Materials Information

Just as important as the craftsmanship that goes into a quality item are the materials the craftsman uses to ply his trade.

Here the old adage "Garbage in, Garbage out" applies here.

Fact is, a lot of the items I had purchased in my early days of martial arts training were inferior because of the materials that were used in their manufacture. With today's technology and resources that are available there is no excuse why a manufactured item cannot be made with high quality except for one reason: Money. Many companies recognize that there is a market for 'cheap stuff' and therefore they make it with cheap material thusly saving THEM money in the manufacture of their goods.

Naturally, companies are in business to make a profit. However we  could not, in good conscience, ask anyone to spend over $100.00 on a piece of equipment that is not designed to last a lifetime (well ok.. quite a long while anyhow) is ridiculous. Our parents and grandparents spent hard earned cash on furniture that has lasted their whole lifetimes. Get the point?

The materials we use are a combination of modern and traditional style (wood). You may notice from looking at the catalog that we have quite a few items made of Delrin.

Delrin is a plastic, in layman's terms. It is much more complex than that, but for simplicity sake here it is "plastic". It was originally developed for the aerospace industry (YES, REALLY it was- not just hype..). It is used for a multitude of things found on aircraft that we fly in today. It is also known as a very machineable material that can withstand varying degrees of temperature on either end of the spectrum. In other words, it's extremely stable and will not melt or deform under temperatures found in your car on a scorching summer day nor will it crack and break after being in a cold car over night in the dead of winter like other polycarbonates and pvc's can and do. It also has good flexibility characteristics. Because it is a high molecular density material it also somewhat heavy when used in large pieces this weight allows for it to absorb shock well and bring the item as close to the "real" weight as possible of your training tool. These qualities combined make it a good choice for fabrication of our training weapons. It is one of the few materials where we have been tempted to put a lifetime guarantee on the items we make from it. However, if it can be made, it can broken, so no lifetime guarantees.

The downside to Delrin is that it is expensive, but then with an item made with this material that you may never have to buy again is it really all that expensive?

NOW- A word on Wood (click here)