While DS exchange is for buy/sell/trade, The Lumberyard is a place for manufacturers to talk shop. Share insights on wood grain, other build materials, and anything else DIY.
What's up! Stoked to see how conversations between the makers can help educate players. Question to other makers: what is a common misconception about kendama manufacturing? One thing that stands out to me is wood density. Most think that wood species A will always be heavier than wood species B and that's just not true. I have Birch kens that are heavier than Hickory. To me its cool to think of all the external factors that can affect a tree's density. Did it have a hard life? We're the summers more beneficial than the springs? Did it grow slow or fast? <--- that question is a tricky one. Anyways... I love wood.
As a Californian I've always wanted a redwood kendama. With 70% of the known redwood populations already gone, your best bet for a legal redwood source is when a tree falls and the forest service puts it up for auction. Theoretically you could have a kendama that was around when Jesus was alive. Whoa.
So interesting I've never looked at it historically. How old are my damas? What have they been through? But yeah you would agree that some woods are usually heavier than others right? Like purpleheart has been pretty consistently heavier for me. What are the heaviest and most exotic woods in the kendama industry?
Yeah, Each wood is gonna have an average density. The average density of say, hickory is higher than birch. However, in my experience these species have a high standard deviation in density, in other words, there is a significant amount of lumber that is far away from the average density in both directions. I would think that rare exotics would have a low standard deviation in density because they are typically all grown in one particular area where as a common North American hardwood like hickory or birch is grown all over the country at different altitudes, climates, and conditions. When we buy wood we work with suppliers so we know about what weight ranges we are gonna get and then we weight every blank. From the blank size and weight you can calculate the density and then compare that to the volume of whatever we are making. So we know what the Ken and tama will roughly weigh before we even make them. Math is cool.
You guys will get a chance to try some RWB's as they are partners with DS for the giveaway series. video announcement coming soon!
I was able to score a Ken from the first Reserve Batch and I bought a Tama from the second ! Then , I received my second Tama from the batch as I went back on to purchase one for a friend . These were absolutely rediculous with the Burling and markings . I hope they keep these reserves to a low limit knowing how truly special they were to even have the chance to get before selling out so fast . "Play or Display" ...this is for my personal Display Collection ! Thanks ... I may be willing to part with the other Tama ?
Isn't redwood available at lumber yards? My father in law does some woodworking up in humboldt county. When I visit the family up there, I see it everywhere in the house and friends' houses too. It's pricey, but it's available.
yes it is available. To harvest you need to get a permit which requires taking a tag. fallen trees only, with some exceptions. Basically it is totally possible but difficult. also one tree could probably make 100,000 kendamas
Hey I have a question, How large of a 'blank' do you guys usually start with (H,W,L,)? Do different woods/grain patterns require different looking blanks to produce? And do specialty woods require a larger/smaller blank to work with, or is it all pretty uniform across the industry?