How to Make a Box Kite Part 2

More Kite Stuff: Part 1 of this tutorial - Buy kites and parts - Video on making this kite - Printer friendly boxkite plan

The materials You need to make this kite:

4 pieces of wood that are each 36 inches long
4 pieces of wood that are 14 inches long
some string for tying things up (not kite string)
Some straws, optional and I will show you how I use them
Kite string
Plastic, plastic bag or newspaper
Masking Tape
Easy tools like scissors, saw for cutting the wood, marker or pencil

Before we begin making this kite here are some tips for construction. Remember that you can be creative. Work with the materials you have. The design is very forgiving and you have a lot of ways you can go about building this project.

Use a straw

If you are using round dowels for your kite you might want to find some straws that will slide over them. This makes the assembly much easier. Simply cut a notch in the straw as shown here in the picture.

Straw in place

Now the straw can be used as a way to easily assemble dowels together.

notch the pieces

You can also put a notch in the ends of pieces to help them connect better.

Tie the pieces together

The best technique for assembly is to put the two pieces together where you want them connected then apply a piece of masking tape to hold them in place. Then you wrap the joint with your string. Finally you cover the string with masking tape. This makes a really strong yet lightweight joint.

Begin assembly of the kite

Lets begin assembling the kite. Attach one of your X pieces as shown in the picture. It is 6 inches from the bottom.

Do the same thing at the other end of the kite. 6 inches away from the end.

I tied a string all the way around it at the X's for additional strenght but this is optional.

The frame is complete

This picture shows the completed frame. Note that I have taped two of the uprights right up against a wall. This made it a lot easier to work with. If you are working alone you might want to use this technique. It is really handy.

Lets Continue on with this tutorial and wrap the plastic then add the string to the kite