How To Make A Barn Door Kite

Complete Instructions For The MBK Dowel Barn Door Kite

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!

The instructions on how to make a Barn Door kite might look awfully long, but that's because they are so detailed. For those who like pictures, every detail is illustrated with photographs too. Just quickly work your way through from top to bottom, skimming over any detail that you don't need.

The MBK Dowel Barn Door is a large tail-less design based on the traditional American kite. This kite is strictly a light wind flier, but can cope with gusts as long as they are not too strong. The kite is designed to roll up into a slim cylindrical package like a Sled, thanks to the 4 detachable corners of the sail and the toggle-linked bow line. Setting up on the flying field takes around 5 minutes. If you don't follow the instructions, that could be more like 25 minutes! Of course, if you have room, you can always leave this Barn Door ready-to-fly. When you are familiar with setting up and flying the Dowel Diamond, move up to this Barn Door for more of a challenge!

Now's the time to read up on the kite making tools and materials required for making a Dowel Barn Door, if you haven't already.

If kiting knots are a mystery to you, then it's also a great time to look at some knot tying instructions for MBK kites!

I have chosen to make '1 Dowel Length' equal to 1.2 meters for every kite in the Dowel series. If you are in North America, 4 feet of 1/8" dowel will result in an even lighter kite. Avoid those windy days!

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Sail

The template shown above represents one side of the kite sail. You will now transfer these measurements to the sail plastic as follows...

• Firstly, take a large bag that will fit the entire Template shape within one side, and lay it flat on the floor.
• Mark dots on the plastic which correspond to the corners of the Template. I have highlighted the end of each straight line in yellow since the marker pen lines and dots are a bit hard to see. There is no need to use a T-square, or an extra-long ruler since any small errors in position will be duplicated on the other side of the sail.
• Using the marking pen, rule lines between the dots. For lines longer than the ruler, just add a few extra dots using one of the dowel spars as a ruler! Then it's easy to connect the dots with a ruler. It's probably best not to rule the whole line with the dowel, since it bends easily.

• 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. As before, the lines are hard to see so I have added yellow dots at the corners.

When doing the following, most of the width of the tape should be inside the kite's outline. Use a single length of tape for each line. Hold it out straight, touch it down to the plastic at one end, then at the other end, dab it down in the middle, then press down all along its length.

• Lay clear sticking tape along all the lines, letting it overlap at the corners.
• With scissors, cut along all the black lines. This will leave most of the width of the sticking tape inside the sail outline.

This is a good time to add corner straps to the left and right wing-tips of the sail. Also, add a corner strap to both the bottom corners of the plastic sail.

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Spars

For this barn-door, you need long lengths of 4mm wooden dowel. It is easily cut to the lengths required with a small cheap hack-saw.

Note: The length of bought dowel can be somewhat inaccurate. So if you have bought 2.4 meter lengths of dowel, you might have a couple of centimeters less than you bargained for! But don't worry, I have adjusted the length of this kite to allow for that. ;-)

• Lay down dowel diagonally over the sail, cutting off a length that goes from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner. This is one diagonal spar.
• Do the same for the other diagonal spar which goes from top-right to bottom-left.
• Lay down dowel horizontally over the sail, and cut it to length so it goes from the left-most corner to the right-most corner. Mark this dowel with an 'H' since it is your horizontal spar.
• Cut off a very short (0.01DL) length of dowel. This will be used as the bow-line toggle.
• Using your wood file, round off the tips of every piece of dowel you cut off.
• Using the black marker, make a line around each diagonal spar, 0.16DL from one end.
• Finally, use your hack-saw to cut a notch into the unmarked end of each diagonal spar, 0.05DL from the tip. Make the notch just the width of the saw-blade, and about 1/4 - 1/3 of the dowel width deep.
• Cut off a piece of flying line about 0.15DL long, fold it in half and then tie a small Overhand Loop Knot into it. See the top photo over there to the right.
• Tie the 2 loose ends into a notch on one of the diagonal spars. A Granny Knot will do, with a small drop of wood glue to secure it. See the bottom photo over there.
• Do the same for the other diagonal spar. These loops will anchor the bottom corner straps of the sail.

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Attachment Tapes

Each diagonal spar will have an insulation tape tie attached to it, which will be used to lash the spar to the horizontal spar before flying.

• Firstly lay down the 3 spars over the sail, carefully lining up each tip with its corresponding sail corner. Make a mark on both the diagonal spars where they cross the horizontal spar. Remove the horizontal spar.
• Measure and cut off two 0.15DL lengths of insulation tape. Fold them in thirds, length-wise so they look long and thin, with all the stickiness inside. These are the white tapes in the top photo.
• Measure and cut off another length of tape that is long enough to go all the way around the dowel, plus a little more. Cut it in half, in the length-wise direction, so its width is halved. You will need both pieces. These are the red tapes in the photo.
• Attach the tapes at the spar-crossing points which you marked on the diagonal spars. Each red tape wraps around the dowel, attaching the longer folded tape to the dowel.
• Line up the diagonal spars again, with each tip over the corresponding sail corner. One spar will be laying on top of the other one, where they cross. Mark this position exactly, by drawing a line all around the top spar.
• Take a 0.3DL length of 50 pound flying line and tie it around the spar, right over the line you drew. Put a Granny knot right in the middle, so there is an equal amount of line coming out from each side of the knot. Put a tiny drop of glue on the knot. See the bottom photo.

• Prepare 6 lengths of electrical insulation tape, each one about 4 times longer than it is wide. Stick them by a corner onto something handy like a table edge. You can remove them one at a time as needed.
• Lay down the diagonal spar that will be on the bottom where they cross over, lining it up with the corresponding corners of the sail. Also, the long tape tie needs to be on the bottom, against the plastic sail.
• Cap the top end of the spar with tape, as in the top photo, by sticking it down over the dowel and plastic then folding it under the plastic to stick on the other side - a bit tricky, take your time!
• For added strength, put another piece of tape across the cap, folding the corners around and under the sail plastic.
• Do the other diagonal spar similarly, using 2 more pieces of tape.
• Finally, add the last 2 pieces of tape just below the tape ties, as in the bottom photo.

Now there's a little work to be done on the horizontal spar. Use 50 pound flying line, either nylon or polyester (Dacron) for the bow line. That page shows a 6mm dowel, but of course you must use your 4mm (1/8") horizontal spar dowel.

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Bridle

• Turn the plastic over so the diagonal spars lay against the floor.
• Near the top end of the kite, find one of those marks you made around the dowel (0.16DL from the tip). At this location, poke 2 small holes in the plastic, one on either side of the dowel.
• Do the same to the other diagonal spar.
• Cut off 1.5DL of 50 pound flying line.
• Tie a Simple Overhand Loop into each end. Make them as small as possible, since the loops aren't being used, just the knots!
• Pass one end through one of the holes, around the spar, and out through the other near-by hole in the plastic. Tuck the loop knot through and pull tight against the plastic to form a Single Wrap Slip Knot. There it is in the photo.
• Do similarly with the other diagonal spar. You now have an upper bridle loop attached to the kite.

• Now place the plastic sail against the floor, so you can get to the spars on top.
• With the diagonal spar tips lined up with the sail corners, make a small hole on each side of the dowel, where they cross.
• Make sure the flying line tied to the top diagonal spar has the knot sitting right on top of the dowel, then wrap each loose end around the crossed spars - twice. The loose ends should go around in opposite directions. See the top photo.
• Pull the lines tight, then feed each one through a hole. Tie them off tightly against the plastic sail, using any knot you like.
• Pull the 2 loose ends together, and tie them into a simple knot near the end of the line. See the middle photo.
• Now take another 1.5DL length of flying line, and attach one end of it to the middle of the upper bridle loop with a Prusik knot.
• Tie a Simple Overhand Loop Knot into the other end, and attach it to the crossed spars using a Lark's Head Knot. See the bottom photo.

Finally, take a length of flying line about 0.2DL long, and tie one end to the lower bridle line with a Prusik knot. Tie a small Double Overhand Loop into the other end, just to get a large knot. There's a photo of this further down, in the section titled Before The First Flight.

At this point, you've pretty much finished making the Dowel Barn Door! However, there is a short Setup procedure to go through before it will fly...

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Setting Up

1. Flex the horizontal spar just enough to slip the bow-line toggle through its loop on the other line. I find it handy to pin the middle of the spar to the ground with a foot.
2. Spread out the plastic sail on the ground, with the diagonal spars on top.
3. Attach one of the bottom corners of the sail, pulling the tape around the tip of one of the diagonal spars. Feed the tape through the small loop, pulling just a little tension into the sail, then wrap the tape around itself back out to the tip. See the top photo.
4. Go to the other bottom spar tip and do the same thing, pulling in about the same amount of tension into the sail.
5. Lay down the bowed horizontal spar, so its tips are near the wing-tips of the sail. Fasten it to the diagonal spars with the ties, in approximately the right spots. Simply pull the ties over the crossed spars and tie off with a Granny Knot. Bear in mind that you have to be able to un-pick this knot after flying! Hence don't pull it too tight. See the middle photo.
6. Take one corner strap, locate the spar tip in it and pull just a little tension into the sail plastic. Feed the strap around the bow-line, and then wrap it around itself, back towards the tip of the spar. See the bottom photo. TIP: Lay something weighty and flat, like the winder, over the horizontal spar to pin it to the sail while doing this! Otherwise the spar will tend to slip through the ties.
7. Go to the other tip and do the same thing, pulling in about the same amount of tension into the sail. The center mark on the horizontal spar should end up right over the center crease line in the sail plastic.

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Before The First Flight

Make up a flying line and attach it to the bridle with a Lark's Head knot. See the photo over there, where the Lark's Head has been left loose.

Suspend the kite from the Double Loop Knot at the end of the bridle. Shift the Prusik Knot along the bridle line until the kite hangs at around a 20 degree angle from the horizontal. To lock the Prusik in place, take the 2 bridle lines in one hand, the flying line in the other, and pull tight. To unlock it, you just pull the bridle line straight, with the knot in the middle.

Also check that both wing tips leave the floor at the same time when you pull the kite up off the floor by the lower bridle line. If one tip comes up first, adjust the Prusik knot on the upper bridle loop until both tips come up at once.

Check the bridle slip knots on the diagonal spars. Re-tighten if necessary, and put a small drop of wood glue on each so they can never come loose.

Finally, where the diagonal spars cross, put a little glue where the lines are tied off against the plastic. Be careful not to stick the dowels together though, since they all lay together when the kite is rolled up.

You won't have to wait the full drying time for all this glue to dry, since the amounts are small, and the glue is not under much stress.

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Flying!

Firstly, if it's very windy outside, stay home! This is a light-wind kite and won't like being launched in a gale. If the wind is too strong, it might not even be stable enough to fly.

The Prusik knot on the bridle line can loosen off a little over time. If necessary, pull on all the lines to tighten the knot up before a flying session.

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. Don't let line slip through your fingers. If a gust hits the kite, the line could burn you! For a kite this big, it's a good idea to wear a glove.

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 of line. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to make it easy to let more line out.

Have fun flying, and I hope you've enjoyed learning how to make a Barn Door kite.

How To Make A Barn Door Kite - Breaking Down

I don't mean breaking down in grief because your flying session has come to an end - I mean getting the kite packed up ready for transport or storage!

1. Lay the kite on the ground with the spars on top, and flying line removed.
2. Flex a little more bow into the horizontal spar with one hand, and slip the toggle out of its loop with your other hand.
3. Un-do all the corner straps.
4. Un-pick and loosen the ties where the spars cross.
5. Rotate the diagonal spars together and place the horizontal spar beside them, on the sail.
6. Pull the sail wing-tips together, then roll up the sail, starting with the side containing the spars.
7. Finally, wrap the bridle line around the kite a few times to prevent it un-rolling. There it is in the photo, taking up no more space than a Sled kite. A good way to make a Barn Door kite if you ask me!

Some notes re the next build, to extend the wind range a bit (overly bendy spars for one thing)... shorten vertical height to 0.8DL, reduce trailing edge length (which will shift lower bridle point down), no tapes necc. below upper bridle points, reduce bow to 0.8DL

Last updated: 16 Feb 2009