WOODWORKING

For almost 20 years now I've been making wooden swords for my martial arts, I'm still making them but I'm a little better at it now. I've also got some nicer toys than when I started. I am quite willing to make just about any wooden weapon or wooden part for a weapon that you might need. I have recently been making weapons racks too. I've also done quite a few pieces of furniture, cabinets and beds seem to be my specialty. Another line of investigation has been "quilted canes", walking sticks and staffs made of various scraps of wood glued up much like you might sew up a patchwork quilt.

Although I'm quite happy to sell my wares, I am not in the woodworking business, so my prices reflect the time the hobby takes away from my family. You can get more information on the wooden weapons by looking at the Sei Do Kai catalogue.

If you want to see the latest woods I've discovered, or the latest trinkets I've made, check out the woodworking special notices page.

These are some of the bokuto, Japanese swords I have made lately, The top one is a suburito of maple, the second is cocobolo, next is tulipwood, then a bloodwood, and finally an Indonesian rosewood.

SPECIAL ORDERS

Here was an interesting project, a 5'5" LOA nodachi of hickory with a bloodwood tsuba. That's the sword, the thing it's sitting on is a shaving bench.

KNIFEMAKER'S HANDLE BLANKS

Due to some requests I've had lately, I'm now offering to ship handle blanks for knives to anyone who wants them. These will be one inch by 1.5 inch by 5 inches. Other sizes are possible.

For a list of usually available blocks and costs check here.

WHAT'S IT LOOK LIKE?

For information and photos on woods (don't trust the hardness scales) you can go to a searchable database at woodworker's source.

IS IT TOXIC?

It is unlikely that you will have a reaction from wood that is already finished, your hands are holding the oil finish on your bokuto, rather than the wood, and it is unlikely any toxins would be absorbed through your hands anyway. If you're curious about working it, here's a table of wood toxicity

Here are a couple of other resources you might try as well:

Miller Publishing

wood-worker.com

YET MORE WOODWORKING LINKS (From Keith Bohm on Rec.woodworking)

http://www.figuredhardwoods.com/photos.html

http://www.esf.edu/faculty/wpe/programs/ttic_brn.htm

http://www.ukuleles.com/koawood.html

http://PenningtonHardwoods.com

http://www.millerpublishing.com/nw_hardwoods/glossary.html

http://www.erinet.com/hardwood/full.html

http://www.connect.net/hollovar/cardhome.htm

http://members.wbs.net/homepages/w/i/s/wisconsincrafts.html

http://www.woodweb.com/~treetalk/wowhome.html

http://www.wood-worker.com/properties.htm

http://www.toolcenter.com/wood/wow.html

http://www.toolcenter.com/wood/cnames_k.html

http://www.toolcenter.com/wood/species.html

http://www.woodweb.com/~treetalk/wow_glossary.html

http://www.woodweb.com/~treetalk/wowarchives.html

http://www.windsorplywood.com/worldofwoods/northamerican/

WOODWORKING PROJECTS If you're interested in making your own practice weapon you might want to try one of these projects. There is some discussion of wood in the catalogue, and some in the bokuto project, you might want to look there before you go out and find the local lumber yard.

Selecting and Making a Bokuto

Making a Bo

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Last Updated Aug 9, 2000 by Kim Taylor