Wood choices for Japanese bo

[John Gornall]

Of interest: http://kingfisherwoodworks.com/

I sometimes pick up a board at the lumberyard out of interest to take home and play. Recently I got a piece of Kashi and had not thought of using it for a Bo. Looks like a hard to work wood - I'll give it a try.

[Eric Schubert]

I did run across Kingfisher Woodworks. Unfortunately, they do not make a bo long enough for combat/training. (They're also pretty expensive.) But they look like their products are of high quality.

If you do make a bo from your piece of Kashi, I'd be curious how it turns out and what you think of how it handles.

[Bob Hoffmann]

I made mine out of hickory ... great weight without being too heavy. I started with a square piece that was as straight grain that I could find, then used a round over bit in a table router to get the piece rounded. From that I used a spokeshave to get it rond and tapered to the ends.

I also made one out of mahogany, laminated from several thinner pieces --- lighter and shows the dents a lot easier than the hickory does. Mine are both around 5' in length -- the smaller of the bo styles -- and easier to handle. For a finish, I used salad bowl oil ... stay away from a finish that seals the wood -- that will cause the bo to slip in your hands as you sweat ... an oil finish does not.

If you want to use a heavy one to work on strength, one in my dojo has a stainless steel rod that he uses (slow motion because of its weight) for working on strength. You really do not want a flexible bo unless that is the ones used in your style -- having one that flexes will use different strikes and handling than one that is still. I have seen ones that were longer that the 72" that had a lot of flex -- gives you lot of reach, but also harder to swing around -- and you need a lot more room height and space between the guy next to you -- for his and your protection.

Just some thoughts ...

[John K Jordan]

I don't think you can rely on a single chart.

Different trees of the same species, perhaps grown in different conditions and/or in different places, may have different properties such as weight, hardness, and strength. This is also true of even different parts of the same tree. For example years of slow growth in drier conditions may may make tighter grained and harder wood. Heartwood may be harder than sapwood. I have some 100+ year old walnut that is FAR harder than any other walnut I've ever worked with.

The numbers and rankings you see may vary depending on who made the list and what pieces they found to test or from where they copied the data. I've seen widely differing numbers in lists and experienced harder and softer pieces of the same species, sometimes in the same chunk of wood. And in any list of properties some are very close and could be functionally equivalent for your use.

JKJ

[Frederick Skelly]

One more vote for Hickory, then a second choice of Ash. I have a Hickory walking stick I cut live and let dry a few years ago. It's hefty and strong. Ash, as someone noted is baseball bat material - can't go wrong there.

Susumo Mori's post made me think of Live Oak. I was reading about it recently and it might be worth a look.

Fred