!

The instructions on how to make a Roller kite might look awfully long, but that's because they are so detailed. For those who like pictures, every detail is illustrated with photographs too. Just quickly work your way through, skimming over any detail that you don't need. All in all, it should be quite hard to make a mistake!

The MBK 2-Skewer Roller Kite is a medium-sized roller 58 cm across and 58 cm tall. Some 'dihedral' on the upper spar gives extra stability. Somewhat more dihedral on the lower spar plus a rear keel enable the Roller to fly without a tail.

This 2-Skewer Roller is an efficient light wind flier. Take it out when it's not very windy, and you won't be disappointed. If you would rather make a bigger Roller, why not try the Dowel Roller kite instead.

Have you read the page on kite materials? If you haven't already, do it now to see what's needed for building a Roller kite.

How To Build A Roller Kite - Frame

For this Roller, you need to glue skewers together to form the 3 spars. Since this kite has plenty of sail area for its width, there is no need to worry about selecting the lightest skewers! In fact, stiffer and heavier skewers would be good for the vertical spar. As for any kite, it's best to try and match the left and right horizontal spars as well. Having said all that, just using any old skewers at random should not present any real problems. The wind range of the kite might not be as good as it could be, that's all.

• Snip the points off 6 skewers, then check to see that they are all exactly the same length - measure it, this is '1 skewer length'
• From another skewer, snip off 5 lengths of bamboo, each 0.1 x (one skewer length) long - these are the short reinforcers you can see in the photo
• Arrange the 3 pairs of skewers as in the photo, with some paper underneath to catch excess glue
• Prop up each end of the second pair of skewers to 0.1 of a skewer length above the table, to give them 'dihedral'
• Prop up each end of the third pair of skewers to 0.2 of a skewer length above the table, to give them even more 'dihedral'
• Get down to table top height and look along the spars, and make sure they are as straight as possible
• Lay down a thick line of glue all the way down each join, as in the photo

How To Build A Roller Kite - Sail

The template shown above represents one side of the kite sail. You will now transfer these measurements to the sail plastic as follows...

• Firstly, take the large bag that you will be using for the sail, and lay it flat on the table
• Make sure the spars are dry, then lay the vertical spar on the edge of the bag and mark the position of the nose and tail of the kite
• With a ruler, measure and mark all the other points as in the photo on the left- do the sail 'wing-tips' last, laying down the horizontal spars to mark a dot at each spar end
• Remove the spars then use the marking pen to rule lines between the dots - see the photo on the right

Note: Arranging the spars on the plastic by eye is quite accurate enough, as long as you take some care. Since both sides of the sail will be identical, any small error in judging the 90 degree angle has almost no effect. I have made the dots big just so they show up easily in the photo.

• Flip the plastic bag over, and trace over all the black lines using your marker pen and ruler
• Cut out a rectangular section of the bag containing the kite sail, open it out and lay it flat on the table - you can now see the complete sail outline, as in the photo

• Lay clear sticking tape along all the lines except the trailing edge of the upper sail and the leading edge of the lower sail - each taped line should show through the center of the tape
• With scissors, cut along the all the black lines - this will leave half the width of the sticking tape inside the sail outline

Note 1: I pull off the length of tape required, plus a bit extra on each end, then lay it down in one motion, pressing to the plastic at both ends at once - then I smooth along the tape with a finger, making sure it is stuck down firmly along its entire length.

Note 2: Don't worry about overlapping lengths of tape at the corners, it will all look tidier after the cutting is done.

• Place the long vertical spar over the plastic, with the edge tape facing up
• Cap the ends of the spar with electrical tape, as in the photo, by sticking it down over the bamboo and plastic then folding it under the plastic to stick on the other side - a bit tricky, take your time!
• Next, lay down the 2 horizontal spars and cap each end with electrical tape - pull the slack out of the plastic, but don't pull it really tight
• Finally, add extra pieces of tape - see the 5 pieces of yellow tape in the photo
• Secure the upper horizontal spar to the vertical spar by running lines of glue above and below where the spars cross, as in the photo
• Secure the lower horizontal spar to the vertical spar with a drop of glue above and below where the spars cross, as in the photo

How To Build A Roller Kite - Keel

In this photo, pieces of clear sticky tape are indicated by yellow rectangles.

• Mark out a triangle on some spare sail plastic, as per the dimensions on the template
• Cut off 4 pieces of flying line, each about 1.2SL long
• Cut out the triangle and tape down 2 lengths of flying line onto one side, as visible in the photo
• Now flip the plastic over and tape down another 2 lengths of flying line, directly over the first 2
• Also lay down tape along the remaining edge of the keel, on both sides of the plastic
• Reinforce the keel by sticking down and wrapping extra bits of tape where the pieces of line come out, making sure the plastic remains flat
• Where the 4 pieces of line come together, tie a knot close to the plastic, then tie another one further out, as in the photo
• Also tie knots close to the plastic at the other 2 corners

How To Build A Roller Kite - Sail Tethering

At this point you need to make sure the glue is dry on the frame. If it is...

• Lay down the kite with the bamboo on top, and cut 2 short lengths of flying line - about 3/4 of a skewer length each
• First, tape the lines to the lower sail near the tips - over the bamboo, around the sail edge and then back towards the bamboo - as shown by the yellow rectangle in the photo
• Lay the lines across the upper sail and tape them down with just a small piece of tape near the sail corner
• Carefully pull each line through the tape until there is no slack - as in the photo

During test flying, it might be necessary to slacken off one of these lines to get the kite to fly straight. Once you are happy with the trim, you should add more tape to make sure the line never slips during flight. It should still be possible to pull a little line through by hand though.

How To Build A Roller Kite - Bridle

Firstly, attach the keel...

• Poke 2 holes in the lower sail, near the lower horizontal spar, where indicated by the black dots near the top of the photo
• Take the keel, poke the upper 2 lines through the holes near the horizontal spar, pull tight against the knot, then tie them off around the bamboo
• Now poke the bottom 2 holes in the plastic, using the keel to find the exact spots for the holes
• Thread the lines, pull tight against the knots, and tie them off tightly around the bamboo

These knots must never come loose, so use tiny drops of glue to keep them secure.

Next, attach the bridle...

• Lay the kite down with the keel on top, then cut a length of flying line, about 5 skewers long
• Tie a small simple overhand loop into each end of the line
• Poke 2 holes in the upper sail where indicated by black dots in the photo
• Attach one end to the vertical spar through the 2 holes in the upper sail - use a simple hitch and pull tight against the knot, then secure with a tiny dob of glue
• Attach the other end to the keel using a Larks Head knot, and pull tight against the keel's big knot

Finally, take a length of flying line about half a skewer long, and tie one end to the bridle line with a shiftable knot such as the Prussik shown in the photo. Tie a small simple overhand loop into the other end, just to get a big knot.

At this point, you've pretty much finished making the 2-Skewer Roller!

How To Build A Roller Kite - Preparing To Fly

Finally, make up a flying line and attach it to the bridle with a Lark's Head knot. See the photo above.

As a final check, lift the kite by the knot on the end of the bridle line. Shift the Prussik knot along the bridle line until the kite hangs at about a 30 degree angle from the horizontal.

Also lift the kite with a finger under the nose and a finger under the tail, balancing it on the vertical spar. Try this a few times, and if it's clear that one side of the kite is heavier, add small bits of electrical tape to the spar caps on the lighter side, to balance it up.

How To Build A Roller Kite - Flying!

Assuming there is some breeze outside, just dangle the kite at arm's length until the wind catches it. As long as you feel the kite pulling, let out line slowly by letting it slip through your fingers. If it refuses to climb despite pulling on your hand, shift the Prussik knot towards the nose a bit, and try again. Keep going until the kite behaves itself!

Another approach is to get a helper to hold the kite up and let it go, with maybe 10 or 20 meters of line let out. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to make it easy to let more line out.

Finally, if the kite doesn't seem stable enough, looping around in both directions even in light wind, just add a simple short tail and try again. However, if you have put the correct dihedral in both spars, this should not be necessary!

If the kite flies ok, but tends to hang to the left or right, try pulling some tether line through, on the opposite side of the main sail. For example, if the kite always seems to want to loop to the left when gusts hit it, pull some line through on the right side, as viewed from the flier. Make very small adjustments until the kite flies noticeably better.

Here's a picture of the MBK 2-Skewer Roller Kite being launched, down at a local flying field.

Have fun flying, and I hope you've enjoyed learning how to build a Roller kite!

All the above info, plus much more is available in a PDF eBook which covers the entire 2-skewer series of kites.

Last updated: 2 Jun 2010