Vacume Seal?

[wonabe kenshi]

Hello everyone.

I made the mistake of buying a couple of exspensive shinais before, I could start Kendo. I have 2 practice shinai which are of no concequence, but I also have 2 madake shinais I bought from ebogu.com.

I know there is probably a thread about how to store shinais here but, I did not see one that mentioned Vacume sealing. I read that someone here used a nice shinai of theirs after a long period of storage and it shatered in the first hit or two.

So I was wondering if vacume sealing my shinai would be a good idea, also if anyone would know if it would preserve them well enough?

[swrdply400mrela]

Keep them oiled so they don't dry out. Use a light oil such as salad oil.

[wonabe kenshi]

Keep them oiled so they don't dry out. Use a light oil such as salad oil.
I figured as much I keep my practice ones oiled regularly, I wax the touching parts of the staves as well to help prevent splintering, but I guess I should have mentioned that in the first place. I was just looking for a suitable alternative to oiling, because I dont plan on using these shinai any time soon.

If I must I will, but I really hate to take them apart if I'm not going to be using them. Thanks anyway swrdply400mrela, I really appreciate that someone was willing to help me out. :D

[hamish]

You could try oiling it and then putting it in a vacuum seal. Let us know if it works!

The other option, mentioned in several previous threads is storing it in your bathroom where its humid. Have a look in the archive, or use the search feature, you'll find there's a lot of info on this.

Hamish

[Neil Gendzwill]

My sensei recommends a coat of very light oil (not vegetable oil) and storing in a plastic bag. He's kept shinai for long periods of time this way, and in fact prefers to "season" a new high-quality shinai for a year or two in this fashion.

[wonabe kenshi]

My sensei recommends a coat of very light oil (not vegetable oil) and storing in a plastic bag. He's kept shinai for long periods of time this way, and in fact prefers to "season" a new high-quality shinai for a year or two in this fashion.I do have them in plastic bags, but if I do it like your sensei should I put the leather parts back on after oiling? Or just leave them off untill I am ready to use the shinai?

Also I keep my shinai stored in my room, in my shinai bag. Im not sure that it is very humid in my batroom other than when I take a shower, as I ussually leave the window open.

Anyway I will do what Neil Gendzwill's sensei dose to one of my shinai and vacume seal the other with a light coat of oil.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Thanks for your help, and thanks in advance for any more advice you may have for me. :D

[Neil Gendzwill]

I'd leave the leather off. This sort of storage is not for shinai you use everyday.

[wonabe kenshi]

My sensei recommends a coat of very light oil (not vegetable oil) and storing in a plastic bag. He's kept shinai for long periods of time this way, and in fact prefers to "season" a new high-quality shinai for a year or two in this fashion.
One more question. Dose vegetable oil also include sesame seed oil?

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've never used sesame seed oil, the vegetable oil I refer to is normal cooking oil, canola or whatever. For long term storage I would recommend a very light oil like sewing machine oil or gun oil (without blueing).

[Phlebas]

Apparently linseed oil is good too. I can't speak from personal experience but many people say it's one of the best oils for any type of wood. It's also cheap and easy to find at most hardware stores. I use sewing machine oil because there's an industrial sewing factory near my house so I buy the oil at good prices -- it works really well.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've heard boiled linseed oil is OK for treating your shinai, although I've never tried it. Lots of people use it for bokken. I'm not sure about using it for shinai storage.

PS if you use linseed oil, make sure it is boiled. The raw stuff will just leave a sticky mess.

[wonabe kenshi]

well I just vacume sealed my chukuto shinai with a light coat of hazel nut oil. I am very curious to know how it will turn out in a year or so. As for my other shinai its the musha one by ebogu I havent touched it yet, but I may be able to start kendo sooner than I thought as I got my father interested in Kendo hehehe. The only bad part is that I need to go to a sacrameto dojo wich is about a two hour drive. So I'll just give my musha a coat or two and not store it away after all.