American Kitefliers Association

Arthur , sounds like you covered all the variables including practice. My first thought is to expirement with tip shape.
   The objective is to bond layers and at the same time keeping the "hole" tiny. The process is melting the layers causing the melted material to mingle with each other. Tips are shaped like a wedge making the top layer hole large and the under layer (s) smaller. I found custom shaping the tip by having more of a blunt point more effective. Not too blunt that it creates a big hole. The blunt tip will "push" some of the melted material forward to lower layers improving the bond.  Thanks for mentioning all the things you have tried ,that helps people think about all the different methods to try.

CLIFF

Here's a video of Jose Sainz (a younger Jose :-) )building a kite and includes hot tacking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Y0WsH4 … 6A_indLPQQ

Use a sharp point (grind down) and  with a spring added to help aim the tacker.
You can see it here:
https://sites.google.com/site/kites4all/home/hot-tools

Nice to see what Jose looked like when he was 21   :>))   
   Wish he had the tacker working.  I love the way he handles the scissors .

CLIFF

Thanks for the replies. Cliff, what surface do you work on, glass, wood, Formica? The film with Jose is obviously staged so you can't tell what he uses. Are you using a standard soldering iron with out temperature control? In the film he uses a wood burner, any idea if this is hotter than a soldering iron?

I will keep experimenting.

Hi Arthur,  my work surface is a glass table (from a glass sliding door) I do all my hot cutting on it, including hot tacking. Wood burners or soldering irons ,to me are the same . I have 4 or 5 irons each has a different shape tip for different jobs. They are anywhere from 25 to 40 watts. I don't use my light dimmer device to vari their heat. One of my cutters is a Weller 250 watt gun with a flattened tip (like a blunt knife) I use the Dimmer to cut down the heat but primarilly to make the gun run cooler . Get's kinda hot when used for lots of long cuts . I also have a sail cutter which I use most frequently. Each of these tools have a certain purpose.  Getting back to hot cutting ... I found that the tip shape is extreemly important ,more so than wattage. You need a minimum amount of heat but once you get to the melting temperature of the fabric time becomes a factor. You've got to get in there, fuse and get out. I work on a "hard surface" which stops the tip from sinking too deep. Paper or wood will allow deeper penitration but will give you a larger hole, so tip shape becomes important. Some people have a light gague coil spring around the tip to steady the tip for better control , it anchors the position and presses on the fabric , that's good for me and my shakey old hands. :>)  I've seen many kites factory made coming out of Asia with hot tack seams. Very fast and cheap way for volume production.  I know your talking about tacking but probably more folks use adheasives for positioning fabric pieces but that's all about what your comfortable with. Volumes can be written about adheasive methods for positioning. And tacking for that matter.
  I hope more people respond to your inquiry so we get lots of ideas shared.


CLIFF

Thanks Cliff, that gives me a starting point.
Arthur

I have always had a hard time with hot tacking.  If I keep the touch light enough not to melt a big (to me anyway) hole then it isn't enough to keep the fabric together.  And if I melt it enough to keep it together, I end up with what I see as an unsightly hole.  So I use adhesives for ripstop.  Spray adhesive works well but leaves a residue to clean up. Double sided tape - either in the seam our most often outside it where it is peeled off and thrown away after sewing.  Not so much luck with rubber cement.  Next up for trying is wallpaper paste - it has been suggested as very easy to use and clean up.

For working with banner cloth (200d) adhesives and tapes just won't stick well enough so I was forced to retry hot tacking.  Linda Sanders (OzFeathers) suggested a sharper tip and a higher heat -- which I adopted with a lot more success.  Definitely a glass surface.

Thanks TBHinPhilly. I have no problem with Linda's banner material. I had to get that right as she is doing a workshop with us later this year so I thought I would try on ripstop and I am having trouble getting any sort of bond that doesn't split as you transfer it to the machine.
Cliff has pointed me to KiteBuilder but there is so much on there it is taking a long time to troll through.
When I get a result I will post it.