making a jo

[Sunrunner]

I have turned an old, well used, and broken bo into a jo. I sawed off the broken and cracked pieces and have sanded it down to a mostly smooth state. Does anyone know what next I should do with it as far a sealing or treating it? I would like to restain it, but then what? Anyone here a staff maker?

 

Thanks.

[Athorn4941]

After you have sanded it down to bare wood I personally would use a water based stain to stain it. And then a polyurathane finish after the staining process. I think the poly urathane is a good finish cuase It doesnt seem to wear off so easy from use. I also recomend minwax. It has been good to me. Remember the key to sucess is proper preperation with the sanding.

 

Also I use a jig that is a pipe that is full of stain. So I just have to dip the item into it.

 

And I have another pipe that is filled with urathane so I just have to dip the item into it.

 

1. sand to bare wood till it is as smooth as posible.

 

2. stain it with water bases stain.

 

3. let it dry for a day or two.

 

4. apply the polyurathane finish. let it dry for 4 hours. sand it with 200 grit.

 

5. apply the polyurathane finish. let it dry for 4 hours. sand it with 400 grit.

 

6. apply the polyurathane finish. let it dry for 4 hours.

 

then you should be done

[Sauzin]

I prefer to not stain jo's. Any way you go, staining can remove some of the natural oils in the wood and make it more brittle. Applying finishes really prevents the wood from moving though you're hands as easily.

 

Personally I think the best thing to do is just apply a couple of very light linseed oil coats. Wait about 3 or 4 days in between each coat. What this does is enriches the woods natural color, strengthens the jo, and still allows the woods natural pores to continue to soak in oils from you're hand and future linseed coats (about 1 a year). Doing this for 10 to 20 years will give you a jo that is about as dark as if it was stained. It will also get stronger year by year.

[Sunrunner]

Thank you both for the suggestions, I'll save them for future reference. Sauzin, where can I find linseed oil and how many coats would be applied?

[Sauzin]

Any hardware store will have it (Lowes, Home Depot, heck even Fred Meyer). You want to put 2 or 3 coats and space them out by 3 or 4 days. Make sure the coats are very thin by wiping off as much as possible after an application. A coat that is too thick it will feel kind of sticky, even after a week of drying. If this happens, lightly sand it down and apply another light coat. After that a coat every 6 months to a year will keep your weapon well maintained. Keep in mind, different woods dry at different rates. Red oak is notorious for drying out and becoming brittle with age. That is why oiling is really the only way to keep a red oak weapon safely usable past 10 years, sometimes 5. Other woods behave differently. High grade hickory is really the best wood for a jo. Nothing takes a beating like hickory and traditional jo exercises will dish out a beating. It’s the most impact resistant wood out there and it doesn’t dry as badly as red oak, so if you do upgrade consider a hickory jo. $60-$80 will get you a good one from a weapon maker.

 

I hope this helps!

 

P.S. By the way don’t leave oil soaked rags in the sun or any place that gets much above room temp. They have a tendency to spontaneously combust.

[Sunrunner]

Thanks again...I've never done it before, but I think I will try this out.