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Begonnen bij TTC Damme, vorig jaar bij TTC Pipolic en nu...
Hi everyone
I just got the Idea to give an overview of the different wood-types and what they do to a blade. If you have any remarks, please let me know.
1. Balsa: Forest tree of lowland Central America
As it is low-density but high in strength, balsa is a very popular material to use when making light, stiff structures. It has a typical density of about 160 kg/m³.
In blades Balsa is often combined with carbon + 2 outer plies of plywood, to make te blade light and fast at the same time.
2. Hinoki: A species of cypress native to central Japan.
The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.
Hinoki has the property of being very soft with a nice soft touch in short, but very fast when hitting. The biggest drawback is probably weight, that is apart from it's scarcity and cost.
3. Limba: A large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa.
The wood is either a light ('white limba') or with dark stripes ('black limba' or 'korina') hardwood.
Limba has excellent acoustic properties, and so good vibrations which make this wood excellent for table tennis blades. The thinner veneers of limba that are being used in table tennis blades are popular for topspin game. The wood gives good acoustic click sound when used with softer rubbers and it’s vibrations or flex is liked by top spin players. The more the thickness, it increases the hitting ability.
4. Ayous: The high elasticity of this African wood gives quite a nice bounce effect when inside the blade. It is not that great a top veneer wood as it is not very pliable.
Seemingly ayous is more often used in Asian blades, whereas Limba is used in European blades. There are exceptions though.
5. Koto: The wood is tight and rather solid. It has a nicely striped, decorative design and therefore is often used as surface veneer (with a thickness of 0.7/0.8 mm)
6. Anegre: Anegre is a mid hard and solid, a non-elastic wood, being waterproof, it is mostly used as surface veneer. Anegre can be found in two colours basically (yellow and red); the red one can be used as a replacement for fossil tree.
7. Padouk: The wood is hard and elastic, partly used as surface veneer (dark red colour).
8. Kiso Hinoki
A very light, solid type of wood; this particular cypress is used for blade manufacturing only when having 300 years or more in age. It can be found in all types of veneers in table tennis blades.
9. Spruce: Spruce is believed to be amongst the most important types of wood used in forestry. It grows quickly and is also know as Oregon. In table tennis blades it is principally used as mid veneers.
10. Kiri: A light weight, soft but very tight and torsionally stiff type of wood, mainly used as core veneer. Almost every Butterfly table tennis blade that is made in Japan has a Kiri core. More durable, heavier and harder than balsa. This is one of the main reasons why Butterfly blades are heavier than other manufacturer's blades.
Probably I forgot some items
I got all the info from different online sources. I won't pretend I am a wood-expert all of a sudden.
This is a rather nice link:
http://www.tabletennisdb.com/blog/wood/
I just got the Idea to give an overview of the different wood-types and what they do to a blade. If you have any remarks, please let me know.
1. Balsa: Forest tree of lowland Central America
As it is low-density but high in strength, balsa is a very popular material to use when making light, stiff structures. It has a typical density of about 160 kg/m³.
In blades Balsa is often combined with carbon + 2 outer plies of plywood, to make te blade light and fast at the same time.
2. Hinoki: A species of cypress native to central Japan.
The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.
Hinoki has the property of being very soft with a nice soft touch in short, but very fast when hitting. The biggest drawback is probably weight, that is apart from it's scarcity and cost.
3. Limba: A large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa.
The wood is either a light ('white limba') or with dark stripes ('black limba' or 'korina') hardwood.
Limba has excellent acoustic properties, and so good vibrations which make this wood excellent for table tennis blades. The thinner veneers of limba that are being used in table tennis blades are popular for topspin game. The wood gives good acoustic click sound when used with softer rubbers and it’s vibrations or flex is liked by top spin players. The more the thickness, it increases the hitting ability.
4. Ayous: The high elasticity of this African wood gives quite a nice bounce effect when inside the blade. It is not that great a top veneer wood as it is not very pliable.
Seemingly ayous is more often used in Asian blades, whereas Limba is used in European blades. There are exceptions though.
5. Koto: The wood is tight and rather solid. It has a nicely striped, decorative design and therefore is often used as surface veneer (with a thickness of 0.7/0.8 mm)
6. Anegre: Anegre is a mid hard and solid, a non-elastic wood, being waterproof, it is mostly used as surface veneer. Anegre can be found in two colours basically (yellow and red); the red one can be used as a replacement for fossil tree.
7. Padouk: The wood is hard and elastic, partly used as surface veneer (dark red colour).
8. Kiso Hinoki
A very light, solid type of wood; this particular cypress is used for blade manufacturing only when having 300 years or more in age. It can be found in all types of veneers in table tennis blades.
9. Spruce: Spruce is believed to be amongst the most important types of wood used in forestry. It grows quickly and is also know as Oregon. In table tennis blades it is principally used as mid veneers.
10. Kiri: A light weight, soft but very tight and torsionally stiff type of wood, mainly used as core veneer. Almost every Butterfly table tennis blade that is made in Japan has a Kiri core. More durable, heavier and harder than balsa. This is one of the main reasons why Butterfly blades are heavier than other manufacturer's blades.
Probably I forgot some items
I got all the info from different online sources. I won't pretend I am a wood-expert all of a sudden.
This is a rather nice link:
http://www.tabletennisdb.com/blog/wood/
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