I was thinking about making my own flying lines from bulk Spectra, any tips on sleeving or cutting to equal lenghts? The reason for this is that when flying my bigger kites it feels like they run out of room to quickly. I was thinking a bigger window would help!

Most places that sell bulk spectra also sell sleeving kits. If not, what you'll need is some dacron/polyester sleeve material (I used the covers from some thin double braid tweaking lines I had) and then to pull the line through, I took an old steel guitar string and bent it in half. Make a great / cheap pulling tool.

To make all lines even, I stake a screw driver in the dirt and walk back the line quadrupled until I get the length I want, then I mark it with a marker, cut it with a soldering iron or knife.

Then to fasten the sleeves, I use figure 8 knots.

A bit of google searching plus the info above should get you going.

go to flysurfer and read their line building tutorial.... professional and accurate.

http://www.flysurfer.com/Content/158/?mnid=369

That flysurfer tutorial is pretty cool.

But as bigkahuna wrote, there are other ways. You do need to get the bulk spectra in the desired weight, sleeving in the proper weight(comes in kits or rolls), and a sleeving tool (guitar string or sewing needle with large eye - push it backwards through the sleeve). You then need something real secure to anchor the lines while stretching (I use an s hook bolted to a tree) and a kite stake set in the ground at the desired length away from your anchor bolt.

What I do is sleeve the loose end of the line while its still on the sleeve. Run the line through your anchor point and walk it back to your ground stake. You now have one line that is folded at your anchor point creating two segments of equal length. Put the sleeve on something like a screwdriver and hold the spool in your other hand. You want to stretch the lines to ~50% of their specified breaking strength (so really lean against it if you are using 300 - 500# power lines). Pull hard 10 times or so - you'll feel the spectra stretching and locking its fibers into place. Pop / bounce the lines a couple times to really make sure you prestretch them (or you'll be equalizing your lines later).

Once stretched, cut the spool side with a sharp knife or hot knife and sleeve the line. Stretch again and then cut the lines in the middle while they are not under tension. Sleeve both open ends now and adjust your knots to equalize the lines (may take some time but if you are careful with your cutting and assure your sleeves are equal in length and tie the same knots you should get them close to dead on right off the bat.) Hook them on your ground stake. This is especially helpful if equalizing as you can move the sleeving up and down the line while its wrapped on the stake so you can get it close to where it needs to be without guessing.

Now repeat the process with your brake lines.

Under tension, match your left to right and your left to left and right to right. Equalize where needed.

I use figure of 8 knots on the sleeves as they slip less.

You want your sleeving to be roughly the same weight as your fly lines to prevent slippage. What I mean is you should not use 500# sleeving for 250# brake lines - you can but the ID of the sleeving will not allow for a snug fit so it can slip.

Even under best case scenarios, you will probably get line stretch at some point so you'll need to re-equalize the lines (get your stake out again). But its not too big a deal. I've probably made up close to 20 linesets - it can be a pain but the more you do it the better you get with your technique and the quicker you can get things done.

One thing I've learned, and its not in keeping with the theory of minimizing knots in your lines is to tie my sleeves as follows:

======+x--+---- to kite


I first put a knot in the bitter end of the sleeve to hold the sleeving in place on the line. Now stretch the sleeve along the line a couple of times. When fully stretched out I put another in the sleeve on the opposite side so you now have a sleeve that looks like this
(knot 1)+----------(knot 2)+---------------------------------- to kite

Fold the two knots over to each other to create your loop ============++ and secure with a figure eight knot ==========+X+------

So now you have a knot on the bitter end of the sleeve to prevent slipping, a figure 8 knot to form the sleeve and a knot on your sleeve leading to your fly lines to prevent the fly line from being pulled through your sleeving. This knot people will disagree about as it is technically a knot in your fly line and it should weaken the fly line but, and I may just be lucky, I have never had a line break on me and I think the key is tying that knot in the sleeving so the spectra doesn't bare down on itself.

It may seem more complicated than it actually is but it is a much cheaper route to take and if you buy the rolls properly you can make a couple of linesets for the price of one and they are the length you want.

has anyone tried putting longer lines on their bigger kites?

What do you mean by long?

I think 25 - 30 meters covers it for just about every kite in most conditions. If you get real long lines and put them on a large kite (which will generally turn slower anyway) they will give the kite a longer powerstroke but even more mushy control.

Stick with 25 - 30 meters unless there is some real reason to go longer - and in that case, just make up some 5 -10 meter extenders that you can add to your fly lines if needed.

I have tried making my own lines, I find it is time better spent looking for a good deal on ebay. bulk spectra is not that much cheaper than a nice line set.