Question for Blade-Builders

[Der_Echte]

Nate, can you upload a pic of that blade, I do not want to rip off the rubbers...

 

[Der_Echte]

BTW, last week, George showed me one of the blades he got from you Nate, conical handle. I was surprised he reuested that shape of handle, but not surprised that he made specific spec of what he wanted for the handle, I have tried to pound that into everyone that the fit of the handle is uber important...

... and that custom blade makers are responsive/capable/even WANTING to do it different.

 

[Nate4s]

For some damn fool reason, despite having 7+ choices of Nate's built blades to use, the rare time I can get a hit, I seem to be pulling out the bonus 5-ply 105 gram blade (with FX-S and MX-K)

Construction: Koto-Euro Larch-Engleman Spruce-Euro Larch-Koto w/solid Walnut handle

LIGHT feeling 105 grams...

Last night, despite an overall reduction of skill from not playing much, and Sergey Scoobie Doo Tsos POUNDING my BY on serve return with halflong or deep returns DARING me to open... despite flipping the bat to soft rubber FH medium 47 MX-K on BH, the times I did not lean backwards and fail, but actually leaned forward and squatted a little, I made amzing BH openers that had insane spin and landing percentage... I could continually attack on FH heavy spin or flat hit it if block was high... even my sucky FH return with a springy soft rubber I could keep it short often enough...

... and this is likely a damn lower end of OFF+ range blade !!! ...and this summer, I promised to use OFF- and softer rubber to build consistency of shot and strike zone impact timing... yet I am doing it with this way faster blade.

I read my comments from a while back where I said I should send Next Level one of these... Maybe I should send Next level the Koto outer 7 ply OFF and maybe another of the earlier gen 110mm handle baldes to have a hit... maybe I should leave MX-K on there on a couple...

I love it! That composition, even though it's a relatively thin 5-ply, feels SO solid and like the ball retains 98% of the incoming energy. I just couldn't find a way to make it light enough for players who wanted something under 90 grams.

I STILL haven't had a chance to play for 7-months, as none of the clubs (or even the tables on the nearby college campus) are open/available. I'm glad you're getting to hit every once and a while, Der_Echte!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Would there be any question about whether Der would like a racket that is 105 grams with a handle as heavy as a sledge hammer?

 

[Nate4s]

Asymmetrical Blade for a Customer:

General Properties:
83 grams
6.2mm thick

Composition:
Limba
Redwood
Aramid-Carbon (core)
Balsa
Khaya

Handle:
Conical shape (32mm wide base x 27mm wide tip, 105mm long, 23mm high)
Walnut and Big Leaf Maple

 

[Nate4s]

Another asymmetrical blade for the same customer as the above blade:

General Properties:
5.9mm thick
97 grams

Composition:
Alaskan Yellow Cedar
Red Alder
Alaskan Yellow Cedar (core)
Red Alder
Koto

Handle Properties:
Conical shape (32mm wide base x 27mm wide tip, 105mm long, 23mm high)
Walnut, Sitka Spruce, Alaskan Yellow Cedar

 

[Nate4s]

Anotherrrrrrrrr asymmetrical blade for the same customer as above:

General Properties:
9.6mm thick
79 grams

Composition:
Khaya
Walnut
Balsa
Balsa (core)
Balsa
Spruce
Spruce

Handle Properties:
Conical shape (32mm wide base x 27mm wide tip, 105mm long, 23.5mm high)
Walnut and Sitka Spruce

 

[SDC]

Cleanest edges I've seen on a Balsa blade, very nice.

 

[Nate4s]

Cleanest edges I've seen on a Balsa blade, very nice.

Thanks, Sérgio! I built myself a template sanding apparatus/tool so I'd never have to worry about tear-out on balsa or fraying on the carbon fiber blends. It's definitely clean - but it's just as clean as the balsa I've seen coming out of your shop too!

 

[Nate4s]

Blade for a Local Player:

Composition:
Blade: Koto - Spruce - Limba - Kiri - Limba - Spruce - Koto
Handle: Walnut - Alaskan Yellow Cedar - Walnut

Blade Properties:
6.5mm thick
91 grams
Flared Handle

 

[Nate4s]

I REALLY like working with Alaskan Yellow Cedar (AYC), but I haven't had much of an opportunity to try it out as a material in every layer (i.e., core, medial ply, outer ply). It looks like I might have an opportunity to play for the first time in over 6-months, so I built the following blade to test AYC as a core-material.

Composition:
Blade: Limba - Limba - Alaskan Yellow Cedar - Limba - Limba (glued with hide/animal-glue)
Handle: Layers of Walnut and Alaskan Yellow Cedar

Blade Properties:
5.25 mm thick
95 grams
Flared Handle (heavy, 26g, to balance out dense AYC core)

 

[Nate4s]

I finally got a chance for the first time in 7 months to try out some of the blades I've made. I only had a couple hours, so I tried 3 different blades (out of the dozen or more I still need to try). I wanted to report back on my impression of specific materials, primarily Textreme ZLC and Alaskan Yellow Cedar (AYC), and their interactions with different glues and the core-materials I typically use.

For reference, my main blade for the last year is the one I built on post #59 of this thread (Larch-Spruce-Spruce-Kiri-Spruce-Spruce-Larch...built with polyurethane glue).

I had a chance to try out blades from posts #131 (Koto - AYC - AYC - WRC - AYC - AYC - Koto....built with hide glue), post #174 (Larch - AYC - AYC - WRC - AYC - AYC - Larch...built with polyurethane glue), and post #200 (Larch - AYC - ZLC - Kiri - ZLC - AYC - Larch...built with BSI-Mid-Cure Epoxy and polyurethane glue).

Alaskan Yellow Cedar (all-wood, 7-ply):

Based on my recent playing experience, I got the sense that AYC is slower and less bouncy than Spruce when used as a medial ply, but a great feeling wood in its own right. The vibration of AYC feels like a hybrid between WRC and Limba - it is soft feeling and on the lower end of the frequency spectrum, and while it doesn't seem as explosive as Spruce, it doesn't feel flat/dead like some other woods. When combined with a WRC-core and hide/animal-glue, I would say it produces a phenomenal feeling ALL+ blade. When AYC was placed under a Larch outer-ply (while still using a WRC-core, but with polyurethane glue), the blade was more powerful feeling (perhaps an OFF- rating). I have found Larch to be like a livelier, bouncier version of Koto - less crisp feeling, but springier. When combined with polyurethane glue, the blade had a more solid feel overall than when hide-glue was used, though the soft WRC could still be clearly felt (and appreciated, if you like that sort of feel).

Alaskan Yellow Cedar + ZLC:

In the final blade, I used a Larch-outer and AYC-medial ply, but used Textreme ZLC as my "inner" layer next to Kiri. I find Kiri to have a sharper vibration (not just higher frequency, but a shorter period of resonance) and produce a faster overall blade when compared to WRC (while also being lighter than WRC). Even though I used a softer, more flexible epoxy, this blade felt much stiffer than the previous 2 blades (probably due to the Kiri-core, the ZLC, and the polyurethane glue). Overall, I really enjoyed the direct feeling of this blade and the crisp, high-speed blocks I was able to produce.

I will have another opportunity tomorrow to play (before going back into hiding for an unknown amount of time), so my plan is to test the other blade contained within post #200 (KisoHinoki-ZLC-Ayous-Kiri-Ayous-ZLC-KisoHinoki...built with BSI-Mid-Cure Epoxy and polyurethane glue) and see how it is relative to these other blades.

 

[mas63]

Any thoughts about the Textreme ZLC blade compared to other composite blades you have made?

 

[Der_Echte]

MMMMMMMaaaaaaaaSSSSSSSS

Mas !!

Nate, I assure you, Mas will be a CBA with your blade.

Ceritifed Badd-azzz

 

[mas63]

Hi William,

I appreciate your confidence, but sadly I've just become an EJ in my old age.

Mas

 

[Nate4s]

Any thoughts about the Textreme ZLC blade compared to other composite blades you have made?

Mas,

I think the Textreme ZLC blades feel much better than the ALC blades I've made. Both ALC and ZLC fibers I've used were adhered using a more flexible epoxy - the ALC blades played well but had a hollow sound/vibration that people found off-putting (akin to a fresh purple racquetball ball bouncing off the racquetball-court wall). The ZLC blades felt comparable in stiffness to the ALC but the vibration and feeling (and sound) was much better in the ZLC blades.

While I've been out of practice for over 6-months (due to COVID shutting down every local opportunity to play), I felt I didn't require any adjustment of technique for the ZLC-inner blade I made, compared to the 7-ply wood blades I typically play with. The ZLC-outer blade was quite a bit faster and required about 5-minutes to adjust (strong forehands were going longer than expected), but once warmed up, I really appreciated the crisp, direct feel. There are too many confounding variables to say if it was just the ZLC being moved to the outside layer that was responsible for the speed and feel differences, since it was also the only blade I've ever built using a both ayous (next to core) and kiso hinoki (outer ply). I got a small amount of Kiso Hinoki and Ayous in a material trade a few months back from UK-blade maker AfroBro, so it's unfortunate that I've exhausted my supply and cannot spend more time testing them.

 

[mas63]

Nate,

I have found that the difference between composite next to the core and next to the outer wood ply can be quite dramatic, both in speed and feel. With my own, bad feeling hands, I feel that arylate / kevlar composites tend to feel a bit dead. Considering that so many players seem to love them, this is strictly my personal feel.

 

[Der_Echte]

Hi William,

I appreciate your confidence, but sadly I've just become an EJ in my old age.

Mas

Quintuple haha hah and hhaahhaa.

Mas as an EJ and old AF motor scooter can whoop 99 percent of young whupper-snappers on any ole day and twice on league day.

 

[madrid2020]

: o

 

[Manto76]

Dear Blade Builders,

I have a question about 7-ply allwood blade construction:

What would be the difference in playing characteristics between a blade with a thick centre core and three thin plies on either side, and a blade with multiple medium-thick centre plies and thin outer plies?

For example, the new Yasaka Falck W7 (as an example of a blade with a thick centre core and three thin plies on either side) and something like the Gewo Alvaro Robles OFF or the Tibhar Samsonov Pro Force Black Edition (as examples of blades with multiple medium-thick central plies and thin outers)?

For the sake of my question please assume all other variable were the same. For example, assume both blades were the same overall thickness, and that they were all Limba-Ayous-Ayous-Ayous-Ayous-Ayous-Limba. Same weight, same head size. Same quality materials and processing.

Many thanks in advance!