oiling shinia - HELP

[kendo94]

so im totaly new to oiling a shinai. iv been reading a lot of threads and posts and i cant figure out what to do. so far all iv understood is that i have to get and oil (idk what but im thinking of olive- sounds heavy-, bamboo oil, or boiled linseed oil - sometimes sunddenly goes on fire). then take the shinai apart and put it in a pvc pipe and put in the oil. idk how much oil to put in and if i can use that oil again.

So if u pplz have any idea what type of oil to use plz tell me.

[ShinKenshi]

This vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyJNAluiOKY) should give you a little help as far as the actual application goes. I use this shinai oil (http://www.budo-aoi.com/kendo/accessories/shinaiacce_12.html) on mine and I have noticed a slight increase in weight but nothing detrimental and I've been spraying it exactly as they've shown in the aforementioned video. As far as other types of oil, I'll let other members of the forum speak to that as I have no experience using anything other than my spray oil.

[ne0r]

Hm, olive oil is a bit too heavy from what I've heard, but any other salad oil should do the job. Linseed oil should do quite well. I use sunflower oil.

I didn't ever try the pvc-pipe method, but you could do it also by hand. Someone will surely post details on the pvc-pipe method soon^^

[kendo94]

This vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyJNAluiOKY) should give you a little help as far as the actual application goes. I use this shinai oil (http://www.budo-aoi.com/kendo/accessories/shinaiacce_12.html) on mine and I have noticed a slight increase in weight but nothing detrimental and I've been spraying it exactly as they've shown in the aforementioned video. As far as other types of oil, I'll let other members of the forum speak to that as I have no experience using anything other than my spray oil.

so when i spray it on, do i wipe t off right away or do i wait like 1 day for it to soak in and then wipe it of?

[WmsMom]

I maintain William's shinai and repair them as well. I use the spray bamboo oil available through eguchi, ebogu etc. we purchased at a vendor at a shinsa. spray, wait a bit and wipe well. I have heard about the immersion oil method, but William is not at that level of play. I suspect he would advance to the carbon shinai as he matures and advances as 3 of his seniors have them and he is very smitten with them (the Kenshis AND their shinais.)

[ShinKenshi]

so when i spray it on, do i wipe t off right away or do i wait like 1 day for it to soak in and then wipe it of?I typically spray it on and then wipe it off immediately (as shown in the video in my previous post). I've heard that the soaking-in-pvc-pipe method adds a considerable amount of weight to the slats so I've decided to not use this method. Prior to using the spray I've broken two slats on two different shinai without giving them any rotation. Both shinai were purchased at the same time and both slats broke about the same time (roughly two years). Since I've only just recently started using the spay and rotating the slats every 3-5 practices, I can't say for sure how much more life this process really adds but from the looks of things it's rejuvinated my first shinai that I got in 2004 to the point where it looks, feels, and handles as good as new.

[mugen no junin]

Hm, olive oil is a bit too heavy from what I've heard, but any other salad oil should do the job. Linseed oil should do quite well. I use sunflower oil.

Olive oil is too heavy? please could you explain what do you mean? I actually use it and I don't feel anything strange...:confused:

[nysamurai]

Kendo94,

The video that David posted is great. It will be confusing, and challenging, at first. The Japanese are famous for the beauty AND functionality of their knots. I suggest Get yourself a couple of inexpensive shinai

[kendo94]

Olive oil is too heavy? please could you explain what do you mean? I actually use it and I don't feel anything strange...:confused:

i heard and read that if u put let the olive oil to set in the shinai gains a couple grams

[pgsmith]

I would be so bold as to suggest that you find a dojo first, then ask your sensei what he (or she) thinks you should use for oiling your shinai. I would also like to suggest that you type with proper capitalization and grammar. It makes your posts much easier to read.

Thanks!

[kendo94]

Sorry. I was sort of typing really fast.

[psycho4speed]

The best product to oil and clean your shinai is PLEDGE.
It also leave a nice lemon smell.
Try it.

[ne0r]

Olive oil is too heavy? please could you explain what do you mean? I actually use it and I don't feel anything strange...:confused:

Sorry, I must have mixed up things a bit. I don't know anything about using olive oil for shinai, I only heared somewhere that it is not adviced to use it.

[mugen no junin]

Sorry, I must have mixed up things a bit. I don't know anything about using olive oil for shinai, I only heared somewhere that it is not adviced to use it.

Hmmm I've been told that it's the best for shinai...quite misterious...anyway thanks for sharing it

[sirius1906]

I am a beginner and have only used regular $25 shinai's. Right out of the box, I take it apart and scrape & sand all the edges. Then spray the slats down with the shinai oil or mom's cooking oil (whatever she uses :D). Let them dry over night, then put them back together. I rotate the slats depending on their condition; and oil them after practice, without taking them apart.

[kendo94]

I am a beginner and have only used regular $25 shinai's. Right out of the box, I take it apart and scrape & sand all the edges. Then spray the slats down with the shinai oil or mom's cooking oil (whatever she uses :D). Let them dry over night, then put them back together. I rotate the slats depending on their condition; and oil them after practice, without taking them apart.

I have a couple questions. First of all, how do you rotate your slats? Also what type of cooking oil do you use? Because people have been talking about using olive oil. And when you put on the oil without taking it apart, do you only spray it on the outside?

[joekc6nlx]

My suspicions are that had you done a search for oiling shinais, you would have found several threads. However, on the assumption that such a search was unsuccessful at turning up any other information on oiling your shinai, I offer this advice again:

I take the shinai apart, untying the tsura at the tsuka, then when I have all of the leather off, I take the staves of the shinai and mark them in some manner that I'll remember which order they were in. Such as L, T, R, B, and I take care to keep the small square of steel where I can find it again.

I lay out the staves, and using a medium grit sandpaper, such as a 150 grit, I lightly sand the edges of each stave. You don't need to bear down on them, you're just rounding over the edges from the machining.

I take some lemon oil, available in the furniture care section of your supermarket, and liberally coat the INSIDE of each stave, letting it sit overnight, then wiping off the excess in the morning. I reassemble the shinai, put on the leathers, tie up the tsura, and my shinai is ready for lots of hard strikes.

In the 4 years I've been studying kendo, I have broken ONE stave on a shinai.

As for how to rotate the staves, if you have a round handled shinai, you just twist the leathers around so the stave at 90 degrees from the bottom is now the bottom, etc.

[sirius1906]

I have a couple questions. First of all, how do you rotate your slats? Also what type of cooking oil do you use? Because people have been talking about using olive oil. And when you put on the oil without taking it apart, do you only spray it on the outside?

The slat that takes most of the beating is the one opposite of the string (obviously). So, undo the string, loosen and take off the leather grip and rotate it 90° or 180°. retie the string, now you are hitting with a different slat. :)

I think I was using mom's cheap canola oil. Didn't use any fancy olive oil. :D For routine oiling, I just spray it on the outside then wipe it down. I am sure there will be some that will seep into the underside. Oiling is to keep the bamboo from drying out. Sanding the edges to a smooth surface reduce the chance of cracking. It's really just common sense, nothing mystical about it.

If you are like me, using just the regular practice shinai (~$25), why go through the hassle of dipping it in the oil tank? If it breaks, use a new one. But keep the good slats, when you collect enough good slats, you make yourself a recycled shinais. :D So when you buy your shinai, try to get a bunch where the knots are at the same heights along the shinai.

[Sparv]

The slat that takes most of the beating is the one opposite of the string (obviously). So, undo the string, loosen and take off the leather grip and rotate it 90° or 180°. retie the string, now you are hitting with a different slat.

You don't even have to untie the tsuru. I rotate 1/8 of a turn at once, I do it four times and that's it. Obviously I check the tsuru afterward, but it is usually fine.