Hey ! so since ********.com decided to start a site about kendamas i got a bit more interest into them but i just dont wanna 20 $ + shiping for one beacause i might not like i decided that i’ll use the stuff that we have at my school for free ! so i have diffrent question about kendamas :
what would be good dimensions for a beginer ?
is there a wood in particular that is better ?
do i need to aply a coating to the wood or i can play it raw ?
do some of you have experience in making some ?
and what i was thinking about is that i will use a sharpened cylindar wooden stick for the handle and the spike-ish thing that the ball sit on. I will use rectangular block that i will transform into a cylindar, drill a hole to stick the wooden stick in, and i don’t know how yet , concave the hand to catch the dama (dat developed vocabulary 8) ) and take another shorter prism, transform it into a cylinder and do a hole but only half way ,concave it for the ball and stick it in the unsharpened edge of the stick
Making a kendama without the proper tools will be tricky. They look simple to make but if you get the proportions off or the weight wrong it just won’t play right. It’s going to take a lot of trial and error before you get it right but if you have access to a lathe then you should be able to make something playable eventually.
Just use standard dimensions, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Measure any kendama you can get your hands on and copy it as close as you can.
The most common wood used for kendamas is beechwood. It isn’t too expensive and is easy to work with as far as I know.
You can use whatever you think looks/plays good for a finish. Most Kendamas come with the ken (the spike/cup part) raw but you can do whatever you want with the tama (the ball). An even layer of paint with a few layers of clear coat looks really nice and can give it a little extra tackiness.
No, but if I had the tools I would give it a shot!
In the end, just have fun with it and let us know how it comes out! And instead of trying to make a perfect sphere for the tama, go check out a local craft store. Most of them will sell wooden balls in various sizes and that will save you a lot of time and frustration.
