I ordered one of the A- Walnut Squabs from Analog just after Christmas and got it in the mail today. Overall, it's an awesome kendama with an awesome shape and great paint. For reference, check these particular batch out here. On their site they said this about this batch: "About half of these walnut tamas have light streaks under the paint (from the sanding process) that are visible in direct light, and we felt like we couldn’t quite call these A grade, or B-grade." When I got mine, however, it looks like the tama is actually glue together which is very different than just an issue with the sanding. I'll attach pics so you can see what I mean. Interestingly, they did include a second Squab tama with the order which is super cool of them. That said, it didn't come with a note of any kind and the issue with the original tama is definitely different than what they mentioned online. How does this sit with y'all? I'm actually kind of stoked since I got the dama on a discount and they included a different tama for free. That said, I could see being bummed out that it isn't a one-piece tama. Is it a normal thing to have glued tamas like this? I don't think I've seen it before except in like spectraply tamas.
Lots of tamas made with "exotic wood" that are turned overseas come like that. All the zebrano, hickory, walnut and rosewood squabs are the same way. That said I'm not a huge fan of it either but GT-E1(walnut) are the same. Truth is most damas are made in the same factory unless they're turned domestically in whatever country they are out of. I haven't noticed any difference in play with the probably dozen+ I have with tamas like that.
I would still be bummed out even if it plays fine. Definitely looks weird to me but the fact that you got two tamas makes up for it assuming the other tama is a “normie”.
Yeah you see that all the time...I got barebones Zebrano from DWI that had the same thing. It is pretty normal from mass produced chinese manufacturers
Good to know know y'all thanks for your responses! I suppose I haven't picked up many walnut or other more "exotic" wood damas so this is my first experience with it. I wonder why they included the extra tama then! After about an hour of seshing I'm really loving this dama.
Mine should be here any day now. Once it arrives I’ll post pics I have faith in Analog. They’ve been super professional since day 1.
I can shed some light on this: Most countries have restrictions concerning the import/export of lumber, and one of those restriction is about the thickness of lumber being imported. For many species/importers, there is a maximum of 2" thick material, whereas a tama is 2 3/8" + in size. The reason for this restriction is that it becomes much harder to dry wood properly when it is thicker, and so it becomes harder to guarantee that there are not bugs/fungus/whatever living deep inside the wood (and generally, you don't want to import some wood-eating species to the other side of the world. Lots of examples out there of this ending badly for the local ecosystem). This isn't an absolute restriction, it is possible to find some imported species in thicker cuts. But if you check out a lumber shop, usually all of the thick cuts are domestic species, not import. So because of this, tamas made from those species end up being laminated. In some cases, it may be possible to make a solid tama, but usually the 2"+ thick pieces are WAY more expensive to purchase, so its cost prohibitive to produce.
@htimSxelA Man do I love it when you drop knowledge in here. Another wood/dama/turning related mystery explained in full. I always just assumed it was just cost related. That said, I live in a town where our nationally recognized lake is in constant battle with invasive species, so the wood importation restrictions makes complete sense, I had just never thought of it!
He turned the tree of knowledge into a kendama now every time he lands a trick with it he learns something new? (But like, the more difficult a trick the more esoteric the knowledge he receives)
Is it the fact that it's a species restriction the reason I've never seen this in a beech or maple tama despite them still coming from overseas?
Had a seen a number of Zebranos from various makers without a problem but ran into this with a DWI a while back. Wonder why they don't put the slab on the top or bottom of the tama, it'd look better.
It would be interesting to hear what specific damas and woods people have seen this on. So far we've got zebrano, hickory, and walnut and so far in just squabs, GT-E1s, and DWI barebones.
Cobra did laminated zebrano/walnut tamas awhile back for super cheap and I always thought it was weird, assuming that laminating the tamas like that would make the dama more expensive rather than less. This explains it tho
My DWI X Oh Yes Yo collab. Zebrano. The paint hides most of it though. My Loons (both have this). Ash maybe? Idk. The split even shows through the paint and goes all the way around the tama (look at the grain in the bevel, it becomes obvious). I'm worried they are gonna break in half pretty easily.