I was looking to see if I could find any more information about this wood. I did a search and came up with. http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/박달나무 It looks like it is also called Schmidt's Birch (Betula schmidtii). Can anyone verify this? Thanks.
The URL you gave only came up written in Korean. Also see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Fan/Mu_Puche According to what comes up on a quick Google search, Pak Dahl is a type of hardwood which only grows in Korea. Which sounds to me like you'd have some difficulty getting hold of the stuff. If you are looking to make your own Fans, why not consider using split bamboo instead - the same material that Japanese Kendo practitioners use in their Shinai swords.
My Instructor, GM Pak, used this stuff for our Dan Bong. I have also looked to see if I could get my hands on some, but no luck. The fact is that I would not even be able to import some if I DID find it in Korea, as this kind of thing must go through extensive checking by Gov't before it is allowed into Canada. I am willing to be that OZZIES would have the same problem. They are also VERY careful about plant material. Rudy
Bahi is superb As I posted elsewhere, for making Dan Bongs, I'd use Coconut tree (Bahi). You can buy them 28" in length for about £20 in the UK, or $20 in the States. They're already the right kind of diameter, so all you need to do is cut them to 13 or 14 inches from a single stick. They are very strong and durable, and look quite good too - although I prefer to remove al varnish and apply Tung Oil instead. Be careful of using Tung Oil if you have a nut allergy however.
Hi ImaYayhawk, Like Pugil stated, the link was in Korean, but like Pugil I searched a bit more and also found the Fan/Mu Puche link refered to. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Fan/Mu_Puche I also found this link about Korean Staff work which would appear to be somebody's (Robyn Goodwin) essay on the staff. http://www.certainvictory.com/essays/History_Korean_Staff_Robyn_Goodwin.pdf which mentions the following: "Bongs in Ancient Korea were constructed from pak dahl, a special wood found only in the Sea Jae area of Kyung Bok Province. Oil was applied to strengthen and preserve the wood. It was steamed to allowing (sic)the oil penetrate the wood and strengthen is so much that even a sharp sword "could not cut it." You might well be able to import bongs or fans made from pak dahl from Korea rather than import the wood to make them yourself ... but what fun would that be!!! LOL Not sure I have helped much but it is my penny's worth. All the best, Quozl
The above above is pretty much directly quoted from Suh In Hyuk and Jane Hallander's "The Fighting Weapons of Korean Martial Arts". FWIW
I thought that sounded vaguely familiar when I read it! Page 26 of the aforementioned book: "Bongs in ancient Korea were constructed from a special wood called pak dahl, found only in the Sea Jae area of Kyung Bok province. Each staff was treated with an oil that strengthened and preserved the wood. It was steamed to allow the oil to penetrate the wood, forming a strength so mighty it was said even a sharp sword could not cut the pak dahl bong."
What did you expect? The linked website is FOR koreans, isn't it? [ko.wikipedia.org] And if that weren't enough, the korean version of the Wicked Pædia globe in the upper left-hand corner should've tipped you off...
Thanks Ollie: I had not come across your other post. Still browsing old posts here lol. Lots to read up on. Rudy
A Russian botanist named Regel first described the plant following the Russian Siberian explorations of the 1800's- see "The Flora of China" at http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006166 It is (or was) apparently also found in China and Russia "Temperate broad-leaved forests; 700-800 m. E Jilin (Linjiang), NE Liaoning [Japan, N Korea, E Russia (Primorye)]" If you try importing the wood you are going to hit three problems 1) hygeine / quarantine issues 2) problems with proof of origin / proof of sustainability. There are big questions asked over any kind of wood which originates in that part of the world , partly because China tends to be a bit lax with its authentication standards regarding country of origin. You'll have to jump through all kinds of hoops to import the stuff 3) the natural range in Korea is in NORTH Korea. May cause a few issues I expect! It IS grown commercially as a garden tree - you can buy seeds and seedlings Growing instructions here http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Betula+schmidtii One source of the trees here http://www.wtgn.co.uk/html/trees.html But there would be no guarantee that trees grown outside the species normal range would have the same characteristics of wood which make them suitable. Note it grows naturally at 700-800 metre altitude Also its also very possible that only wood from a very small geographic area is suitable, despite the natural range covering a larger area A Babelfisk translation of that Korean Wiki page is here http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translat...EB%82%98%EB%AC%B4&lp=ko_en&btnTrUrl=Translate Very garbled, but its clear that the wood was strong enough to make wheel spokes and mortar/pestles Translated page from a Korean botanical listing here http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/tran...plant/plantGuide/results/view.jsp?name_id=908
Sorry I should have warned you. I did a search in English and nothing helpful came up so I tried Korean, but I'm not sure if there is more than one type of wood called Pak Dahl. But according to this site it also grows in China, part of Russia, and Japan. So maybe if Korea isn't exporting one of the other countries might... Here is another interesting link that talks about pak dahl. And another link. "Betula schmidtii dominated communities are known in Korea only from Mount Myohyang, although the species occurs elsewhere. Betula ermani dominated communities are rare and away from Myohyang are found only over 2000 m." If this statement is true then that might be another reason why it is so hard to get since it appears that Mount Myohang is in North Korea...
Thanks Pugil, I'll have to try Bahi, I do have a nice pair of dahn bongs made from one of the iron woods, I can't remember exactly which one off the top of my head.
Just found this report on B ermanii, which indicates its much more common so I'd guess that B schmidtii is the one http://kamome.lib.ynu.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10131/3812/8/vegeta_a07.pdf However you can't rule our regional variation making wood from only one specific area suitable And one other point - B schmidtii wood sinks, so don't make any liferafts from it... Just that fact alone indicates it must be pretty strong & dense
"Babelfisk" - LMAO And that was my immediate response, to siphon the page through Babelfish, but the VERY garbled gobbledy-gook that was returned is precisely why I didn't bother reporting back with that approach. But thanks to everyone for all the other informative links they put on here. But ultimately, in this modern world we live in, it isn't necessary to restrict yourself to using what ancient koreans had no choice but to use, when denser woods are easier to come by nowadays.
Not if you're over 45 you can't! Well, I suppose you could, but you get my drift surely! Quite true! Hell, if you wanna make wheel spokes you can use Oak (same as used by old Carters and Wheelwrights), which is a heck of a lot easier to come by. As for mortar and pestles, the wooden ones are usually made of Olive Wood I believe. As far as I can tell, most people with Dan Bongs only wave them around in the air anyway, in which case most people might just as well use another hardwood known as Balsa! :whistle: :evil:
Haven't you ever heard of planting for the future? You may not benefit but your students (or student's students) might Mind you, where in this country is anyone going to let you plant these at 800 metres altitude??? Now maybe in Canada... plenty of big hills there
LMAO I also found it quite amusing that anyone who is middle-aged wouldn't have the luxury to wait around and nurture a slow-growing tree from seed, just to make a pair of danbong, when ANY hardwood would do. Sometimes these forums really take things to the limit of our imagination, don't they? :thinking:
