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@ 12.36: They're using a thin film of plastic to check for gaps in between the playing surface and the handle scales. If you don't sand the bottom of your handle scale's perfectly flat every time, you can get slightly high corners. Ditto if you don't use enough glue or use the wrong amount of...

My exact thought! Thanks souch for posting this, I found it absolutely fascinating 😍😍 The obvious omission of the gluing and pressing processes was a disappointment. I've seen other videos like this from various manufacturers which show some of the presses at work, and a couple which show the...

You're actually asking an excellent question here, in trying to figure out exactly what a high-quality blade is in the first place. Very few large manufacturers actually bother to define it properly in their marketing materials (for entirely selfish reasons IMO), possibly because they don't...

To my mind, the best blade for somebody is the one that: - they can afford to buy, use and replace if necessary, - which is made to the highest possible standards, and of the best available materials at its price point, - that feels the most comfortable for that person to use, and - that...

My take -- for what it's worth: There's three factors in play here with to the OP's dilemma -- they break down to in-game factors, after-game factors, and peace of mind factors In-game, in a tournament, you are there to win. Your opponent knows this, and is there for the same reason. Playing...

Myself I just use a spray of water and a soft chamois. (Some of the synthetic chamois sponges you can get are actually pretty abrasive, so getting a good quality soft one is a good idea). Under ITTF rules, water is the only thing you can use to clean your rubbers anyway. I thought about...

How much difference in vibration did the horizontal core make -- a lot of a little? 🙂 I've made a few 5-ply all wood blades with WRC cores and really liked them -- I find it's a great (but pricey!) substitute for ayous, especially in a medial layer. I've never tried a WRC horizontal core...

Depends on where you are located 🙂🙂 Currently you can only buy them through us directly, or one of our stockists / representatives. If you're in Europe or the UK you can buy them there through our stockist Peter Aird. He's based in Scotland but travels a lot through Europe on various...

I agree -- In terms of preventing impact damage, then absolutely it works 🙂 I do this with a lot of my blades, and it's a brilliant technique to protect the edge grain. In terms of preventing flex-related material fatigue however, it would only help if it prevents the playing surface from...

Without actually bouncing a ball on them, it's just impossible to say sorry 🙂🙂 Individual pieces of wood vary hugely in their density distribution -- even with a wood like Hinoki. I constantly buy sequential veneers for all my blades so I can get the best possible grain match on both FH and BH...

Well, there's Skollawood for one, obviously (thank you for that opportunity to plug my product 🤣🤣 it felt tacky to say it without prompting 😂😂)... ...but there's also: ...various other cypress species (Hinoki is a particularly fragile wood compared to other cypress trees like macrocarpa...

Yes and no. No, in that virtually every conifer / softwood is capable of failing in this manner if it's subjected to enough stress for long enough. Softwoods just doesn't have the same physical transverse grain strength that hardwoods do. And yes, in that there's other woods out there that...

The weakness in Hinoki comes not from the sides of the blade, but from within the grain. On most woods, there is a huge density / hardness / strength deficiency between latewood and hardwood. This difference in density is anywhere from 8 times the density of the earlywood, to 32 times, which is...

The weakness in Hinoki is inherently built into its structure, so there's only so much you can do to protect it. It's latewood (i.e.:winter growth) is extremely dense compared to its earlywood (summer growth). This creates geometrically regular large density shifts in the wood, each of which...

I agree -- Stiga were huge in the 1980s and 90's --now they're just a shadow of their former selves. Not sure why they lost their way, but I believe a failure to continue innovating is part of it. 🤔 There's so much space to innovate with blades that still hasn't been touched -- even just within...

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...

Great idea Sergio -- now you're talking about a price point that's sustainable, and actually reflects your costs and local trading environment. Only other thing I could add is maybe consider the idea of in a few years time, aim to charge enough to empty a part time apprentice. It'll boost your...

TRUTH! I have a rule of not quoting myself in my posts if I can possibly avoid it... But on this occasion I'll make an exception. From my own (horribly out of date 🤣🤣) website: "We work steadily. diligently, and carefully, on every order we get, and every blade we craft. But we do not work on...

Keeping your prices low is kind. But keeping your prices static is a mistake, All prices change, all the time, on everything; and no price is forever -- this is the nature of trade. Ignore it at your peril. For example, have you been putting your prices up every year in line with local...

Lazer called it right (with one small caveat.) Those holes are indeed a natural feature of Kiri. They are the vessels, and are proof that the wood in question is a hardwood... So no, there's no need to buy a new blade 🙂 Only thing I should probably add is to correct the misconception that all...