Looking for some tips on making nunchuku please

[Dragn]

So i would love to purchase a couple pairs of nunchuku but sadly part of my roof just caved in and i no longer have any spare cash (im SO tired of storm damage. i live in houston btw)

so now that my plan to purchase quality chucks has vanished for the next coming months, im going to be making some.

I know how to cord them, and i know theres a ton of material to use, but i want to find the best options possible with the least $$$ spent.

I've currently got a pair of homemades made from:

-20ish sheets of paper (per baton)
-Nylon rope (3/4' thick i think)
-Electrical tape

They work pretty well, durible and strong (youd be surprised what rolled up paper can do) but theyre a little thick and slow imo. they were great for my intial start but im ready to go to a better pair.
BTW, if anyones interested in trying them out, i can write a guide up and post pics to show how to make them. takes about 20 minutes and its interesting to have "paper chux"

anyways back to the point: waht i want:

-Speed: thats really all im looking to get in my next pair. this current pair seems to move very slow. Theyre my first pair so maybe im wrong but they just seem to move very very slowly compared to what ive seen in videos.

-Nylon: i wouldnt mind having chain as ive heard that speed is increased from it, but im very picky about looks on things and i hate the joints that connect the chain to the baton. If i could purchase quality ballbering ends i wouldnt mind since they look fine, but again, no cash as previously stated.

With that said, metal or wood is not an issue really, i DO prefer wood because it has the classic style feel of it, but im not opposed to a metal.

with that said, if anyones made a pair of chucks theyre very happy with plz list the materials used. i considered a broomstick but it seems like its too thin, again, could be wrong i guess. is there a standard width of chux?

[Yayu]

Sorry about your home dude

I think the usual broom stick would make good due for now till you find a replacement. (I can't be too sure though, only brooms I've ever owned were those fan-like Bagio brooms)

For the pairs I make all I use are:
Dowels - I usually get them for under 3 dollars for 3 feet
Paracord - about under 5 dollars and pays for itself due to the excess (for me atleast)
Electrical Tape - I just find rolls lying around, just used for design (until I find a good way to stop my paint jobs from being ruined) and a bit of weight.
Bottle caps (plastic) - I don't think I'd have to tell you where to find these, thick ones are great. They're just used to add some weight on the ends of the chucks.
Coins - Optional, incase the caps aren't enough weight - just fit them under the caps

Here's an image of my usual pair which I'm hoping to retire soon due to all the chipping right on the top due to some construction error and dropping (mainly construction error since I used a nail to make the holes)

[Dragn]

that actually brings up a great question that i forgot to ask:

Is the diamiter of a bottlecap about the standard for chux? the ones i made are too thick to have bottlecaps placed on the ends, and originally i thought they were too thick to begin with, with you telling me that it gives me a great idea of how thick they should be

is that standardish for chux? to be able to (at least nearly) fit a bottlecap on the ends?

[jmvicuna]

Actually, we have many DIY guides, that will help you (BTW I moved this topic to the DIY section)

About diameter, You must use the more confortable for you.... and for that, you must test. I think that the best is to test from 0.5 inches, to 1.7 inches.

I made a tutorial of a broom stick nunchaku. It worked perfect for me, the only problem was that broom sticks are too light.

Take a look at the guides here: http://www.freestyleforum.net/index.php?board=34.0

And remember to post your ideas or tutorial of your next nunchaku! 

[Jam£$]

Hey Dragn,

Gutted about your house .I emphathise .my house nearly burned down once .
Iv maked a lot of my chux over the years .the trouble was that before I knew how a "proper" pair of chux was I wasnt really sure of the size and my chucks ended up way too small .

Fast forward a couple of years and now my favorites are maybye 1 and a half inches thick for the whole length of the sticks , about  14inches long although 12 inch better for starting

I'm kind of over using chain these days I use cord which a shoelace will do for I use pretty long cord .my shoulders are pretty broad .

and on that subject .if your starting out a shorter (about 4.5 incher) chain or string is better for grasping the basic fundamentals of wrist spins etc .maybye go more length when you get to thumb and finger spins.

I hope some of this may been of help to u bro Keep chukin

[theraven39]

Here's links to the materials I used to build my favorite home-mades.  You don't necessarily have to order it all offline.  I find Lowe's works pretty well.  That's where I got the 1 inch oak dowel I've used for all my home-mades so far, not to mention the chain and cord.  Anyway, in supplies I think the most I spent on one pair was like 12 dollars, and the least was probably around 3 for simpler designs.

Swivels: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=B0BXGH3XS01YRLAQBBKSCNVMCAEFAIWE?id=0017529117349a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all-perf&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=swivel&Nty=1&cm_cat=Google_NonBrand&No=72&Ne=2510&Ntt=swivel&noImage=0&cm_ven=performics&_requestid=151988&Ntx=matchall&cm_pla=fish_terminaltackle_swivlessnapsclevises&N=4842&cm_ite=swivels&rid=0180101070502&cmCat=perf&_requestid=77008

or

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0064266320456a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=8&_D%3AhasJS=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&No=18&Ntt=swivel&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Go.x=15&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

The second ones have a lower poundage rating, but they swivel slightly better, and 550 pounds is still more than you'll likely ever need.  I did blow a set of them apart swinging my steelies, but those probably weigh like 5 pounds, and spinning at full speed, I can only imagine the pressure I put on them.  The barrel style swivels from the first link held up nicely though.  I actually disassembled them after I left them at my friend's house and he managed to destroy the chain, but I replaced them with a new linkage and I'm getting ready to drop them into a new pair of oaks.

Collars: http://www.smallparts.com/Oilite-Sintered-Flanged-Bearing-FF318-01B/dp/B001DTCKIM?ie=UTF8&qid=1237414487&pf_rd_r=1RQRC19C7PZJFH78SYFW&pf_rd_p=467590051&pf_rd_i=16410991&sr=1-17&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_m=AIUBT5HP6PMAF&pf_rd_t=101

The collar just keeps the swivels from tilting too much and f***ing up the uniformity of your spins or chewing up the wood.  Then if you take a few flat washers and a couple screws, you can counterweight the opposite ends to transfer the weight balance toward the striking end.

Oh, and I'm not gonna bother to link them, but tension pins.  They're also called roll pins and...expansion pins. but that's what I use to fasten the swivel assembly to the sticks.

If you need an idea about how it all fits together, check out my diy post for the last pair at

http://www.freestyleforum.net/index.php?topic=8306.0

near the middle of the page.  Good luck.

[zwy6art]

Just standard 1" diameter pvc piping works really well too. Just grab a couple peices of bailing wire from the local barkchip/feed store and your set.



Here is pic describing how I strung them. Just use whatever string you want to. I'm confident that you will restring them when they need to be so you don't have flying nunchuck parts breaking things.

If you play your cards right(which is relatively easy to do in this case) You can get ALL the stuff for free. If not a couple bucks for the piping and that's all.

This will make relatively light but reliable nunchucks. The dowel method is heaver, but the wood is a little more spendy.

[Matt-Chez]

when i was using homemade chucks, i just used dowel from a local DIY store, it cost me £5 for about a 4.5 foot dowel, with a width of about 1.2", then i used either a thick 1 nylon cord tie or (using thinner cord) a 3 cord tie usually about 2.5" -3.5" (cord cost only about £1 for enough for 5 pairs of chucks) and these were quite good for the price, which would probably be about $9 in the US for 2 pairs plus some excess materials that can be saved for next time . oh and definitely try using electrical tape, stops you wearing your hands out too fast, but if you do ALWAYS start spiraling the tape from the BOTTOM of the chucks, if you ever do it from the top ,the edges of the tape will dig into your hands.

this is an old vid but i think it shows that homemade chucks like these can still be totally fine for freestyle. (jan 08)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Vq--1gOR4&feature=channel_page

[zwy6art]

It always amazes me how you can freestyle like that matt for such long periods of time without dropping the chucks.

[Dragn]

thx for all the info guys, especially the swivels, now i know what im lookin for when i go to chains

but i have yet another question: what do you do with the knot in the rope. i know it goes on the side inbetween 2 holes:



now ive seen most guides say just tie it off right htere, thats what i originally did, but the knot is so lumpy it kinda throws off the feel of things...

i found a way around it by drilling the lower hole with a larger bit to make a gap the knot will fit into, but im wondering if someones found a better way? ive seen tripple threaded chucks with no knots thx to this forum, has anyone figured out a way to do it with 2threads?

[Heru Pyrkagia]

instead of a knot, melt the ends of the cord and while it is still liquidy, flatten the tip so it cannot pass through the hole. you gotta really make sure the flattened part of the cord is stiff though, you dont want those things to come undone lol. why arent you doing triple? oh and i live by dowel chux. my favorite pair at the moment are dowel chux i made (for cheeeeep)

[Dragn]

im doing double atm, not triple

was considering triple because i saw a guide on how to tie them off without creating any knot, basically braids the end of the rope into a weave

[Yayu]

I myself go with the triple cording and melt the paracord right through one of the bottom holes never failed me before when done right.

[Dragn]

yayu....

that diagram just won you +1 internets.

[zwy6art]

This is how I triple strung my heavy wooden 14". Worked extremely well for me.