Woodall's video review

[customworkshop]

Allot of the more exotic woods are very dense and that is what makes them easily shatter or crack if dropped. They are very heavy again because they are very dense wood. They look incredible too, I have a pair of cocobola and a set of purple heart and they both are great. Lee may be able to do tapered chux soon, he just got allot of new wood working machines. If you are interested in tapered email him at leebarden@comcast.net and ask him.

I have no idea where you got your information on the wood being denser so therefore its shatters or cracks more often.   The reason for the instability in the woods are based on several different things and not just one thing.  What kind of genus the wood is a part of is one thing to consider.  Heartwood vs more sapwood in the wood is yet anotherthing to look at.  Certain woods in general such as Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Brownheart and Greenheart are more prone to splitting than others.  This is based on their gentic makeup.  

Cocobolo is a heavy wood but is not very hard or dense.  It doesn't split though because of the kind of wood genus it is.  It is of the Rosewood family and those do not tend to split or crack unless hit upon concrete.  At that point any wood would crack/split.  Additionally, wood thickness also has a lot to do with the stability of the wood.  The more you take away from the log the more susceptible the wood becomes to problematic areas.  

Moreover, the amount of power exerted on the Nunchaku have a great amount to do with its stability in smaller diameter Nunchaku but not as much with thicker Nunchaku.  The harder you swing and exert pressure on the cap or rope the more chances you have at causing imperfection in the area where it's connected.

The exotic woods are all heavier and harder than domestic woods.  They last longer and have less problems overall.  By the way, Cocobolo and Purpleheart are all exotic woods.  The exotic woods don't have to be heavy to be hard nor do they have to be dense to split.  

Colleen Woodall
Woodall's Custom Workshop

[Orre64]

rctrue, sorry for reposting here, but I feel that my post didn't quite belong in the other thread. If you see what I mean..

So, Boundless, how does the 2.5" cord work out for you? I suppose that's the standard length when you choose the short cord, right? The reason that I ask is because I still haven't found the ideal cord length for me yet. I've gone from a 7-link chain down to 11 cm cord, and last time I restringed I took it down to 8-9 cm. I'm just generally looking for a cord length that benefits both rolls, passes and aerials.

I too am actually very much considering ordering from Woodalls, much because I want a pair that's heavier than my graphite ones, and longer than my aluminum ones. I cannot, however, decide upon which wood is most desirable. How does hardness and density, for example, translate into general durability? And how heavy should you dare go if you want to maintain the all around functionality of the chucks..?

The fact that you can ask for a smaller diameter is great. But is it also possible to ask for a length of 13" instead of 14"? I ask because I feel that I wouldn't mind a bit longer chucks than I currently use, but I fear that making them too long will make them harder to handle.. On the other hand we have people doing amazing stuff with their gargantuan firechucks, so perhaps that is not a problem after all?

[customworkshop]

rctrue, sorry for reposting here, but I feel that my post didn't quite belong in the other thread. If you see what I mean..

So, Boundless, how does the 2.5" cord work out for you? I suppose that's the standard length when you choose the short cord, right? The reason that I ask is because I still haven't found the ideal cord length for me yet. I've gone from a 7-link chain down to 11 cm cord, and last time I restringed I took it down to 8-9 cm. I'm just generally looking for a cord length that benefits both rolls, passes and aerials.

I too am actually very much considering ordering from Woodalls, much because I want a pair that's heavier than my graphite ones, and longer than my aluminum ones. I cannot, however, decide upon which wood is most desirable. How does hardness and density, for example, translate into general durability? And how heavy should you dare go if you want to maintain the all around functionality of the chucks..?

The fact that you can ask for a smaller diameter is great. But is it also possible to ask for a length of 13" instead of 14"? I ask because I feel that I wouldn't mind a bit longer chucks than I currently use, but I fear that making them too long will make them harder to handle.. On the other hand we have people doing amazing stuff with their gargantuan firechucks, so perhaps that is not a problem after all?

The harder the wood the more durable that the Nunchaku becomes.  Also if you combine hardness with heaviness you have a winning combination for a pair that will last you for many years to come.  Verawood does cover both hardness and heaviness.  If you are wanting the hardness but not the heaviness then I would suggest Brazilian Cherry.  It is hard but in the medium range of weight.

I can't speak for all Nunchaku makers but for us we can make almost all of our Nunchaku in any lengths/widths you require/desire. Occasionally, certain woods have restriction based up our ability to get them in longer lengths.  New import laws are making it more difficult to get in certain woods into this country.  Hope that this helps.  Sorry it took so long to answer you back.

Also Boundless Please forgive me and others for getting off track in your review thread.   Woodall's Custom Workshop very much appreciates your comments and hope that you continue to contact us to help you in the future to get the right size that you require.

Best Regards,
Colleen Woodall

[Flowpulse]

So I have been thinking of the sweetest looking chuck, and in my mind, I saw rubber end caps that would add more weight at the tips, as well as pad a fall on a hard surface.  I was just curious if this is a possibility, because that would be totally sweet. 

[customworkshop]

I will have to ask my designers/craftsman if its possible.  I doubt that it would be possible on the Octagon style but the Round I would assume might work.  I will have to get back to you on it.  Although, I would think that the wood by itself would be heavier than any rubber added onto the end.  Let me see what I can do.

Colleen Woodall

[customworkshop]

We have discussed this and have decided that the rubber end would not make much of a difference in weight.  In order to get the rubber cap on the end of the Nunchaku you would have to take down the wood to make the rubber end cap flush with the wood on the Nunchaku.  The wood depending upon which wood you use might be heavier than the rubber added. 

I would suggest that instead you just increase the size of the Nunchaku.  Something like a 1" to 1.5" taper would make it much heavier or even a Non Tapered 1.25" or a 1.5" thick Nunchaku.  Either way you are adding the needed weight.  Hope this helps you.

Colleen Woodall

[EleManT24]

A bit off topic, but as for the padded rubber idea, you could try those rubber end caps they put on chair legs. They're cheap, and you can buy them at hardware stores. It wouldn't do much for the weight, but it would cushion the fall a bit when you dropped them.

[customworkshop]

Sounds interesting but wouldn't that interfere with your hands and spins?

Colleen Woodall

[Boundless]

rctrue, sorry for reposting here, but I feel that my post didn't quite belong in the other thread. If you see what I mean..

So, Boundless, how does the 2.5" cord work out for you? I suppose that's the standard length when you choose the short cord, right? The reason that I ask is because I still haven't found the ideal cord length for me yet. I've gone from a 7-link chain down to 11 cm cord, and last time I restringed I took it down to 8-9 cm. I'm just generally looking for a cord length that benefits both rolls, passes and aerials.

I too am actually very much considering ordering from Woodalls, much because I want a pair that's heavier than my graphite ones, and longer than my aluminum ones. I cannot, however, decide upon which wood is most desirable. How does hardness and density, for example, translate into general durability? And how heavy should you dare go if you want to maintain the all around functionality of the chucks..?

The fact that you can ask for a smaller diameter is great. But is it also possible to ask for a length of 13" instead of 14"? I ask because I feel that I wouldn't mind a bit longer chucks than I currently use, but I fear that making them too long will make them harder to handle.. On the other hand we have people doing amazing stuff with their gargantuan firechucks, so perhaps that is not a problem after all?

I'm sorry I didn't see this until today.  As to the length of cord, I really like 2.5 inches.  On this size of a nunchuck, I think it works just right for all of my moves (yep, rolls passes and aerials) - actually, I chose this length because I feel it is the best for rolls.  It probably depends on the person.

Well, I really like my Padauk chucks, very durable and absolutely beautiful.  But they are a bit heavy; I would really recommend getting .75 inches tapered to 1 inch with those.  I think that would be about perfect, and I know Woodalls can do it.  I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them; I found absolutely no defects. 

I know you can get longer chucks...but it will add to the weight.  I haven't tried longer ones so I guess I don't know.  Hope my other comments help though 

[Wild Industry]

Sounds interesting but wouldn't that interfere with your hands and spins?

Colleen Woodall

I guess he means at the ends, so they wouldn't interfere with the hands. I think some sort of cushioning at the end is a good idea, not so much for weight but for protection, since any pair of nunchaku does tend to take most damage at that point.

[Orre64]

Hope my other comments help though 

Oh yeah, now I'm thinking around 2.5 inches also.

It was actually the rolls that I was worried about. Granted that ProChux have an even shorter cord, but those should also weigh significantly less, which is why I was worried that it would be hard to maintain control during rolls with slightly heavier chucks combined with shorter cord. I'm glad those worries were pretty much unfounded.

[customworkshop]

You should be able to get any size length rope that you desire.  If its shorter then ask for shorter.  Typically you can't go smaller than the diameter of the Nunchaku in order for the Nunchaku to fold.  So if you have a 1" diameter Nunchaku you wouldn't want to go any less than 1" Rope in order for it to fold closed.

I guess the rubber ends might work if you drop them a lot but I would think they would look quit strange.  You might also want to consider that it might also change the balance of your Nunchaku that you are used to when you add the rubber cap to it.  Just a thought.

Colleen Woodall

[rctrue]

How are the U-Swivel prototypes working out?

[customworkshop]

We are in the process of notifying our current customers via this next months newsletter about having certain customers try them and test them out for us.  We are coming along nicely.  As I stated in the other forum sections we are about 3-6 months away from hopefully carrying these if the testing goes as planned.  Once we get the U-Swivels the way we want them then we have to order more supplies to manufacture them in larger quantities.  We will see soon.

Colleen Woodall

[Heru Pyrkagia]

OOOOOOOOOOO u swivles! lol that would be sweet!