Family Heirloom- Warped Bokken

[Please visit our sponsor:]

[Jory Boling]

Hi,
Upon hearing that I have to get a bok-to, my father-in-law (J-Pop) produced a bokken out of his garage for me. It either came from his father or his father-in-law. That's cool. A family bokken! The only thing thought, is that it's warped! The last 1/4 of it deviates from a straight line and then returns back to its line.

Does anyone know if it's impossible to fix? i'm thnking it is, but you never know. My guess is that it will have to be hung on the wall out of reach, somewhere. or the offending end will have to be cut off.

it might be an sign that my in-laws don't have much of a budo past!
(so that's why there's no family dojo to take over!)

thanks
Jory

[Michael O'Brien]

Jory,
How bad is the warp? If it isn't too out of wack it may be possible to fix it by placing it on its side with the warp up and placing something heavy over the top of it. Over time it will reshape the warp back towards the original shape.

That is probably how it got out of wack in the first place. Sitting in the garage with something holding one end off the ground and something sitting in the middle of it.

[rtist]

Check in your yellow pages for a custom woodworking shop that has a steam bender. These things can work magic on wood. They might be able to straighten it out for you.
Good luck.

[Jory Boling]

thanks to both of you.
Michael, how do i say steam bender in japanese?

i will investigate a woodworking shop and in the meantime put something heavy on it and see what happens.

J.

[Steve Morabito]

Check out if there are any luthiers (stringed instrument makers) in your area. Many of them are very skilled at bending wood with precision and will handle it with care. A repair like this can be expensive. And even after hours of labor, it still may not be straight. So unless this bokken is really something that has sentimental value (a true family heirloom in your eyes), you may want to consider investing that money into a new bokken. Good Luck!
Steve

[akiy]

Personally, I would say to keep such a family heirloom as a family heirloom and not as a training tool. Even if you did straighten it out, would you want to use it during practice when it could very well get gashed, splintered, or even broken during partner practice?

Just a thought.

-- Jun

[rtist]

thanks to both of you.
Michael, how do i say steam bender in japanese?

i will investigate a woodworking shop and in the meantime put something heavy on it and see what happens.

J.

To be sure, I don't know, but a little detective work on line came up with kiatsu benda. Maybe that would be enough to get the point across. Personally, I'd be reduced to alot of hand motions and drawing pictures. :confused:

[Jory Boling]

good points all. it does make for an interesting conversation piece (well to anyone that knows what it is). Maybe a spot high on a future weapons rack is in its destiny. i did like the way the handle felt though. i'll have to do some research and see what style it may be made in.
thanks again.
Jory