How To Make A Barn Door Kite
Step-by-Step - Page 1 of 3
The MBK 1-Skewer Barn Door
This set of instructions on how to make a Barn Door 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 Barn Door 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") from tip to tip, the MBK 1-Skewer Barn Door Kite is a rather small Barn Door, with dihedral and simple 1-leg bridle.
The little Barn Door is a fine light to moderate wind flier.
As a bonus, these instructions also show you how to string several of these kites together in a kite train!
Making Skewer Kites is a handy download of printable step-by-step instructions. This design and all the other 1-Skewer and 2-Skewer designs are covered.
How To Make A Barn Door Kite
Sail
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...
NOTE: Don't worry if your sail dimensions don't look exactly like the photos below. Just stick to the Template measurements, which were used for my most recently tested kite!
- Firstly, take a light plastic bag that will fit the entire Template shape within one side, and lay it flat on the floor.
- Mark dots on the plastic, corressponding to the corners of the Template. There is no need to use a T-square, since any small error will be duplicated on the other side of the sail.
- Using the marking pen, rule lines between the dots, as 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 floor - you can now see the complete sail outline, as in the photo.
- Cut along the black lines with scissors, to create the sail.
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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Making Paper Kites - A Step-By-Step Guide
Sep 18, 18 12:58 AM
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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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Your
instructions and methods are wonderful. You help the builder to focus on
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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
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