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Newbie in South Florida


KurtCira

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Sounds like you were pushing it, using a full sail kite in those winds!! That's why most of us have several, to match up kite and winds, and have a good match!

Another way to describe braking: think of it as coasting in your car! Foot off the gas and brakes!! Kite only responds when YOU give it inputs!! You're looking for a neutral setup, one that neither has too much forward drive or can't get off the ground because of too much brake!!! But that is all dependent on you, how you like the kite!! Some like it "dead", no movement at all unless told; some like a little drive so that they "ride the brakes" a bit!! How it's setup isn't the important thing, it's what works for you that counts!!

Nice thing is that the setup is never-ending, always a challenge!! Good luck and hope you find YOUR settings!!kid_devlish.gif

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If you have glued the ferrule (solid ferrules are preferred by most flyers) with an epoxy or other kind of permanent adhesive, when you break a ferrule you can't get what's left out of the rod. When you break a ferrule you have to replace the ferrule or build a new center spar. If you break a rod you tape the break and turn it around and keep flying. Therefore the solid ferrule will save you time because it is less likely to break.

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If you have glued the ferrule (solid ferrules are preferred by most flyers) with an epoxy or other kind of permanent adhesive, when you break a ferrule you can't get what's left out of the rod. When you break a ferrule you have to replace the ferrule or build a new center spar. If you break a rod you tape the break and turn it around and keep flying. Therefore the solid ferrule will save you time because it is less likely to break.

That would be true if I used epoxy or superglue. I decided to try using hot melt glue instead. This way I can replace a broken ferrule.

I read through the forum for advice on gluing and saw a discussion about glue where someone stated that they thought hot glue could be ok if you didn't live in a hot climate. Yes, if you leave your kite in a hot car that gets up to 150 degrees F. inside and you try to put the kite together before the frame has cooled it could result in ferrules being pushed inside the center rod, but most kite people wouldn't (or shouldn't) leave their kites in a hot car. My hot glue started melting at about 150-160 degrees F. so I don't anticipate a problem.

There is an important possible objection to using hot melt glue that I didn't see mentioned. How do you achieve a good and thorough filing of the joint with glue? This is also import with superglue. Normal superglue is relatively watery so it will have a hard time filling the approximate .014 clearance gap between theferrule and the tube. Therefore the common use of high-viscosity glue that is thick enough to fill the gap. Hot glue will fill the gap but is difficult to get to completely fill the joint. As soon as you apply glue to the ferrule it starts to cool and becomes difficult to spread. If you apply the glue and spread it out to coat half the ferrule it will be cool and peel off the ferrule as you try to push it in. And getting it spread evenly over the whole ferrule is difficult in itself. I had to solve these problems.:kid_cussing:

I turned to an old welding technique. I preheated the rods and ferrules with a hair dryer (about 210 degrees F. max outlet temp) and used a nozzle to focus the heat from about 2-3 inches away. I then grabbed a ferrule, put some hot glue on it from my cheap gun, spread it out with my fingertip, heated it again under the hair dryer, spread the glue again, heated it again, inserted it into the rod with a rotating twist while holding both pieces in front of the heat, pulled it out and heated it one last time, spread it one last time with my finger then inserted it to 50% depth. I wiped off excess glue as soon as it started to cool, then used a small Scotch-Brite pad to finish cleaning whenthey were cold.

The ferrules seem very solid, and all I need to remove a broken one is a heat source. :kid_content: I'll let you know how it works out. It may be that hot glue joint failures are largly a matter of poor assembly technique.

Finally, I decided that I will test the relative stiffness of all my leading edge sets (I will have 6 different tube types) by supporting the end of the leading edge horizontally, putting a 5 pound weight in the center and measure the deflection. Has anyone out there tried this and have any data to share?

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Could also pre-heat the rods in an oven, on fairly low. Might get more even heat. Used to do this before welding with cast iron. Great topic!

Tapatalk for iPhone.

The problem I see with using an oven is that unlike cast iron the hollow rods and tiny ferrules begin to cool very quickly, and since I needed to heat the rods and ferrules several times it made more sense to use a small hot air source that can be on the work table. Plus you would need a big oven for a 31" long rod!;)

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Pre-heating is great when you're at home and have all the materials and tools at your disposal. On the other hand, when you're outdoors flying and have a bare minimum of tools, including what others may have, then taping the tube where it splintered and putting the other end on the ferrule gets you back up in the air in less than five minutes.

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Pre-heating is great when you're at home and have all the materials and tools at your disposal. On the other hand, when you're outdoors flying and have a bare minimum of tools, including what others may have, then taping the tube where it splintered and putting the other end on the ferrule gets you back up in the air in less than five minutes.

Pulling a new rod all set up out of your bag and replacing the broken one would take even less time.;) But if you just had a ferrule it wouldn't be too difficult to affect a temporary repair with a lighter and short stick of hot glue. Then do it right when you get home and put the repaired rod back in your bag.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

A quick update, and thanks to all. This will probably be my last post in the "New to Rev Flying" catagory. I feel as if I have progressed quite a bit in the last month, despite having yet to see another Rev fly. I joined a Meet-Up kite fly on Fort Lauderdale beach a couple weeks ago and though I was the only Rev flying (or multi-line) I hope to help two of the members who have Revs to learn how fly them so I can have some company. I am going to try to make it to the Treasure Island Kite Festival this January and get a chance to meet some of you and learn more about this sport. I can now fly inverted almost as well as upright and backwards flight is getting easier. Last weekend I was working on stop dives into a tip stand. If the wind is steady it's really pretty easy. I made Barresi style leaders for my handles and I find that I'm using about 3 1/2" to 4" of brake most of the time, but I'm continueing to experiment. I've experimented with my new frames (I'll have 6 different sets) and will have a future post with rod data I've put together that I hope the rest of you will find useful (or at least provocative).:kid_devlish:src="http://www.revkites.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/kid_devlish.gif">

Finally, I have a new B-Series vented with Race Rods coming today, along with 2 more sets of handles (13" & 15") and a couple of more line sets. Am I addicted yet?

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