Kaze Uta Budo Kai Forum Archive

I was reading on Kingfisher Woodworks site that they initially apply teak oil when they finish a weapon, and recommend oil for regular maintenance.

I got tired of looking at my first bokken leaning in the corner of my office this afternoon. I used various grits of sandpaper to remove some of the splintering from the use & abuse it took during the first 10 years or so of its life. I applied a generous coat of teak oil ($12.50 a quart, which will probably last forever and then some). I plan to apply a few more coats this week and hopefully put the weapon back in service on Saturday.

I was curious if anyone performed any level of regular maintenance on their wooden weapons. If so, what is your routine? What products do you use & recommend? What would you recommend people not do?

I dont use any regular maintenance, but I have refinished several bokkens in the past. I have always given them a light coat of spray on polyurethane and rubbed it in real good w/ a rag. It has always seemed to do the trick. Im curious to see how the oil works out. I have even wrapped the handles on a couple of bokkens. It will give you an appreciation for how skilled you have to be to do it correctly.

James Bedwell wrote:I have even wrapped the handles on a couple of bokkens. It will give you an appreciation for how skilled you have to be to do it correctly.

More skilled (and patient) than I am. This much is certain.

My maintenance for my jo includes keeping it inside out of the humidity when I'm not using it, and that's about it. Every year or two I sand it with some fine grit sandpaper and I might rub it with some Murphy's oil soap.

Some time back I was carrying it with me on a walk and playing around and suigetsu'd a fencepost and split the end of the jo on a piece of metal. I shaved and sanded that fault out, So now one end of the jo has a nice scar. Plenty of character.

But this sort of minimal maintenance has kept this jo working great for about 15 years.

Recently a student bought me a nice new hickory boken from Kingfisher and so far it doesn't have much in the way of scarring or dings.

I've never done any regular maintenance to either my jo or bokken. I just rubbed the sweat from my hands and forehead into the wood during each training session. Doing so made the wood a little darker and smoother without having to do any sanding.

Just wanted to share a quick update. My original bokken took the oil very nicely. I gave it a very, very light sanding with some 800 grit paper -- just enough to rough any leftover oil up before applying another light coat. I put a small amount of oil on the rag and rubbed thoroughly, then a little more oil and more rubbing. I did this about 4 or 5 times. I let it sit for about 3 minutes and there was no excess to wipe off.

The second bokken I worked on didn't work out so nicely. I didn't wipe the excess off, figuring it would soak in. It didn't. I was left with huge spots that were sticky/tacky to the touch. Not nice. A more aggressive dose of 800 grit here, but just enough to get rid of the stickiness. I didn't reapply on this weapon as it's just a couple of years old.

I figure the original bokken could probably benefit from at least one more treatment, if not several more. Stay tuned.