This set of instructions on how to make a Diamond 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!
These instructions on how to make a Diamond kite might look a bit long, but each step is quite simple to do. Just steadily work your way through from top to bottom, skimming over any detail that you don't need.
At 29cm (11 1/2") tall, the MBK 1-Skewer Diamond Kite is a rather small Diamond, with dihedral and simple 1-leg bridle. With a long enough tail, it is equally at home in light or moderate strength winds.
As a bonus, these instructions also show you how to string several of these kites together in a kite train!
There's a 2-kite train over there on the left. This design is so cheap and easy, why not try an even longer train. Imagine 10 or more, all flying on the one line!
1-Skewer kites are fun, but somewhat toy-like :-) due to their rather small size. Fancy something much bigger to fly, suitable for teenagers and adults?
Have a look at the e-book up there on the right. So you can work from nicely-formatted printouts or direct from the screen on your laptop or other device while offline.
1-Skewer kites are fun, but somewhat toy-like :-) due to their rather small size. Fancy something much bigger to fly, suitable for teenagers and adults?
This e-book of step-by-step instructions will help you make a much larger version, in wooden dowels and plastic.
Now's the time to read up on the 'tools' and materials required for making a Skewer kite, if you haven't already.
The template shown above represents one side of the kite sail. You will now transfer these measurements to the sail plastic as follows...


For this Diamond, you need two 30cm (12") bamboo BBQ skewers. The photo shows them laid over the sail, before being snipped to length with scissors.


Wait for the glue to dry. Maybe start another one of these kites, so you can fly them together in a train later on!



At this point, you've finished making the 1-Skewer Diamond!
To attach the flying line, just Lark's Head the flying line to the short kite line as in the photo.
Now for the cool bit... If you have made 2 or more kites, each attached to their own flying line, you can hitch them together in a train. Just put a fair-sized Loop Knot into both ends of each flying line, and then it's easy to attach and un-attach the kites. My first 2 Diamonds flew great with a 10 meter (35 feet) line between them.
Firstly, if it's very windy outside, stay home! This is a light-to-moderate wind kite and won't like being launched in a gale.
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 taking loop after loop off the winder.
Another approach is to get a helper to hold the kite up and let it go, on the end of maybe 10 or 20 meters (around 50 feet) of line. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to make it easy to let more line out.
The picture shows this latest version of the 1-Skewer Diamond on its second outing. Coping well in a very gusty moderate breeze.
Have fun flying, and I hope you've enjoyed learning how to make a Diamond kite!
The "Making Skewer Kites" e-book
has this design and many others in bamboo skewers and plastic. A handy approach is to just print out the pages for the kite you want to make next. The e-book is also handy for working off-line on a laptop or other device.
That's great value already, but "The Big MBK Book Bundle" is even better! This includes the "Making Dowel Kites" compilation e-book, plus several other handy kiting e-books.
Now, just in case you have actually made and flown this kite at least once already...
You've probably read a kite-flying story or 2 of mine, after they appear under the "what's new?" link on this site. I sometimes wonder if anyone else has made and flown this particular design...
If you feel your efforts really paid off when the the kite finally got airborne - please type a few paragraphs in here telling us all about it!
P.S. I can only accept stories of at least 300 words. Just mention a few details like the weather, onlookers, the kite's behavior and so on - 300 words is easy!
Click below to read about various kite-flying adventures, contributed by other visitors to this page...
The Idiot Proof Kite 



This kite flew quite well. As you can gather from the name, it was easy to make. I would recommend the 1-Skewer Diamond to any person who doesn't have …
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