Afrobro's Handmade Blades

AfroBro said:

Hi all,

After reading lots of threads on tabletennisdaily and other forums, I decided to start making a few of my own blades at the end of last year - really fun and a very addictive hobby. I've been playing for nearly 20 years and tried loads of equipment but the freedom to play around with the compositions has been great.

So far, I've tried Obeche, Balsa, Kiri and thin mahogany as core materials and had some good success but recently I received an amazing batch of Hinoki wood from Mr Shogo Nakamura (http://tsukiita.jp/). The wood is beautiful and it gives off a really nice scent - actually makes me a little nervous to use it!

Anyway, I have various veneers in 0.6mm, 1.2mm, 2mm and a few 4mm (some Kumamoto and some Kiso, although this is obviously more expensive) and would love to hear from anyone who has worked with it before. This website's been really useful to get an idea of what is already out there (https://stervinou.net/ttbdb/liste.php) but I'd also be interested to hear any thoughts of woods that might pair up nicely with Hinoki or perhaps how it might be incorporated into other tried and tested compositions. I think the first try might be a 5 ply all hinoki blade but I have quite a few woods and a couple of composite materials to play with.

Looking forward to hearing any suggestions or advice!

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Hey, sounds interesting. Never met someone who could get his hands on Hinoki. It's quite rare over here.
Looking forward to your results.

I have a blade (Nittaku Combi Wood Attack) and it has got an inner ply made of Rosewood (actually the other inner ply is limba afaik. The outer plies and the core is Hinoki.
Compared to my 3ply Hinoki and to my 3+2 Hinoki+carbon blades it has got a bit more pop.
Maybe you could try something like that. But in any case try to use hide glue.

Pls keep us posted how things go.

As i'm very happy with my Xiom Vega Tour blade, having in mind the outstanding impression from Xiom Feel ZXIII, both of identical structure, I think that a Katsura core may have something special to say.
As far as I know there are 1 ply Katsura blades too.

AfroBro said:

Thanks. The wood wasn't actually all that difficult to get hold of - just a few emails back and forth and then waiting for the post. Mr Nakamura was very helpful and sells the boards in the correct sizes for blade making. I've attached the pricing list for anyone that is interested.

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Oh wow. This might be very interesting for a friend of mine.
Thanks a million.

I'd love to make some suggestions but haven't used hinoki so can't comment. I'm jealous of your supply, if you feel you have too much and want to sell any, let me know, I'd be very interested, let me know. I suppose my advice is to look at what's out there currently and use that as a starting point, as you've identified using blade databases is ideal for this. I always like to expirement with new materials so I get a feel for their properties.

From my experience, for me, I love Hinoki when it is in an all Hinoki blade. It is also excellent as a top ply because it helps you grab and spin the ball. But I have generally liked Hinoki more when it is in a blade that is all Hinoki.


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Darker 7p2a is a popular 7-ply made of Hinoki and other wood. It has very good reviews. You can have a look at its composition.

Passionate about TT

SFF_lib said:

Darker 7p2a is a popular 7-ply made of Hinoki and other wood. It has very good reviews. You can have a look at its composition.

Passionate about TT

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Darker’s Hinoki blades are top quality.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

I have a question - hinoki is a very water absorbing wood. Even with my only outer ply hinoki blade I feel it getting dull after 2 hours of extensive sesion, although the handles are of a water absorbing wood too and it is suposed that thay take the most of the wet. But where will go the wet in an all hinoki blade with much less absorbing handle?

AfroBro said:

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm just starting to look into them all - loving the Darker blades.

I've been away for a little while but just had time to finish my first Hinoki blade. It's a 5 ply all Hinoki - 2mm core, 1.2mm med ply (horizontal), 0.6mm top ply. It's not a perfect finish but certainly looks playable. Final weight is 94g although it could have been lighter if I hadn't used harder woods for the handle (Walnut and Mahogany with 1.5mm Obeche). At some point, I'd like to make some similar blades but with slightly different veneer thickness to see how much that will affect the feel - unfortunately, it'll be a few days until I can test this properly but i've tried to take some photos in different lighting below.

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Looks stunning!

Looking forward to when you let us know how it plays.
And pls let me know when you wanna sell it.
[EMOJI2]

langel said:

I have a question - hinoki is a very water absorbing wood. Even with my only outer ply hinoki blade I feel it getting dull after 2 hours of extensive sesion, although the handles are of a water absorbing wood too and it is suposed that thay take the most of the wet. But where will go the wet in an all hinoki blade with much less absorbing handle?

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This here is the big downside to Hinoki.

UpSideDownCarl said:

From my experience, for me, I love Hinoki when it is in an all Hinoki blade.

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I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I played all Hinoki (Darker) and had a challenge with the catapult of an all hinoki setup. After trying a Hinoki/Carbon (XIOM Vega Tour) I now have the best of both worlds. Hinoki touch and feel during short play, serve and slower loops and stiffness/control and linear speed on faster play.

I also played the new Joola Nobilis PBO-c (with a 1.2mm Hinoki sheet over the carbon layer), but this was again "too" much Hinoki.

I currently try the new XIOM Feel ZX3 and like it also (as said it is very similar to the XIOM Vega Tour) but due to its weight a bit faster than my Vega Tour.

langel said:

I have a question - hinoki is a very water absorbing wood. Even with my only outer ply hinoki blade I feel it getting dull after 2 hours of extensive sesion, although the handles are of a water absorbing wood too and it is suposed that thay take the most of the wet. But where will go the wet in an all hinoki blade with much less absorbing handle?

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UpSideDownCarl said:

This here is the big downside to Hinoki.

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Yeah, and if the fox wouldn't have pooped he would've caught the rabbit.

Sorry fellas, but(t)stuff like this blows my fuse.

I don't like people being negative just for the sake of being negative and smartassery.

C'mon guys, if this really was an issue, do you seriously think companies like Darker and many others would still be makin Hinoki Blades??

I mean seriously, since my return to the game seven years ago, i've been using Hinoki+Carbon and pure Hinoki Allwood blades for four years now and never your described issues occured! Neva!
Not once! Even at tournaments, where one plays a lot, it neva happened to me. Probably 'cause it has had time to dry in the meantime.
....And it really can get sweat-soaking hot in German TT-halls!

Langel, maybe someone put a magic spell on your hinoki outer ply, or maybe it's the combination of the blade, your rubbers and the non-seamed balls, you like to use so much. Who knows?
Pls. let me know when you've been using a pure Hinoki blade. That would be interesting to me.

AfroBro said:

Thanks Suga! I actually have a couple more on the go already - and hoping to try some composites with Hinoki soon...either way I have about 8/9 blades to test at the moment so if you did want to buy this one feel free to pm me and i'm sure we could work something out. I used Ross Leidy's compact 1 blade shape for this one so it's easy to test out rubbers from all my other blades.

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Lovely. Thanks a million. Heaven must have sent you.
The weight is really tempting to me. I've got one in the same-ish weight, that really plays like a dream. All my others are noticably lighter.

Actually Carl should be able to understand me.
3 - 4 years ago i was seeking so desperatly for a backup to my 3+2 Hinoki-Carbon old Nittaku Shake Carbon Offence, that i got myself one produced from Americanhinoki. It's nice, but the cedar used feels a little faster than my NSO. Since then i switched to the non-carbon version (Nittaku Killton - a 3ply Hinoki).
Really looking forward to your findings. As i said: heaven must have sent you.
[Emoji2]
Pm is sent.

Xiom ZXii and iii, ITC XC blades

Clearly, some people don't know what good hinoki is. :'(

No offense to other brands, but if you compare just Hinoki.
XIOM is far the best.

XIOM is Hinoki specialist.

Not all companies have AAA grade Hinoki like XIOM.
We have a factory in Kiso just to purchase and handle Hinoki.

I don't understand why my question was qualified as negative.
The main reason to ask this quastion was not to poop on hinoki, but accenting on one of its properties to point on another aspect - the use of more porous and aborbing material for the handle. Nothing to offense.
Besides that there is a great difference between expressing an opinion, discussing an opinion, attacking an opinion, and pooping on an opinion. I don't think I ever pooped on an opinion, unlike others.

hills4ever said:

Clearly, some people don't know what good hinoki is. :'(

No offense to other brands, but if you compare just Hinoki.
XIOM is far the best.

XIOM is Hinoki specialist.

Not all companies have AAA grade Hinoki like XIOM.
We have a factory in Kiso just to purchase and handle Hinoki.

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Yes, hills4ever, I like the hinoki line of Xiom very much.
After some experience with Vega Tour blade I ordered two more, asking for the same weight. One for my son, two for me.
I don't consider the moistering effect as a big problem, but more as a collateral property. For me having the best synergy with the blade is more important. So I have two identical sets of Xiom Vega Tour blade + Xiom Omega V Asia, and I chamge them between training sessions to keep them equal. After some trainings I have measured 4 grams added to the bat. On tournaments I change them between matches, to keep them dry.
Thats my experience and personal feeling. It may be wrong, it may look awkward, but it is mine and it works best for me.

After all I have to excuse to the OP, so my apology, and let hinoki work for all.