making of an all-wood table tennis blade

[mehdi.serghini]

hey guys ,
i just had an idea of making a new table tennis blade instead of bying it , i'd like to hear from you if someone has already made something like this and if you have any suggestion or advice its very welcome .
so i'm an off player , my father owns a morrocan traditional carpentry factory , and here's the wood that i can have :
beech , cedar , mahogany , oak ,and some other woods that i cant find their name in english like : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_rouge
so i thought i ll make a compostion of : beech cedar beech or beech cedar beech cedar beech .
this is something new for me , i hope that you'll help me
(any advice is welcome)
thanks in advance

 

[cakezxc280]

hey guys ,
i just had an idea of making a new table tennis blade instead of bying it , i'd like to hear from you if someone has already made something like this and if you have any suggestion or advice its very welcome .
so i'm an off player , my father owns a morrocan traditional carpentry factory , and here's the wood that i can have :
beech , cedar , mahogany , oak ,and some other woods that i cant find their name in english like : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_rouge
so i thought i ll make a compostion of : beech cedar beech or beech cedar beech cedar beech .
this is something new for me , i hope that you'll help me
(any advice is welcome)
thanks in advance

for a off bat you will probably need something hard like koto, limba or some of those red woods like ebenholz, walnut or hinoki for your surface veneer.
Beech are rarely used in blade making....not sure how its gonna play.

 

[mehdi.serghini]

beech is a hard wood also , its used for donic opticon rs
my problem is that i can only find the woods that i mentioned :d

 

[cakezxc280]

beech is a hard wood also , its used for donic opticon rs
my problem is that i can only find the woods that i mentioned :d

Yea Opticon was the only one i knew that had beech on it....and it wasnt very good haha

 

[mehdi.serghini]

really ? lol , so what can you advice me , with those woods , any composition in mind

 

[cakezxc280]

Cant think of anything without Koto, Ayous, Kiri, or Limba lol.....and i dont really know what those woods do, so i am not going out of my knowledge to give you any advice. Best of luck tho.

 

[mehdi.serghini]

Cant think of anything without Koto, Ayous, Kiri, or Limba lol.....and i dont really know what those woods do, so i am not going out of my knowledge to give you any advice. Best of luck tho.

okay , but in term of hardness or softness : i use a soft core or a hard one , and how many ply i should put ?

 

[cakezxc280]

okay , but in term of hardness or softness : i use a soft core or a hard one , and how many ply i should put ?

Depends on you really. Normally hard/More plies = relatively faster. But there are some exceptions.

 

[mehdi.serghini]

okay thanks a lot my friend

 

[mehdi.serghini]

and what's the difference between a soft core and a hard one

 

[cakezxc280]

The flexibility of the blade. Loops tend to be spinnier and the forward action of the ball after its second bounce tend to get abit faster. These are due to the longer dwell time of the ball on the blade. Some really soft blade like the old Stiga Offensive Classic even have this whipping feel to the ball.
Harder blades are more for hitting, punching and driving. Tends to be a bit faster and abit less spinnier. But the faster part has some exceptions to it though.

 

[mehdi.serghini]

okay thanks alot my friend , i guess ill put cedar as a core cause its softer than the other woods and after some research i found out that mahogany is used more than beech , i guess soft core (cedar ) and mahogany hard outer ply would be a good mix . what do u think ?
btw ill start the work tomorrow , I'll post the final view of the blade after

 

[BeGo]

So, whot is your plan about the shape and size, Mehdi?

 

[mehdi.serghini]

So, whot is your plan about the shape and size, Mehdi?

it will be a 155 cm - 150 cm / 7-8 mm , 3 ply Wood , mahagony - samba - mahagony and a flared handle

 

[mehdi.serghini]

hey guys , here's the pics of the work

 

[mehdi.serghini]

those are the pics of the work

 

[BeGo]

Looks like a very nice looper or driver blade. Great work, Mehdi!

Btw, you make that handle too? The insignia too blurry for me to recognize.

 

[mahomedy13]

excellent work.please post a review after you play with it.really interested in hearing how it plays

 

[ttmonster]

Great Job Man !!! Post pictures of putting the rubbers on and then playing it ....

 

[mehdi.serghini]

no i already had the handle , its a joerex one.
and thanks bego