Homemade table tennis blade

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Further to the elm blade PU/Epoxy test, I thought I'd try changing the outer ply. I've been looking for some high quality rosewood for a while but have been struggling to find veneers that are wide enough. This is an ayous - ayous - rosewood (PU glue) composition, 5.9mm thick and 94g. The handle is rosewood and a couple of burr woods thrown in.
I'll feedback on the differences when I've had chance to make some comparisons. My goal here is to review the effect of changing the top ply. I choose rosewood as it's is significantly harder and heavier than elm. Already I know it's a few grams heavier, which is to be expected, the pitch is also higher. More details to follow.
The tang (finger rest) is also different on this blade as it's a cove shape rather than chamfer. I'm not sure if you can see this fully in the picture, I've been wanted to try this for a while but never quite got to it until now.
IMG_1707.jpg
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It's gorgeous! How do you personally like the feel of the concave thumb depression? This comment is not to undermine your work, but doesn't Ross Leidy do this with most of his blades as well? What factors are you investigating in this recent test - PU vs epoxy and then Rosewood vs Elm as well? Does that mean you've made all four combinations (Elm PU, Elm Epox., Rose. PU, Rose. Epox.)?

I have so many things I want to test, and then unscientifically will just make a blade with all the changes (my most recent is using new wood at every layer, and a new handle material)....so then I have to start picking apart which changes are for the better.
 
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It's gorgeous! How do you personally like the feel of the concave thumb depression? This comment is not to undermine your work, but doesn't Ross Leidy do this with most of his blades as well? What factors are you investigating in this recent test - PU vs epoxy and then Rosewood vs Elm as well? Does that mean you've made all four combinations (Elm PU, Elm Epox., Rose. PU, Rose. Epox.)?

I have so many things I want to test, and then unscientifically will just make a blade with all the changes (my most recent is using new wood at every layer, and a new handle material)....so then I have to start picking apart which changes are for the better.

Thanks Nate. I have seen other blade makers use the coved thumb rest but I didn't know Ross Leidy did, I'll have a look. As for feel, really comfortable and secure but I'll only know when I put some rubbers on and play with it.
This next test is just to look at the impact of changing the outer ply. I haven't made an epoxy version, I've had more time with the elm blade and for me, pu is better than epoxy. Better feel and greater flex - not hugely so but noticeable now I've played with it more. My plan is to get more people to compare. It will be interesting to see the difference with the rosewood outer, following this I plan to make the same blade but with an outer with a janka rating in between elm and rosewood, something like ash or perhaps wenge.
As for scientific testing, I'm with you, it's really hard to just change the one aspect, ideally the rosewood blade should have had the same handle materials as the elm blade but I didn't feel it would look as good!
 
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Hello all, thanks to your brilliant advice and general help on these threads, I have just completed my first home made blade
Koto-limba-ayous-balsa-ayous-limba-koto
However, when I attempted applying glue to the blade, the glue dried instantly and began to peel, any suggestions to avoid this from happening. Thank you
 
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Hi, I have just had 5 minutes playing with my bat against the robot. It feels rapid, but also decent dwell time and a fairly crisp feeling, better than I expected for my first blade. With these measurements, could anybody help me to identify whether this blade is off, off + etc

Koto-0.6 mm
Limba-0.6 mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Balsa-3mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Limba-0.6mm
Koto-0.6mm

Thanks
 
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Hello all, thanks to your brilliant advice and general help on these threads, I have just completed my first home made blade
Koto-limba-ayous-balsa-ayous-limba-koto
However, when I attempted applying glue to the blade, the glue dried instantly and began to peel, any suggestions to avoid this from happening. Thank you
Hi joe. You could give your blade some sealant of some kind. Either use TT seal or some wood based oil.

Hi, I have just had 5 minutes playing with my bat against the robot. It feels rapid, but also decent dwell time and a fairly crisp feeling, better than I expected for my first blade. With these measurements, could anybody help me to identify whether this blade is off, off + etc

Koto-0.6 mm
Limba-0.6 mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Balsa-3mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Limba-0.6mm
Koto-0.6mm

Thanks
I assume you have made a blade where the head size is 157x150 which is most common head size nowadays.
I would say your blade your blade is -OFF to OFF. Have you tried to measure the frequency of the pitch?
 
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Can I ask the weight, Joe? Not that I can answer your question, but this composition sounds very interesting to me :)

Hi, I have just had 5 minutes playing with my bat against the robot. It feels rapid, but also decent dwell time and a fairly crisp feeling, better than I expected for my first blade. With these measurements, could anybody help me to identify whether this blade is off, off + etc

Koto-0.6 mm
Limba-0.6 mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Balsa-3mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Limba-0.6mm
Koto-0.6mm

Thanks
 
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Hi all, late late night after my original post I managed to glue the blade by peeling off the first layer of glue and then regluing lightly 4 times. In future, I will seal my blades, to test the difference in play and to see if it makes the glue apply easier. I don't have the blade on me for the next to days however I will let you know the weight as soon as I can. How do I measure the pitch and how will pitch affect the blade. I am new to blade making so sorry for the posts that may sound like I have no clue what I'm on about.
Thanks
 
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Hi, I have just had 5 minutes playing with my bat against the robot. It feels rapid, but also decent dwell time and a fairly crisp feeling, better than I expected for my first blade. With these measurements, could anybody help me to identify whether this blade is off, off + etc

Koto-0.6 mm
Limba-0.6 mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Balsa-3mm
Ayous-0.8mm
Limba-0.6mm
Koto-0.6mm

Thanks

Firstly, well done on your new blade, it would be great to see some pictures!
I feel it's quite difficult to gauge the correct rating, there certainly isn't one test that will define it. I think a bounce test and frequency test may give you some initial ideas to work from but I find comparisons against other blades and a good few hours play will help as much as anything. Also get others to test it and get their feedback, I think it's hard to be fully objective about your own blades. Even manufacturers get their ratings wrong, and often, where there are quality control issues, the same blade has different qualities. Looking at you composition I would suggest Giang has it right, off- perhaps off. What glue did you use as this can have a large effect too.
 
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I used d2 water based wood Glue. Would love to post pictures but cant quite work out how!

Ok, you'll probably find that using wood glue will change the characteristics of the blade. I used to find it made the blade more flexible, softer, slower and with more vibrations when compared to other glues.
 
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Further to the elm blade PU/Epoxy test, I thought I'd try changing the outer ply. I've been looking for some high quality rosewood for a while but have been struggling to find veneers that are wide enough. This is an ayous - ayous - rosewood (PU glue) composition, 5.9mm thick and 94g. The handle is rosewood and a couple of burr woods thrown in.
I'll feedback on the differences when I've had chance to make some comparisons. My goal here is to review the effect of changing the top ply. I choose rosewood as it's is significantly harder and heavier than elm. Already I know it's a few grams heavier, which is to be expected, the pitch is also higher. More details to follow.


The tang (finger rest) is also different on this blade as it's a cove shape rather than chamfer. I'm not sure if you can see this fully in the picture, I've been wanted to try this for a while but never quite got to it until now.
View attachment 17842
View attachment 17843
View attachment 17844

A quick update on this blade and how it compares to the elm version:
Overall, it's pretty much as you would expect. It's a touch faster, slightly harder feel and with a lower throw. It's great to play with and you really notice the extra kick from the harder rosewood veneer when trying to finish a point - the feel here is great. I found that the arc wasn't quite as pronounced as the elm blade and was just a little bit flatter but still good - the elm blade has the strongest arc of any blade I've used and often the ball finds the end of the table when I think it's going long. I wanted to get some other players to perform the test between the two, however, a close friend liked the blade so much he wanted it! He used it in a match last week and said it was the best he'd played in years. Nevermind, I can always make another.
The main thing I have got from this test is how very different it feels compared to the elm blade despite the only difference being the top ply. You would think the composition was completely different.

Ps - Nate, if you are reading this the coved tang works really well and is very comfortable. I've made a few other blades with a coved tang and I find a length of at least 1.8mm works best, anything less feels a little short. For those blade makers who are interested, it's really easy to do with the end of a bench sander, much easier than a chamfered tang - looks better too! I think all my blades will be like this from now on.
 
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These will be the last blades I'll be making for the foreseeable future. I'm now starting to turn my attention to making musical instruments which is something I've wanted to do for nearly 10 years. I have 20 or 30 very playable blades of almost every variety. Balsa, ayous, kiri cores and a couple of others now - see below. Allwood, textreme, ALC, Aramid carbon and glass fibre with all sorts of outer plies and handle types! Enough for anyone - at least for now.......

Blade 1:
Western Red Cedar - Poplar - Walnut. 5.9mm thick and 87g. This is the first blade I've made with WRC, I'll be interested to see how it plays. Nat4s suggested walnut with the WRC, thank you. Rippled maple handle. I love the grain stripes on the core. All plus to off-

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Blade 2:
Balsa - glass fibre - koto - wenge. 6.2mm, 86g. The handle is olive wood, elm and walnut. It has a maple edge tape. Off.

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Blade 3:
This is kiri - ayous - textreme - poplar. 88g, 5.8mm thick. The handle is maple, yew and purple heart. Off- to off.

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Blade 4:

Spruce - ayous - limba. 91g and 6.1mm thick. The core is Norway Spruce so has ideal properties fo a core wood. It will be interesting to see how this plays, the spruce is definitely stiffer than ayous, kiri or WRC. The handle is laurel and beech. Again, I like the grain stripes. Off- to off

IMG_1815.jpgIMG_1820.jpg

Blade 5:
Kiri - limba - ALC - Cedar of Lebanon . Basically, my version of a very famous Butterfly blade. Cedar sits between limba and koto in terms of softness. Thanks to GiangT for the ALC swap! I found ALC tricky to work with, at least to get the edges clean but it came out Ok in the end. Off
IMG_1818.jpgIMG_1823.jpg
 
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Those are amazing! Blade 2 is the most aesthetically pleasing to me, but blades 4 and 5 are tied for a close second in the looks department AND would fit my play-style perfectly. Amazing work. I hope you'll show off some of your instrument work in the off-topic threads!
 
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These will be the last blades I'll be making for the foreseeable future. I'm now starting to turn my attention to making musical instruments which is something I've wanted to do for nearly 10 years. I have 20 or 30 very playable blades of almost every variety. Balsa, ayous, kiri cores and a couple of others now - see below. Allwood, textreme, ALC, Aramid carbon and glass fibre with all sorts of outer plies and handle types! Enough for anyone - at least for now.......

Blade 1:
Western Red Cedar - Poplar - Walnut. 5.9mm thick and 87g. This is the first blade I've made with WRC, I'll be interested to see how it plays. Nat4s suggested walnut with the WRC, thank you. Rippled maple handle. I love the grain stripes on the core.

View attachment 18002View attachment 18003

Blade 2:
Balsa - glass fibre - koto - wenge. 6.2mm, 86g. The handle is olive wood, elm and walnut. It has a maple edge tape.

View attachment 18001

Blade 3:
This is kiri - ayous - textreme - poplar. 88g, 5.8mm thick. The handle is maple, yew and purple heart.

View attachment 18004View attachment 18005

Blade 4:

Spruce - ayous - limba. 91g and 6.1mm thick. The core is Norway Spruce so has ideal properties fo a core wood. It will be interesting to see how this plays, the spruce is definitely stiffer than ayous, kiri or WRC. The handle is laurel and beech. Again, I like the grain stripes.

View attachment 18006View attachment 18007

Blade 5:
Kiri - limba - ALC - Cedar of Lebanon . Basically, my version of a very famous Butterfly blade. Cedar sits between limba and koto in terms of softness. Thanks to GiangT for the ALC swap! I found ALC tricky to work with, at least to get the edges clean but it came out Ok in the end.
View attachment 18008View attachment 18009

Great looking blades as always! Just a suggestion, if you know the speed ratings such as all +/-, off+/- you could include them to give an indication of the speed and the effect of the different woods, plies and thicknesses. Although I know this would be very subjective.

Good luck on making your musical instruments!

Kind regards
 
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Those are amazing! Blade 2 is the most aesthetically pleasing to me, but blades 4 and 5 are tied for a close second in the looks department AND would fit my play-style perfectly. Amazing work. I hope you'll show off some of your instrument work in the off-topic threads!

Thanks Nate, much appreciated. My plan is to start making classical guitars, which is probably my biggest passion, it's going to be a huge challenge but I'm excited. What's nice is that many of the woods are very similar, I'm planning two guitars at the moment, a western red cedar and walnut and also a spruce and rosewood! They sound like blade compositions.
 
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Thanks Nate, much appreciated. My plan is to start making classical guitars, which is probably my biggest passion, it's going to be a huge challenge but I'm excited. What's nice is that many of the woods are very similar, I'm planning two guitars at the moment, a western red cedar and walnut and also a spruce and rosewood! They sound like blade compositions.

That sounds amazing - I would love to make little instruments (i.e., ukuleles, mandolins, violins), but I have no idea how to build those so they're structurally sound as to support all of the string tension. Keep us posted!
 
Thanks Nate, much appreciated. My plan is to start making classical guitars, which is probably my biggest passion, it's going to be a huge challenge but I'm excited. What's nice is that many of the woods are very similar, I'm planning two guitars at the moment, a western red cedar and walnut and also a spruce and rosewood! They sound like blade compositions.

One of the best sounding guitars my son have ever used is of Maple /Acer/, solid, no laminations. It was crafted by one of the best scholars of the Teacher. He explained that his first quitars he made of laminations, and started to work with solid wood after some years, first with solid top only. There is nothing in common between the sound of a lamination and a solid wood. Every combination of different woods for the top, the back and the sides sound different. Dnd of course you have to be very precise with the neck and the frets.
Good luck!
 
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Great looking blades as always! Just a suggestion, if you know the speed ratings such as all +/-, off+/- you could include them to give an indication of the speed and the effect of the different woods, plies and thicknesses. Although I know this would be very subjective.

Good luck on making your musical instruments!

Kind regards

Thanks for the kind words Spinking, I'll add some ratings on those blades.

Here's a picture of your blade, I meant to post this a while ago but I've been busy at work, apologies.
This is one of my favourite compositions, ayous core, douglas fir, limba, 5.7mm thick and made with hide glue.. Off- , would you say?
Zebrano, yew and basswood handle.

IMG_1578.jpgIMG_1580.jpg
 
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