Chainwood Hand Made Rosewood Nunchaku with Steel Chain & Knotwork Collars | 12 Inch Handles | Turned Rosewood and Steel Fittings | Training Gift | RK-1854

The Chainwood is a pair of turned rosewood handles joined by a short welded steel chain, finished with polished steel collars at the joined ends and a soft nose at the free ends. One collar carries a band of cut interlace, the same knotwork family used on our Norse pieces, so the set reads as a hand made object rather than a rack item. It arrives in a black canvas slip so it can be carried and stored without the chain marking the wood.

Nunchaku came out of Okinawa, and the popular story that they began as rice flails is more romance than record. What is documented is that Okinawan fighting traditions grew around ordinary farm and household tools during long periods when arms were restricted, and that the paired stick with a flexible link was refined inside those traditions before it ever reached film. The physics is what makes the tool interesting. Every part of this set is turned, sanded, oiled, fitted and assembled in the Czech Republic, and it ships with the carry pouch shown. It belongs with the Norse arms. If the shape is not quite right, the Viking swords run close to it.

Specifications

Chain against cord, and why it changes everything

The link between two handles is not a detail. It is the whole behaviour of the tool. A cord link is soft. It absorbs a little of every change of direction, it wraps more readily around a forearm, and it forgives a sloppy catch. A chain link is hard. It transmits the swing almost without loss, it returns faster, and it punishes a bad catch by rapping your knuckles.

This set is chained, which means it swings heavier and returns quicker than a corded pair of the same weight. The chain runs free through the eyes in both collars rather than being fixed, so the handles can rotate independently as the set swings. That free rotation is what stops the chain from twisting up on itself after a few passes, and it is the single most common thing cheap sets get wrong.

The length matters too. Handles of about twelve inches are the traditional proportion, roughly the distance from your elbow to the base of your palm, which is the length that lets a handle sit along the forearm during a catch without the free end hanging past your elbow.

Rosewood, steel and the oil finish

Rosewood is dense, oily by nature and close grained, which is why it has been used for tool handles and instrument parts for centuries. The density is what gives these handles their weight in a swing. The natural oil in the timber is what lets them take a penetrating oil finish rather than a film of lacquer. An oiled handle stays grippy in a warm hand. A lacquered one turns slick the moment you sweat, which is worth knowing before you buy any wooden training tool.

The grain in rosewood runs from deep plum through chocolate to a lighter honey, often in the same board, and here it is left visible rather than stained flat. The collars and chain are steel, polished bright and set into a shallow rebate at the end of each handle so the joint sits flush rather than proud. The interlace on the collar is cut, not stamped, so it has depth and holds a shadow.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this set the knotwork band on the collar is that design, and a rune line will take its place. A short line can also be burned into the rosewood along one handle if you prefer it on the wood. See the engraving page.

Handling and training

These are heavier than a foam or plastic training pair and they behave accordingly. Rosewood at this diameter carries real momentum, so the first sessions should be slow, outdoors or in a room with nothing breakable, and ideally wearing something on your hands. Start with figure eights held in front of the body before you attempt anything behind the back or over the shoulder, because a missed catch with hardwood costs you a bruise rather than a lesson.

Grip the handle a third of the way up from the free end rather than at the very bottom. That gives the set a shorter lever and a faster return. The oiled satin finish is deliberately not slippery, but it is smooth, so keep hands dry.

Care

Wipe the wood down after a session and let it dry at room temperature. Once or twice a year rub a little boiled linseed or a hardwood furniture oil into the handles with a cloth, leave it twenty minutes and buff off the excess. That is all rosewood ever needs. Keep the set out of direct sun and away from radiators, since heat dries the timber and can open a check along the grain. Put a drop of light oil on the chain if it starts to squeak, and wipe the steel collars dry rather than leaving them damp. Never soak the handles and never put them anywhere near a dishwasher.

Made in the Czech Republic

This is a handmade piece from the Czech Republic, made in a workshop that still forges, grinds and finishes by hand instead of stamping parts out. The smiths there have kept the older way of working, and the wood, horn and leather are shaped and fitted by hand as well. Two pieces of the same design will never be identical, and that is part of what you are buying.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We handle the import ourselves, look over every piece when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done in the United States after the piece arrives, so your design goes on before we send it out.

A note on handmade variation

This set is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Rosewood varies enormously. Colour runs from plum to honey, the figure in the grain is different in every board, and the way the oil sits on it changes the tone again. The turned rings, the depth of the cut interlace and the exact weight all move slightly. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not. If that is the part you care about, carry on with the Norse symbols and what they meant, then gifts for reenactors.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a training set or a display piece?

It is a functional training set in hardwood. It is not a padded beginner tool, so treat it with the respect any hardwood implement deserves.

Can beginners use these?

Yes, with care and slowly. Hardwood and a steel chain are unforgiving of a missed catch, so many people start on a foam pair and move up to these.

Does the chain swivel?

Yes. The chain runs free through the eyes in both collars so the handles rotate independently and the chain does not twist up.

Will the wood chip?

Rosewood is dense and takes knocks well, but striking concrete or steel will mark any timber. Marks from use sit in the surface and can be oiled back.

Can I get runes on it?

Yes. A rune line can be cut into the steel collar or burned into the rosewood along a handle. Tell us which you would like in the engraving option.

How long does delivery take?

One to two weeks of processing while the pair is turned and matched, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Chainwood rosewood nunchaku pair joined by a welded steel chain
• Polished steel collars, one cut with Norse interlace
• One black canvas carry pouch
• Made and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

More in accessories, Norse arms and engraved and personalised pieces, with wood and finish notes in the guides.