Loose cups

Kendama
1

I have a pair of Zens and some cheap thing. The cheap thing doesn’t actually get loose cups, but the two Zens get loose cups all the time!

Part of it is surely my grip. I tend to use sara grip a LOT, and I do it snugged right up to the cups, so I’m inevitably exerting force on the bottom (pushing towards the tip)… but unless this is a horrifying technique, I don’t see changing my grip any time soon.

So, two things:

  1. Other than the “Post-it Note” technique (which did not work for me), are there other ways to help keep the ken ‘together’ without making it permanent?

  2. I believe there was a one-piece ken somewhere… but I don’t remember the company or model. Even if I locate it, is it a good ken?

At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world. Just as yoyo string gets tension or knots, it seems that my cups are just going to get loose. I can re-snug them. But the less I have to do that, the better!

2
  1. I always just go with the Post-it note. How is it failing? is the post it note sliding down the ken? Or is it just not thick enough to hold the sara in place?

Cant hurt to try something a little stickier and thicker like medical tape or something similar, I have never tried this but it might work.

  1. The majority of KendamaUSA kendamas are fixed together. Any that are labeled “Tribute” do not come apart. The Tributes have a hole drilled straight through both pieces with a small metal rivet that fixes the two pieces together.

The Tribute kendamas play great, the only difference you may notice is the ken will hang at a slightly different angle since the string is set straight through instead of at angled between the two pieces. this gives a slightly different pull but isn’t bad in any way. I have a few tributes and really like them!

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3

Yeah, it’s failing in that it just doesn’t stop the cups from getting loose. The sara (is that what the cups piece is called?) still just eventually gets loose on the ken.

I’ve heard the way the Tributes can hang is annoying to some people, but I don’t honestly know if I would notice too much. Maybe I should just buy one and see. :wink:

4

I’ve actually tried a few different things to try to fix this issue. What I’ve found works the best is scotch tape under the cups. Actually, if you have the blue painters’ tape, that works best. Not the kind that feels slick and kind of waxy, but the kind that is still rough on the outside.

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5

put the dama on top and push it down on the sera (cups?) (not too far) with a touch of super glue on the inside. the only thing is it will get stuck and feel a little different once its glued stuck.

6

i don’t kendama seriously, but i do help a friend when he needs help with his kendama issues. what i have done to keep this from happening is to pull the string out of the ken and the cups. You should notice that there is a whole on the cups on both sides for right and left handers. take the string and put it through the first whole (for right or lefty) then put it through the ken stick, next put it through the other whole pull the string tight and with a little effort you can make a makeshift tribute style kendama. This works pretty well, but can take alot of string off of the playing field and will also feel a little odd when you first start cause the kendama will feel loose but not fall apart.

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