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There was a similar thread like this some time ago that is more or less dead now so I thought I'll just revive it a little.
I know there are many players out there on this forum who have considered custom made blades at least once during their table tennis life. There are manufacturers/makers such as OSP Blades and Ross Leidy, but either it's too expensive and or there is a long waiting list, in the case of Ross Leidy. Then you have others such as Soul Spin who's configurator is not the most flexible, and then again, the price...
I was about to give up my search for a custom blade when I came across this maker, DAB Studios, this is the website dattblades.com. The guy who runs it is Dimitris and he is based in Greece. Unlike the others, Dimitris got back to me within a few hours with very detailed answers and supplied examples in the form of pictures from his past clients. Within a matter of days (depending on how much detail you want to specify), we have my first order. What I love about this is that he shows the blade taking shape every step of the way. (I'm a penholder hence why the proportion looks wrong!)
My blade had the composition of Koto-ALC-Limba-Kiri-Carbon-Limba-Limba. I would say it is an OFF blade. It turned out exactly the way I wanted. The blade took a few days to made and the delivery also took a few days.
I enjoyed this experience very much and I've had more blades made by him. A few of my teammates have also purchased blades from him and are very happy with them. Any one searching for a custom blade should get in contact with him. Bear in mind that you will need to know what you want before you consider this. I had my FH modelled after the ZJK ALC but my BH is more similar to the Tiago Apolonia ZLC. If you do consider this, may I suggest you to be as meticulous as possible with your blade and handle measurements and possibly your handle design, it will all play a part in how happy you are with your purchase.
The one thing I have not mentioned is price. The price shocked me, less than £100 for an equivalent of an ALC blade, that is with delivery included. My orders were different each time due to the EURO-GBP conversion but none were more than £96. Imagine a Visceria for £96! Carbon blades cost more than pure wood, (obviously). He has a lot of materials available that are not listed on his website such as aramid carbon, arylate carbon, pure carbon in stock, and kevlar, zylon, (NOT zylon carbon), glassfiber on request, (subject to availability). I believe a few of these materials on request is slightly more expensive.
All that said, if you were to to play with a clone of a certain blade, do expect it to be a little different. These makers do not source their timber from the same place mainstream manufacturers do, therefore there will be slight variations with the end product. These are also handmade blades so there might be a few inconsistencies such as size of handle etc. If anyone on this forum has a blade from DAB Studios, please comment to share your experience!
I know there are many players out there on this forum who have considered custom made blades at least once during their table tennis life. There are manufacturers/makers such as OSP Blades and Ross Leidy, but either it's too expensive and or there is a long waiting list, in the case of Ross Leidy. Then you have others such as Soul Spin who's configurator is not the most flexible, and then again, the price...
I was about to give up my search for a custom blade when I came across this maker, DAB Studios, this is the website dattblades.com. The guy who runs it is Dimitris and he is based in Greece. Unlike the others, Dimitris got back to me within a few hours with very detailed answers and supplied examples in the form of pictures from his past clients. Within a matter of days (depending on how much detail you want to specify), we have my first order. What I love about this is that he shows the blade taking shape every step of the way. (I'm a penholder hence why the proportion looks wrong!)
My blade had the composition of Koto-ALC-Limba-Kiri-Carbon-Limba-Limba. I would say it is an OFF blade. It turned out exactly the way I wanted. The blade took a few days to made and the delivery also took a few days.
I enjoyed this experience very much and I've had more blades made by him. A few of my teammates have also purchased blades from him and are very happy with them. Any one searching for a custom blade should get in contact with him. Bear in mind that you will need to know what you want before you consider this. I had my FH modelled after the ZJK ALC but my BH is more similar to the Tiago Apolonia ZLC. If you do consider this, may I suggest you to be as meticulous as possible with your blade and handle measurements and possibly your handle design, it will all play a part in how happy you are with your purchase.
The one thing I have not mentioned is price. The price shocked me, less than £100 for an equivalent of an ALC blade, that is with delivery included. My orders were different each time due to the EURO-GBP conversion but none were more than £96. Imagine a Visceria for £96! Carbon blades cost more than pure wood, (obviously). He has a lot of materials available that are not listed on his website such as aramid carbon, arylate carbon, pure carbon in stock, and kevlar, zylon, (NOT zylon carbon), glassfiber on request, (subject to availability). I believe a few of these materials on request is slightly more expensive.
All that said, if you were to to play with a clone of a certain blade, do expect it to be a little different. These makers do not source their timber from the same place mainstream manufacturers do, therefore there will be slight variations with the end product. These are also handmade blades so there might be a few inconsistencies such as size of handle etc. If anyone on this forum has a blade from DAB Studios, please comment to share your experience!
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