Two pieces of .750 inch steel hex bar, 12 inch length.
Chain is 5 inches from pin to pin.
The swivels are fashioned from .750 inch SS square tubing with .120 inch wall thickness.
Pins are .187 inch steel braded over on the ends. The chain is .090 inch steel wire wound into .340 ID rings. Total of 57 rings in all!
The Total weight before filing the grip section was 1,575 grams. I’m not sure how much I lost in the filing, but it wasn't much...
The grip section began with eight .125 inch rounds filed out at .750 inch intervals starting at 3.500 inch from the pivot end with three smaller triangular file marks centered at .375 inch between the round files with one on each side at .125 inches. All in all, there are 174 file marks on each half of the nunchaku.
My inspiration for the grip section was the edge on a serrated knife. It looks really nice and provides very good retention…although at 1,575 grams, I’m not going to be slinging these things around much… but if I wanted to they are ready
I had the ends of the halves drilled and tapped for a 1/4x20 SS screw and the u-swivels drilled with a .187 inch and .250 inch drill at a machine shop. Everything else was done at home with either a dremel (the halves began as a 28 inch bar and were cut down to the final 12 inch each with a dremel and polished on the ends with 600 grit sand paper) or a hand file.
When the holes were drilled and tapped, I inserted a .210 inch steel rod into the hole and cut a piece appropriate for the 1 inch screws so that when tightened down snug there would be about .01 inch of play between the halves and the swivels. Then I removed the screw, applied red loctite and reinserted the screws. Those screws won’t be working loose anytime soon!
I hope you all enjoyed the build guide and pics! This is just something to hold me over until I get my Woodalls in June!
ParkerNT
