Serious question about horse chestnuts. How can we get my son's conkers really hard?

He keeps losing conker fights at school, and we've had enough. We want a mighty conker that will be a champion.

Serious question about horse chestnuts. How can we get my son's conkers really hard?
!/ the more rounder (sperical) the better

2/ place the conkers into water any that float discard them

3/ soak them in vinager overnight and bake them for 30 to 40 mins



all you need to know about conkers are on the site below
Reply:From my schooldays in the 1940s the method used to make horse chestnuts [conkers] go rock hard was as follows:-

soak the conkers in vinegar overnight then bake in a medium hot oven for about 40 mins. Don't blame me if they explode. Using hardened conkers as described above is CHEATING. It's okay in the school playground where onsite rules may apply, however, to play conkers at village level they are stringed by an independent group of people and then handed out - each player taking one at a time from the platter of stringed conkers.
Reply:Soak it overnight in vinegar!
Reply:Right. First of all dont get the biggest conker you can find. Get a normal sized one. A good soaking in vinegar will do. Now paint it in varnish, leave it in the freezer (not the oven!!!!!) and make sure you leave it in White Spirit for half an hour. It worked for me in a little tournament we had once and I swear to God, I beat everyone else until someone stole it. If no white spirit, a bit of Coke with some alcohol will do as well
Reply:Varnish them. Ideally you should leave those till next season but once the varnish dries it should be ok
Reply:soak it in vinegar and put it in the freezer
Reply:Soak in vinegar and then bake them in the oven for 1 hour.when cold apply clear nail varnish
Reply:Paint a brick conker-coloured
Reply:Soak over night in WHITE vinegar and then put a hole in them and bake on alowish heat in the oven, for 2 -3 hours.

Don't bake without a hole or they explode!
Reply:You don't want them hard. They break! You want them bouncy. A golf ball is hard and much easier to break than a solid rubber ball. We used to do all sorts of things - soaking them seemed to be the best - often in vinegar - no idea why it was vinegar. Personally, I'd try injecting them with silicone... lol Painting them too used to work - can't remember what we painted them with.... Rubber solution? Poor kid - needs a guy to help him! lol
Reply:You wouldn't believe how dodgy youre question sounds! lol

Anyway



Wouldn't the conkers break less easily if they're softer?... but then it'd be hard to use it to smash everyone else's



it's just luck i think
Reply:I always find VERY fresh conkers have more spring and so take more damage. They're more boinky.



Also drill holes slowly. Don't pierce them with pointy things. Cracks in the skin around the hole will spread out and the whole thing will fail.



Gather lots and keep them on a shed roof or similar dry warm place for a year and next year you'll have brilliant conkers
Reply:When I was a kid my dad would bore the hole for the string soak it in vinegar for 48 hours and dry in the airing cupboard for a week. They lasted pretty well!
Reply:find them and then leave them for a year and they break stones and they dont break they chip.
Reply:i no its sounds mad but try putting it in vinegar it works leave it for 2 days or more the longer its in there the better
Reply:but one in the freezer for a week. Unbeatable!