How To Build A Diamond Kite
Step-by-Step - The MBK Simple Diamond
Learn how to build a Diamond kite with these easy-to-follow instructions. Fully illustrated with photographs, every step of the way.
Don't worry about how long this page looks....
The steps are easy, hence this simple Diamond kite comes together very quickly!
Sometimes I go out with my young son to fly this kite. A classic picture of father and son, out flying a kite!
Like nearly every Diamond, it's very reliable and easy to handle in flight. Watch it wing-waggle and swoop occasionally, staying up as long as the wind blows.
The tail is simplicity itself - just a long slim rectangle of the same plastic you use for the sail. For more stability in fresher winds, it's easy to just add on a bit more length to the tail.
Making Dowel Kites is an e-book that's worth a look (or printing off) when you want to explore bigger and better kites. Using similar materials and construction methods - that is, just dowels, plastic and tape.
This simple home-made design excels in Light to Gentle breezes.
1. How To Build A Diamond Kite -
Measuring The Sail
You might want to take a quick look at the materials and tools for making this kite, first. Then just click the Back button on your browser to get back here.
- Place your plastic bag flat on the floor, with the closed end at the top.
- Starting
from just below the top-left corner of the bag, measure and mark 3 dots
on the plastic. I've high-lighted the dots in yellow, in the photo.
Judge the horizontal and vertical directions by eye. If you're careful,
there's no need for a T-square.
2. How To Build A Diamond Kite -
Cutting The Sail
- Take your ruler and connect the dots with the black marker pen, as shown in the photo. (OK, the lines appear a bit faint in the photo!)
- Flip the plastic over and trace over all the black lines.
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- Cut along the top and right side of the bag, and open it out to show the complete sail outline, as in the left photo above.
- Take your scissors and cut along all the black lines. As in the right photo above, your Diamond kite sail is nearly complete!
3. How To Build A Diamond Kite -
Adding The Spars
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- Lay a length of your 5mm (3/16") dowel down the center-line of the sail, line it up with the top sail corner and saw it off at the bottom corner. See the left photo, above, where the dowel has not yet been cut.
- Cut off a 5 cm (2 inch) length of insulation tape, and stick down the dowel to the plastic. See the right photo, above.
- Do the bottom end of the dowel the same way.
- Do the other dowel similarly, so the kite looks like the photo on the right.
Note: After flying this kite for several months, I now recommend you add another piece of tape to the top corner of the sail, at right-angles to the first tape. For added strength!
4. How To Build A Diamond Kite -
Attach The Flying Line
Try this Stake Line Winder
from Amazon, if you are not sure where to get suitable flying line. The 30 pound strength is ideal for the Simple Series or Soft Series kites.
- Poke a hole in the plastic sail, right over where the dowels cross each other.
- Thread the free end of your flying line through the hole, and tie it firmly around the crossing-point, as in the photo. Ignore the loop in the photo, unless you want to make a simple bridle like I did...
5. Rather Important!
Attach The Tail
- From spare scraps of sail plastic, make up a long narrow strip no shorter than 5 times the length of the kite itself. The strip should be about 5 cm (2 inches) wide.
- Thread one end of the tail around the bottom of the vertical spar, as you can see in the photo. Tie the tail to the dowel with a simple knot.
And Now - FLYING!
I hope you enjoyed learning how to build a Diamond kite. There's ours in the photo above, flying around on a perfect day for it.
Out In The Field
Diamond kite stories of my real-life flying experiences are worth checking out!
Illustrated with photos and videos, of course.
That's it, you're ready to fly. Take the kite out whenever you can see leaves moving in the trees or bushes. If it won't stay up, try letting out plenty of line and then towing it up at jogging pace. It might find enough wind higher up.
With plenty of wind, this kite will waggle from side to side, so make sure all the tip-tapes are pressed down firmly and secure. I had one let go once, which brought the kite down suddenly. With some spare tape I had handy, the sail tip was soon fixed and the Diamond waggled straight back up to full flying height.
Ever Made This Kite?
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!
Flight Reports From Other Visitors
Click below to read about various kite-flying adventures, contributed by other visitors to this page...
Simple Dowel Kites at a Cub Scout Camp 
My son is a cub scout and we were invited to attend a "family camp". Parents were asked to arrange activities for the cubs that would contribute towards …
We have a winner!
I helped my 11 year old son build this for his class project in science as he was studying the principles of flight. Half of the grade was design, the …
Terrific!
My son and I made this kite as part of a school project and were amazed with the results. It flew perfectly from the start - I was truly impressed!
…
First ever go at making a kite!
:) This is my first go at making a kite, and I'm stoked!
I've been flying now for a couple of years, bought kites, single and dual. But for some reason …
Black Diamond
We had a kite derby for cub scouts. We made a sail kite and a box kite in the two weeks we had to prepare for it. Both crashed and burned during their …
Best kite I've ever had!
My son got a cheap kite as a gift for his 6th birthday, and it broke in about 20 seconds. He was very disappointed, so I decided to build one.
With …
Easy. Cheap. And Fun as Fudge. Not rated yet
I am 15 and had to make a kite for my math class (following it's geometric meaning and characteristics and all that), and I made this kite in 1-2 hours. …
Need winders, reels, flying line?
We earn a small commission if you click the following link and buy something. The item does not cost you any more, since we are an "affiliate" of Amazon.
Click here to buy anything you need. Just use the Search box in there if you need different weights or lengths of line, for example.
P.S. Keep an eye out for books by kite author Glenn Davison, a prominent kite person in the USA.
What's New!
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Beach Kites
Sep 19, 18 06:00 AM
This page was published back when smaller images were the norm on the Web. Take a look anyway, since some great photography was found, to illustrate the page...
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Testimonials
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"Love the easy to understand step by step instructions, made from next to nothing materials and above all so much fun to fly... cheers Tim for sharing your well thought out pdf kite designs with the whole world.
Very satisfying making your own and watching them get air-born for the first time."
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"I decided to run kite making as an elective again on this camp in the past week - so I bought all your e-books, a bunch of materials, and then took a group of 10 high school students through making the kites over 4 days. We built a diamond, a Barn Door, a Delta, and two skew delta kites. Again - every single kite flew."
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Very detailed and USEFUL information - thanks for such a great book."
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"30+
years ago, I tried making a kite using the 'instructions' in a free
kite-safety booklet. What a disappointment for a young boy.
Your
instructions and methods are wonderful. You help the builder to focus on
accuracy, without making it hard. Also, you use materials that are
durable, yet cheap!"
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Wind Speeds
Light air
1-5 km/h
1-3 mph
1-3 knots
Beaufort 1
Light breeze
6–11 km/h
4–7 mph
4–6 knots
Beaufort 2
Gentle breeze
12–19 km/h
8–12 mph
7–10 knots
Beaufort 3
Moderate breeze
20–28 km/h
13–18 mph
11–16 knots
Beaufort 4
Fresh breeze
29–38 km/h
19–24 mph
17–21 knots
Beaufort 5
Strong breeze
39–49 km/h
25–31 mph
22–27 knots
Beaufort 6
High Wind
50-61 km/h
32-38 mph
28-33 knots
Beaufort 7
Comments
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