Disadvantage of the FRANKENSHINAI?

[tango]

In my early/-ier kendo days, i didn't think anything about putting together a frankenshinai...

i mentioned in a previous post (indirectly) that i've gone back to using bamboo 100% of the time now..
part of this was because the simple mechanics of movement between a carbon and bamboo shinai are really noticeable for me, and so, as i prepare for the next shinsa, i wanted to get back into bamboo... (i also had an elbow injury about 6 months ago that still kinda acts up, and i've convinced myself that going back to 'au naturelle' would be better for that..

but i digress...

so ... i've gone through 3 bamboo shinai now and it's time to frankshinai one up...

here's my question ---
if the knots on the slats aren't all 'spot on', to what extent does this really affect the motion of the shinai? I've never thought about it before, but it's crossed my mind recently, as i'm curious as to whether or not putting a frankenshinai together where the knots of the slats are all 'misaligned' will result in shinai mechanics that are essentially equivalent to what i'd have with my carbon...

thoughts?

[b8amack]

I haven't put that much thought into it. Personally, if the knots at the datotsu-knuckle (top is probably a better term...) are really skewed, then I'll wait until I have enough that are closer, in size. I don't "know" that this affects the motion after impact, but it seems to me that it has to. Aside from that, my only prejudice is that the bottom be relatively flush.

[DCPan]

here's my question ---
if the knots on the slats aren't all 'spot on', to what extent does this really affect the motion of the shinai?

So, in my earlier days, someone gave me the advice of shaving the back of the knots on the slats...i.e. eliminating the peak of the triangular knot on the inside.

Maybe I did it wrong, but the staves started collapsing on impact.

So, in the same way that eliminating the tip of the inside knot changed the mechanics of how the slots slide, I would "presume" that having misaligned knots pretty much produe the same effect of not having the corresponding slots to slide on to distribute the force of the strike.

From time to time, when I have to, I try to do like a "3/1" where the misaligned knot is pointing away from the striking edge of the shinai to help.

But like others said, I would wait until you have more matching slots.

When I buy shinai from vendors, they have always been kind enough to take the time to line up the knots within 1cm when I requested it.

YMMV.