Afrobro's Handmade Blades

[yogi_bear]

So textreme is a heavy composite material since the textreme blade has only a compact head size but the weight is heavy?

 

[AfroBro]

Not really. You can buy it in various weights but this was only 64gsm - one of the lightest.

It has a 3.5mm Ayous core and total thickness of 6.2mm. The head size is 157 x 150 (fairly standard offense) so I think the weight is about right.

Also, the double Limba outer and walnut in the handle adds weight.

 

[Giangt]

@Giang: The first ALC blade was an Ayous core but with the same composition as the Balsa blade otherwise. I didn't get a good chance to test either as they were for other players but the Balsa blade actually came out heavier as I took a bit of weight out of the Ayous blade but the Sardius handles were solid. I prefer the feel of Ayous blades in general as I'm just not very used to the feel of Balsa.

If you had made the blades identical just with the core ply as balsa and the other ayous then the balsa would be lighter? Did the balsa blade feel more hollow? I am curious because I had the idea to make a similar composition with limba-ayous-alc-balsa-alc-ayous-limba.

 

[AfroBro]

Yes, the Balsa blade would be lighter but has a very different feel to Ayous. It has a light, springy feel but with the ALC and Koto outer it's pretty fast. The Ayous version felt a lot more solid with a higher top end speed. There is a bit of a hollow feel to the Balsa - I think a thicker core would have been better and made it feel a bit more stable.

 

[MOG]

It feels very fast and quite bouncy, I am quite surprised how fast it feels. With Hurricane on the fh though it was still very spinny and controllable.
I am very very pleased with the quality, you really do a beautiful job on these blades!!

 

[yogi_bear]

I like kiri better than an ayous core.

 

[AfroBro]

Most of my experience playing and making blades has been with ayous so it's just what I'm used too. Finding a decent supplier of Kiri has also been really difficult - there are a couple of places I've found, but none that will ship to the UK without ordering a huge amount from China. If you know of any, I'd be very grateful!

 

[yogi_bear]

Is kiri only available in China? I searched for it and i cannot find any other sources.

 

[bobpuls]

Is kiri only available in China? I searched for it and i cannot find any other sources.

Here you can buy from spain
https://www.tormodel.com/index.php?id_category=203&controller=category&p=3

but they are really slow and the shipment is to much ...
Normaly i`m buing from here
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/328...11-42a1-994d-59b8fc78b961&transAbTest=ae803_3

 

[AfroBro]

You can find it in larger sizes. If you search Paulownia, you'll see the European and US results but they're mostly for things like surfboard making and the sizes aren't ideal.

 

[AfroBro]

Thanks Bob. I had a look at Tormodel but they wouldn't ship to the UK which is a pain as I'd be happy to pay the extra. I have access to some 100mm boards but they're not great quality and I'd prefer to use something a bit wider.

 

[AfroBro]

A couple of new blades with Walnut outer ply. A little bit more finishing needed on them but overall, I'm quite pleased. I kept the blades thin (around 5.6mm) to try and keep them within a reasonable ALL+ to OFF range.

1: Walnut - Limba - Textreme - Ayous - Kiri - Ayous - Textreme - Limba - Walnut

87g
5.6mm
Straight (rounded) handle
155 x 145 mm
1291 hz



2: Walnut - Ayous - ZLC - Ayous - ALC - Ayous - Walnut

84g
5.6mm
Straight (square) handle
157 x 150 mm
1227hz



Looking forward to trying this one out - it's a nice weight for me at 84g and the thick Ayous layer beneath the top ply should give it a fairly woody feeling, even with the ALC/ZLC combo.

 

[Giangt]

World's second hybrid blade ;-) looking forward to hear how the balance is.

 

[AfroBro]

New material

More new material! Textreme/Zylon Hybrid material - super thin and very light for ZLC.



I've only had the chance to make one blade with this so far but I do have 5 square metres if any other blade builders want to buy/trade - it was only available in a fairly large quantity direct from Textreme.

My first blade with it is my new/old Hans Alser "undercover" ZLC:



This is probably one of the slowest, most controlled ZLC blades ever. I've been enjoying using slower and thinner blades with fast rubbers recently and I happened to buy some new flexible epoxy for testing at the same time as the ZLC. Once cured, it's still very flexible unlike the usual epoxy used for carbon fibre in blades so it has some interesting stats! The handle came from a Hans Alser that was broken beyond repair but it's really comfortable so I had to make use of it somehow.

Limba - ZLC - Ayous - Basswood - Ayous - ZLC - Limba

84g
157mm x 150mm
5.2mm Thickness
947hz frequency testing

 

[AfroBro]

And a new blade using some of the Hinoki that I still have from the original posting here (only 0.6mm thickness left now).



Hinoki - Spruce - Burned Ayous (3.5mm) - Spruce - Hinoki

79g
6.4mm thickness
157mm x 150mm
1421hz

I should have probably expected it at 6.4mm, but from the weight I thought this would be a little slower than it is. It feels very springy and the frequency test suggests that it is fairly stiff.

 

[Suga D]

A couple of new blades with Walnut outer ply. A little bit more finishing needed on them but overall, I'm quite pleased. I kept the blades thin (around 5.6mm) to try and keep them within a reasonable ALL+ to OFF range.

1: Walnut - Limba - Textreme - Ayous - Kiri - Ayous - Textreme - Limba - Walnut

87g
5.6mm
Straight (rounded) handle
155 x 145 mm
1291 hz

View attachment 19534View attachment 19535View attachment 19536View attachment 19537

2: Walnut - Ayous - ZLC - Ayous - ALC - Ayous - Walnut

84g
5.6mm
Straight (square) handle
157 x 150 mm
1227hz

View attachment 19538View attachment 19539View attachment 19540

Looking forward to trying this one out - it's a nice weight for me at 84g and the thick Ayous layer beneath the top ply should give it a fairly woody feeling, even with the ALC/ZLC combo.

Some real beauties you´ve crafted there, mate. Excellent

World's second hybrid blade ;-) looking forward to hear how the balance is.

Hahaha. *wiseguymode-on* actually Double-Day were the first that came up with this idea first long time before others came up with this, but it wasn´t promoted so well.

https://www.ping-pong.tw/product/15476445603890436

And a new blade using some of the Hinoki that I still have from the original posting here (only 0.6mm thickness left now).

View attachment 19706 View attachment 19707

Hinoki - Spruce - Burned Ayous (3.5mm) - Spruce - Hinoki

79g
6.4mm thickness
157mm x 150mm
1421hz

I should have probably expected it at 6.4mm, but from the weight I thought this would be a little slower than it is. It feels very springy and the frequency test suggests that it is fairly stiff.

Outstanding. looks amazing.

 

[Simas]

..... The handle came from a Hans Alser that was broken beyond repair but it's really comfortable so I had to make use of it somehow.

that's an interesting idea. If it was a car, it would be called a sleeper

 

[Sedis]

Did you get a chance to try the Walnut - Ayous - ZLC - Ayous - ALC - Ayous - Walnut blade out? How is the ALC compared to the ZLC side?

 

[AfroBro]

Once again, it's been a while since I've updated this and have way too many to show them all but I am looking forward to testing my new 'Sweden Extra' ALC tomorrow.

Ok, so it's not really a Sweden Extra but I like the handle so I kept it and updated the blade.

This is: Koto - Ayous - ALC - Ayous - ALC - Ayous - Koto

Only 5.6mm and it gives a frequency reading around 1200hz so it should be very controllable but it has a nice feel to it. I've kitted it out with some Fastarc G1 - Super thick on the FH and Thick on the BH. I haven't tried G1 before but bounce tests are very promising and they seem very spinny.

 

[AfroBro]

Well this blade was a very pleasant surprise! So controlled in the short game but a real crisp kick when i needed a bit more power. Serves were a dream - the only downside for me was the slight transition I needed to play with g1. Don't get me wrong, it is probably good for my game but I rely on the catapult effect that r47 provides when I'm feeling lazy and the g1 doesn't have that...it requires a bit more effort and the correct positioning. I think it would do wonders for my game if I stuck with it for a while...but I never usually do! From what I've read, this is the same composition as the dhs h301 and n301 but slightly thinner.