Hinoki is fast because it's extremely springy, but it's hardly unique in that regard. There are numerous alternatives -- e.g: European cypress, Asian cypress, Port oxford cedar, western red cedar, Sköllawood, gabon/okoume, ...even select pieces of low density Huon pine can sometimes come close (There are probably many others out there too).
Thanks so much for posting this!! 😎😎 Stiga's hardwood blades above are a really good example of the other path to speed with wood, and I'm super stoked to learn these blades are competitive at international level.
Most Ebony and rosewood species are extremely dense and hard woods, with hugely high Janka scores and high inherent mass.When you're using this class of hardwoods, a composite layer is entirely unnecessary. Blades like the Ebenholtz lack absolutely nothing for hitting power, as very high density wood veneers are typically stronger and stiffer than 0.35mm of carbon fibre could ever be (or at least most Australian hardwoods are anyway 😂😂).
[NB: As aside point, I gotta say, these style of hardwood blades are horribly underrated IMO. People still go crazy over novel composite fabrics in a blade, while novel hardwoods often don't get a look in. This is quite nuts frankly given the strength to weight ratios some of these woods have.
I'm actually hoping to do my bit to reverse this trend eventually. I have a stack of high density hardwood blades like the Ebenholtz in development currently, just using some of Australia's premier hardwoods as an outer instead of ebony or rosewood. So far the biggest barrier to entry has been me being utterly spoiled for choice when it comes to outer woods (especially here in WA 🤣🤣) It's actually taking quite a bit of time to sort through the various options and figure out he best wood combos. I'm convinced however that the end result will be worth it. 😎😎 ]
