Hope someone responds to this, i ordered a walnut sol and I was wondering if oiled walnut is better. Also what’s the best oil for walnut???
This has been mentioned several times in this thread but since this is a new page I'll drop it in again. Check out Shades of Grain for information about wood finishers (much less gnarly than grinding your dama around in your arm pit. ) Depending on how the wood is finished (how finely sanded) and the wax/oil used you can end up with something like a polished piece of furniture (pretty slick) or darker and a bit of grip. I don't have a lot of walnut (2 kens) but they were both pretty finely sanded so putting on a wood finisher only slightly darkened them. The wood finisher can feel slippery/oily for a while as you play but on most woods the residue will come off. The Walnut and Mahogany kendama that I have are kind of slippery in general but with play got better; still they're not Keyaki (my fav).
Yes any damas, it's just some work better than others, cherrywood or zebrano might not get as much grip as something with more grain like beech over time.
@Uprightman posted a cool idea for knotting above the tama. He uses a separate piece of string and half a double fisherman's knot.
I'm now familiar with the 'glue on tip' hack thanks to this thread, (mega thanks!). I was just wondering, did anyone ever tried to add glue to their basecup-rim to prevent chipping? Cheersss
That's what kenditioner is for. Any wood conditioner would also work, or make your own by mixing equal parts coconut oil and beeswax.
I'm not sure that wood finishers (like Kenditioner) do more than help wood from drying out and seal off the pores to keep it from collecting dirt/sweat as easily. From what I've seen they don't really make the wood stronger and they need to be reapplied periodically at least in my experience. You might do better with mineral oil rather than coconut oil since organics can go rancid. Check here for more info: Shades of Grain
Oh wow, I'm just entering deeper down the kendama rabbit hole.... It's official - 'Hey all, I'm Cornelis and I'm addicted to kendama'. ^^
Can you put a link to where to purchase or what it’s actually called? Or show a pic of the material you’re using?? I went to a craft store once to try and get them to help me figure out a clear coat or something to put on my slick Tamas as well. Thanks for any info!
It makes sense. Fingerboard wheels are made of material designed to spin with as little friction as possible.
I believe it ... i got a tech deck some where .... so get this . I order a Nobu Nori from Kendama USA and it didn’t have a extra string or bearing ... 3 month ish prior to that my grandpa ordered me a pro mod and when it got to him it was melted at the tama... so basically I’m guna use tech decks to make up for Kendama USA not at least sending me another pack of bearings .... it’s 7 am idk why I’m up at this point
Hey Emil! Sorry to hear about your missing string pack and other problems with your Kendama. If you email help@kendamausa.com, we would be happy to help you sort everything out!
I did email months ago and i told them this ..my grandpa used his friends phone to Order it and is telling me he didn’t use his name( idk .. he’s wierd ) so he can’t find the order number which Kendama USA asked for ... which i was upset cuz that pro series Wyatt mod looked tight but it was trashed .... so i threw it away because i was pissed ..as far as the Nobu Nori i emailed Kendama USA as well and i mean i can find that order number for that but the whole situation and how the paint on the tama of the Nobu Nori mod chipped and started falling off immediately , i just desided maybe I’m not Guna mess with Kendama USA anymore. Which sucks i mean they have a cool selection but with out the Order number on the first order and not getting stuff with he 2nd i was pretty mad
Also i wasn’t trying to be mean when i post this just what happpned to me I’m aure Kendama USA didn’t mean for anything to happen and are an amazing company