Hey everyone, so I have a birch GTBH that I got about a year ago. When I got it, I played almost exclusively that kendama, but after 5 months or so I started playing it a lot less, so much that it ended up lying around a long time. I'd also treated the wood with a mix of coconut oil and beeswax. Now that I’ve picked it up again, it seems so brittle - the cup rims get porous wounds really easily now when the hit the tama or the corners of the wooden tiles of my floor. I’m pretty sure the ken was a lot less sensitive when I got it… Could it be that the break of playing it made the wood go weak? I must say the air is a bit dry at my place from using the heating a lot as it’s cold here, but the surface of the birch wood doesn’t seem dry at all. The wounds do, though, when they appear. I also tried kenditioning the wood again generously, but it doesn’t seem to have helped… Any insight would be great. If I don’t find out anything, I guess i’ll just slay it for the time it has left.
I'm by no means an expert on wood, but an arid environment does do a number on the durability of wood. Try treating again with oil and beeswax to see if its durability will return.
From what I understand organic oils are not usually your friend, at least in large amounts, since they can spoil over time. There's a bit more info about wood treatments over here: Shades of Grain
A lot of people started doing it more recently. I feel like it became more of a thing when findyourwings created "kenditioner" (http://findyourwingsco.com/shop/premiumkenditioner) I personally have a can, and it definitely works in bringing out grain of interesting woods. It also darkens the natural wood, sometimes creating a really pleasant color like what I have found with walnut. Treating kendama woods is not yet a norm, but plenty of people do it, and its definitely a way to breath some life into your kendama.
Depends on the conditioner you use and the way you condition it! I use a store-bought mixture of lemon oil and beeswax, and the first time I tried to condition a kendama, I ruined it because I put on too much and I didn't propery dry the kendama before using it. Check out this thread in The Lumber Yard for more info!