Had a Kaizen Select Natty Ash, and sold it. It was a smooth tama that needed a lot of play time to break it in. It was weighted perfectly for flow tricks. It had beautiful grain. I sold it, because I prefer kendamas larger than the Kaizen 2.0 shape like Slaydawgs or Sol Vibes. It’s a great kendama though.
If you kendition your ash kendamas they are super durable, I think they last even longer than the maple ones.
I own a small handful of Ash Kendamas and it's really true that you would have to put in a lot of work, effort, and seat to break it in before it gets "honed." Both woods are great and durable depending on your luck of the draw. At the end of the day it's your preference, but personally, after comparing the wood, I suggest getting maple hands down. Do let us know what you got and throw some pics!!! I'm interested on what you decide.
Honestly, birch is really nice too, but out of maple and ash, probably ash, but ash tama in maple ken is really good, or ash tama on birch ken is one of the best setups
I've been on a natty kick for awhile and have been really enjoying breaking them in. So I got this birch 2.0 select about a month ago and have jammed it quite a bit. I don't baby most Kendamas but also don't play recklessly. Birch is one of my favorite woods and this one is breaking in nicely and holding up great. The kaizen 2.0 shape feels very solid and doesn't have the new giant cups everyone's doing so it doesn't feel bulky. So if you're looking for big cups this isn't that kendama, they are about the size of OG homegrown cups. That said there are definitely tricks that are more difficult but that's also because it's natty and doesn't have that super grip yet. Spike has held up great too and the "select" is true because the weights were spot on 70/70. I have to add this is my only kusa dama so I can't compare it to any other kusa but I've enjoyed it so far.
By the way I know this post was asking about maple and ash. I posted about the birch because imo it's a very good out of the box natty wood. It has some grip because birch almost feels fuzzy. Plus it's what I have.
The first time I picked up a birch ken I was blown away at the feel, I could keep slingers wrapping around my finger as long as I felt like, when usually like 4-5 is as far as I can get. Birch is awesome, and seemingly underrated.
Maple is the jam! Ash might be better for stalls right out of box (bird, etc), but maple is more durable and breaks in nicer in the longer term imo
Dude I couldn't agree more and I wish birch was more widely used atleast in mass production. All the "premium" companies use it so I don't know if it's a cost thing or harder to turn without mistakes, maybe @htimSxelA could give some insight. Bottom line is I'd love to see more birch!
I like maple imo they are super durable and can be better for tricks that beat your dama and spike up
Birch is used, TK16s were all birch, plus some Kaizens, Homegrowns, RWBs, GTs, etc. I think its just not as popular as some others, and the woodgrain is less defined/pretty than other species like beech or maple. Cost and machineability isn't too different from something like maple.