Prepairing a New Shinai

[BirdMan]

Hey all.

Well I bought two new shinai from my school (first kendo equipment purchase ;) ) and I am getting them ready to use. I have soaked them both in lemon oil for about a week (was told this was a lighter oil and I enjoy the scent of it). The articles I have read say to sand down the edged of the slats, but I had someone tell me to take a coke bottle and compress that ridge down instead of sanding it down. Have any of you heard of this before or do this? Thanks again for any info.

Kelly

[tyler]

i've never heard of that, but if it works than why not? Bamboo can be pretty resilient stuff, and I have a hard time believing that you could compress the ridge using a coke bottle, but if indeed you can, then go for it. All that matters in the end is that the ridge is gone so that the slats can slide smoothly without any splintering or damage to the bamboo. If you're unsure though, sanding is by far the most standard treatement and it doesn't take much to remove the edge.

if you do go the coke bottle route, will you let us know about the results, i'd be interested.

good luck

Tyler