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Old 01-16-2011, 05:45 PM   #1
Lari Hammarberg
Dojo: Aikidoseura Asahi Lappeenranta Finland
Location: Imatra South Karelia
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 78
Finland
Offline
Smile Making your own bokken/tanto etc.

Onegashimasu.

I decided to save some money and make some practice weapons myself. I have a lot of experience with woodwork with lot of detail. I make traditional Finnish instruments as a hobby and for use with our band so i'm all set for making bokkens and stuff...

I'm going to buy wood for them tomorrow. Most probably hickory, was it called tool grade hickory, the really tough stuff. At least it's called that in Finnish. I did some research and found our that hickory and japanese white oak seem to be some good choises for wood.

How about the measurements? *The bokken i bought is usual 102cm long and the tsuka is little bit too short for my taste so i thought i'll make the new ones with ~5cm longer blade and ~7cm longer tsuka.

I have already read the instructions at AikidoFAQ, so i know how to get started... Do some of you guys have some experience of building your own weapons? Any hints, tips, advice?
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