CHAPTER I.
GENERAL KITE CONSTRUCTION.
The kite is usually made of a framework of wood, is lashed together with cord, strung with cord according to design, and finally is covered with paper; but in each case some other material might be substituted.
The drawings in this book have the framework represented by full lines and the string by slant dotted lines. The framework must be kept light and strong. It is usually made of wood, the pieces varying in number from two in the plain tailless, to sixteen in a good box-kite, and to a great many in a large tetrahedral kite.
The soft tough woods are better than the hard, heavy woods. Spruce is considered the most satisfactory, but yellow pine, basswood, and even white cedar will do. For a three foot kite, the California redwood shake is very satisfactory. It is a kind of long shingle of uniform thickness thruout, is six inches wide and three feet long. The shake is split into strips about 716″ or 12″ wide, and bends sufficiently for the bow. Some box factories will rip out spruce sticks in 25c. bundles for boys at about one penny each. Some good sizes are 316″×38″×3′, 14″×12″×4′ and 38″×34″×5′. These should be straight grained and well seasoned.
Sticks should be uniform in weight and bending qualities. Where sticks are to be centered, careful measurements must be made, then by balancing over a knife-blade the difference in weight can be detected and the heavy end reduced by whittling off some. Some try to find center by balancing, but this is very inaccurate; a string may be used for measuring.
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Fig. 1.
Aluminum tubing is used, especially for parts of model aeroplanes, but it is not available in many places. Some make frames of paper, but they are more for curiosity than utility. For large frames bamboo is excellent, but requires a different fastening of joints than sawn out material, Fig. 1. Split bamboo is excellent for curved outlines and for light framework of butterflies and bird kites, and for Jap-
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