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Dying Kendamas

Started by Benjugglin, 11 January, 2012, 05:18:55

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Benjugglin

My kendamas appear to dying. I have an old green oozora that I used to do endless lunar flips with and now it's so slippery I can barely hold a lighthouse if I set it on the tama with my other hand. The same goes for my Sweets foci - crazy hard to use. Why is this and what can I do? Thoughts?

HansNickmans

I have the same with my green oozora, and I think it has to do with the cups instead of the ball. I was able to do lunar on it, but then I had a very long spacewalk-phase where I was only practising spacewalks and handrolls, which did some damage to the big cup. I know see that holding a lunar becomes much more difficult, because the cup and the tama aren't fitting seamlessly anymore.

It's just a theory, maybe it'll help out :)
Kendama Belgium!

The Void

I haven't yet worn out a kendama to the point where I find I can't do any particular tricks with it. I have chosen to 'retire' 2 though - one because a flake chipped off a cup. That's possibly because I have used quite of lot of KDs though, and keep switching between them, so I haven't had a chance to fully wear one out.
However, given the abuse that the poor little KDs get (after all, it's 2 pieces of wood constantly bashing against each other!), I don't think one can reasonably expect a kendama to stay in full working order for an extended period of years. As a piece of specialist hobby equipment, they're pretty darn cheap really, so getting a new one and wearing it in (as opposed to 'out') should be a fun part of the whole experience.

As to your specific question about what you can do to put some life back into the fading KD, I'm afraid I don't have any great ideas. If the paint is still substantially there, is it possible that it's become grimy from finger grease, and that's causing the slippiness? Maybe washing it would work![nb]Wild speculation comes with no guarantees. Kendama proficiency may go up as well as down. Your statutory rights are not affected. Always read the label. Keep away from children.[/nb]
If you don't want to BUY MY BOOKS 😉, then why not ask your local library to order them in, and read them for free? That would help too. Cheers!

Adam K

Which generation focus are you using? I have been experiencing the same problem with my generation 1 focus kendama with the matte finish. A lot of the paint has flaked off, and lighthouse has become much harder for me with that kendama. I imagine this is because the paint added a lot of friction, and with it gone there was less force keeping the ken from just slipping off the tama.

Benjugglin

HansNickmans - I have considered that the problem may actually lie in the Ken. The edges of the cups just aren't what they used to be. I can't really say what effect that has,  but I think it probably contributes to the problem.

The Void - I'm two steps ahead of you, I tried cleaning them, it helped a little bit (not much), and I have four new ones coming!

Adam K - I have two of the first generation focus model. They're both getting harder and harder to use, but I only have one chip in one of them. I think perhaps the clear coat has worn down, but the rest of the paint is still there.

Adam K

#5
Quote from: Benjugglin on 12 January, 2012, 04:51:17
HansNickmans - I have considered that the problem may actually lie in the Ken. The edges of the cups just aren't what they used to be. I can't really say what effect that has,  but I think it probably contributes to the problem.
You could always try stringing the Ken up to a different Tama and see what effect that has.

AlexSmith

I have two old green oozoras that are beyond their best days. And a pink oozora that lost a huge chip off of big cup, so it became my workshop ken.

The green oozoras are just beat though, one of them is bent hard towards one side, from the tama continuously pulling on the one side with each missed trick.