Conkers
- Thread starter Keitan
- Start date
Chronictank
FH is my second home
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2004
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- 10,133
soaking them in cement is even better 
Lamp
Gold Star Holder!!
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2005
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Conkers - What Every Man & Boy should know
The first thing to do is spend an autumn afternoon throwing sticks into the branches of horse chestnut trees. For conkers, the bigger the better is a good rule and any that still have white spots should be given to friends - they are useless Collect more than you need. This is only your practice year. Next year, you'll take out all the ones your prepared and win constantly, but this is the year your learn your skills.
The trickiest part is making a neat, small hole. You will be tempted to use a nail, a spike or anything else with a point. This does work, but there's always a chance of spoiling a good conker in the process. Use a drill. Conkers spin round at high speed, or crack when you put them in a vice.
Once you have your holes, you need a strong trainer lace. Thin laces from shoes are no good - they'll just cut into the conker. Use stiff wire to poke the lace through the hole - don't use a fork. Use three or four simple overhand knots to stop the lace slipping back into the conker.
How to Prepare Your Conker
The very best conkers are the ones you left in an airing cupboard the year before. If you do this, make the holes first ! Here are the classic methods of hardening other than the passage of time:
(1) Soak in vinegar for an hour, then bake in an oven at 250 degrees celcius for 5 to 10 minutes. All you're trying to do here is to speed up the effect of drying out for a year, so don't leave them to roast !
(2) A single coat of matt varnish will be difficult to detect and helps hold the conker together. Do not try more than one coat as a conker than looks like a cricket ball will be noticeable.
Avoid filling the conker with something hard like glue or fibreglass resin. At some point, the conker will split and reveal what you've been up to. Bear in mind that suspicious opponents may wish to check your conker.
Now go out and find a big stick.
The first thing to do is spend an autumn afternoon throwing sticks into the branches of horse chestnut trees. For conkers, the bigger the better is a good rule and any that still have white spots should be given to friends - they are useless
Collect more than you need. This is only your practice year. Next year, you'll take out all the ones your prepared and win constantly, but this is the year your learn your skills.The trickiest part is making a neat, small hole. You will be tempted to use a nail, a spike or anything else with a point. This does work, but there's always a chance of spoiling a good conker in the process. Use a drill. Conkers spin round at high speed, or crack when you put them in a vice.
Once you have your holes, you need a strong trainer lace. Thin laces from shoes are no good - they'll just cut into the conker. Use stiff wire to poke the lace through the hole - don't use a fork. Use three or four simple overhand knots to stop the lace slipping back into the conker.
How to Prepare Your Conker
The very best conkers are the ones you left in an airing cupboard the year before. If you do this, make the holes first ! Here are the classic methods of hardening other than the passage of time:
(1) Soak in vinegar for an hour, then bake in an oven at 250 degrees celcius for 5 to 10 minutes. All you're trying to do here is to speed up the effect of drying out for a year, so don't leave them to roast !
(2) A single coat of matt varnish will be difficult to detect and helps hold the conker together. Do not try more than one coat as a conker than looks like a cricket ball will be noticeable.
Avoid filling the conker with something hard like glue or fibreglass resin. At some point, the conker will split and reveal what you've been up to. Bear in mind that suspicious opponents may wish to check your conker.
Now go out and find a big stick.
Ingafgrinn Macabre
Can't get enough of FH
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- Jan 4, 2004
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- 3,155
Coat 'em with a carbon weave and resin... should harden 'em up properly.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2003
- Messages
- 44,644
they have a yearly conker tournament near my home town, in ashton northamptonshire.
http://www.worldconkerchampionships.com/
http://www.worldconkerchampionships.com/
