Blade broken in half, did this ever happen to you?

[dave_dd]

Hi guys,

so I am now struggling with the fact that my blade broke in half and I DO NOT KNOW HOW?!
I was drinking between sets and after I came back to the table, I noticed splinters on the handle and then saw a crack and then noticed that the crack actually covers the entirety of the blade...

My blade is barely 3 months old, I have not even touched a table with it, I did not step or sit on it, it has always been in a cover with other blades (I checked all of them, none have a similar problem to this)...
This is even a handmade blade which I loved very much, I would not bother this much about a BFY Primorac blade, but this one was special.

Any idea how this could have happened? I pay great attention to my blades and in my 20 years playing this sport, nothing like this has ever happened to me. Could this be a production error? I highly doubt this because the craftmanship is remarkable.


Maybe you encountered something similar yourselves?

Cheers David

 

[Lazer]

Hi guys,

so I am now struggling with the fact that my blade broke in half and I DO NOT KNOW HOW?!
I was drinking between sets and after I came back to the table, I noticed splinters on the handle and then saw a crack and then noticed that the crack actually covers the entirety of the blade...

My blade is barely 3 months old, I have not even touched a table with it, I did not step or sit on it, it has always been in a cover with other blades (I checked all of them, none have a similar problem to this)...
This is even a handmade blade which I loved very much, I would not bother this much about a BFY Primorac blade, but this one was special.

Any idea how this could have happened? I pay great attention to my blades and in my 20 years playing this sport, nothing like this has ever happened to me. Could this be a production error? I highly doubt this because the craftmanship is remarkable.


Maybe you encountered something similar yourselves?

Cheers David

Aahh another 1 ply gone… @UpSideDownCarl has tons up posts about this…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[dave_dd]

You mean it was a 1ply blade? It has 5 plies

 

[JustANoob]

You mean it was a 1ply blade? It has 5 plies

Can you give us a picture of the side, I also thought it was 1 play cause I cant see layers in the split.

Can it be a really strange 5 ply blade that was glued with the fibers all in the same direction....

 

[dave_dd]

Sure, here you go.

 

[lodro]

Maybe it was the same photographer who stud on Wang's blade.
Jokes apart........this looks like "outside influence", somebody deliberately or accidentally sat on it but then finished it off by completing the process by hand.
Have you got enemies ?

 

[\_Kairos_/]

...
Any idea how this could have happened? I pay great attention to my blades and in my 20 years playing this sport, nothing like this has ever happened to me. Could this be a production error?


Maybe you encountered something similar yourselves?
...

It never happened to me, but the way it has broken is somewhat unusual, meaning the break is "too straight" for a weird accident.
If I had to take a guess, the core ply was jointed together of two (or more) plies, but the glue bond between the two involved plies was simply not strong enough (either because the glue was of bad quality or not enough glue was used) and therefore the blade was prone to break at the joint line under the constant pressure of hitting.

 

[Tyce]

This looks like someone put some real pressure on. You don't just snap a blade like that.
Were there any marks on the rubber?

 

[lodro]

It never happened to me, but the way it has broken is somewhat unusual, meaning the break is "too straight" for a weird accident.
If I had to take a guess, the core ply was jointed together of two (or more) plies, but the glue bond between the two involved plies was simply not strong enough (either because the glue was of bad quality or not enough glue was used) and therefore the blade was prone to break at the joint line under the constant pressure of hitting.

something like that but then the blade was ok when the OP went for his water break and cleanly broken in half when he came back so I still go for a foot or bum incidence 😂

 

[\_Kairos_/]

something like that but then the blade was ok when the OP went for his water break and cleanly broken in half when he came back so I still go for a foot or bum incidence 😂

Well, who knows...
OP didn't mention if he had an eye on his blade/the table while he was drinking; if he had an eye on it (most of the time) and never noticed anyone near his blade!?!
Could also be that the glue bond loosened shortly before he put the blade down on the table, but didn't notice it right away, only when he got back to the table and laid eyes on the blade again.
The weird thing for me remains the really straight crack line; a bit too artificial for an accident. But that's just my opinion, other scenarios are certainly possible, too.

 

[turbozed]

It never happened to me, but the way it has broken is somewhat unusual, meaning the break is "too straight" for a weird accident.
If I had to take a guess, the core ply was jointed together of two (or more) plies, but the glue bond between the two involved plies was simply not strong enough (either because the glue was of bad quality or not enough glue was used) and therefore the blade was prone to break at the joint line under the constant pressure of hitting.

The more knowledgable wood guys will probably chime in soon but I gotta agree with this first assessment.

The core is way too smooth and even for it to be a violent break. It looks like it was cut, which means that it was probably not a single piece of wood to begin with. They sourced some cheap materials and OP was unlucky enough to get a joined wood piece in their blade.

 

[Topspinslinger]

I have seen that kind of damage before.
The damage your blade has only happens with 1 ply hinoki which isn't the case. Or damage due pressure / force.
My guess is hitting your blade on your leg constantly or stepping on it.

I don't think you can fix this kind of damage

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Yeah. The weakness from the core being more than one piece joined at that point is possible. But then it would also need force like someone propping it between wall and floor it at an angle and stepping on it. Since it is 5 ply and not 1 ply, it kind of would have to be intended force to get the two medial plies to snap so cleanly with the core and top plies. I think the malicious intent idea (an enemy) is absolutely possible.

But, if that is a blade from a handmade blade maker, I would show it to him and confront him on the fact that, it would be really hard for that to happen so cleanly and so exactly vertically, without the core being two pieces poorly bonded.

So, in my opinion, I think you need both the poor craftsmanship that would allow a woodworker to use a core ply to be more than one piece of wood in the first place (they should only do that with cheapo blades). And you would need someone who purposefully wanted to test out if they could snap your blade face in two as well.

 

[\_Kairos_/]

@OP
By the way, is this an OSP blade? The handle looks like one of the newer OSP blades. If so, then it would be unusual as well, since I didn't know that OSP uses jointed core plies...and they are generally not known to break that way.

 

[dave_dd]

I have no enemies. There is basically no way someone could forcefully do this to my blade.
Yes it is an OSP blade and I contacted Robert already, he told me this has to be some outside force factor.

I think this will remain a mystery, I can 99% guarantee nobody even touched my blade, it is in pristine condition (no marks whatsoever) and I highly doubt this may be a topic of poor craftmanship...

What bothers me is the fact it just snapped in between sets, with rubbers and an edge tape attached. So maybe there was some force put onto the blade beforehand and it finally broke after playing a while after that.
Plus, it has to be quite difficult to snap this blade like that without any marks or me noticing it...

Thanks for your responses guys.

 

[Wakkibatty]

It never happened to me, but the way it has broken is somewhat unusual, meaning the break is "too straight" for a weird accident.
If I had to take a guess, the core ply was jointed together of two (or more) plies, but the glue bond between the two involved plies was simply not strong enough (either because the glue was of bad quality or not enough glue was used) and therefore the blade was prone to break at the joint line under the constant pressure of hitting.

This is probably the most likely explanation really. Other possible causes might include:

- Using a core with uneven thickness; It's very hard to tell from the photos but the top ede of the break looks a little thinner than the bottom edge to me (but this could be a trick of perspective)

- Insufficiently strong medial layers and/or veneer glue.

Using pith-wood in the blade's core.

- Using wood that was over-dried -- liike REALLY over-dried -- Think wood that resembles dessicated coconut more than timber.

Our of curiosity have you ever subjected the blade to any sort of excessive or prolonged heat? (eg:trying to dry it in an oven to get the weight down, or else leaving it inside a hot car for several days or storing it beside a furnace?) All the snapped edges on the various ply layers are very, VERY clean and crisp. Splits like that are the kind of thing you see when all the wood is drier than a jatz cracker. Normally I would expect the laminating glue to hold everything together better, but here it looks like there might have been some heat damage to the glue as well (which would also lead to potential separation between butt-jointed core boards as well, as per the scenario above.)

Also, what's the composition of the blade's ply sandwich do you know? Wood selection may potentially play some sort of role in cases of a catastrophic failure -- especially if none of the woods involved happened to have any interlocked grain.

 

[dave_dd]

This is probably the most likely explanation really. Other possible causes might include:

- Using a core with uneven thickness; It's very hard to tell from the photos but the top ede of the break looks a little thinner than the bottom edge to me (but this could be a trick of perspective)

- Insufficiently strong medial layers and/or veneer glue.

Using pith-wood in the blade's core.

- Using wood that was over-dried -- liike REALLY over-dried -- Think wood that resembles dessicated coconut more than timber.

Our of curiosity have you ever subjected the blade to any sort of excessive or prolonged heat? (eg:trying to dry it in an oven to get the weight down, or else leaving it inside a hot car for several days or storing it beside a furnace?) All the snapped edges on the various ply layers are very, VERY clean and crisp. Splits like that are the kind of thing you see when all the wood is drier than a jatz cracker. Normally I would expect the laminating glue to hold everything together better, but here it looks like there might have been some heat damage to the glue as well (which would also lead to potential separation between butt-jointed core boards as well, as per the scenario above.)

I live in Germany, I can't remember the last time we have had extensive heat. Probably back when I did not even own this blade. I did not put it into an oven either. Literally just glued my rubbers on it and had fun.

 

[Sims]

Hi guys,

so I am now struggling with the fact that my blade broke in half and I DO NOT KNOW HOW?!
I was drinking between sets and after I came back to the table, I noticed splinters on the handle and then saw a crack and then noticed that the crack actually covers the entirety of the blade...

My blade is barely 3 months old, I have not even touched a table with it, I did not step or sit on it, it has always been in a cover with other blades (I checked all of them, none have a similar problem to this)...
This is even a handmade blade which I loved very much, I would not bother this much about a BFY Primorac blade, but this one was special.

Any idea how this could have happened? I pay great attention to my blades and in my 20 years playing this sport, nothing like this has ever happened to me. Could this be a production error? I highly doubt this because the craftmanship is remarkable.


Maybe you encountered something similar yourselves?

Cheers David

If it was stored perfectly as you say and all other blades stored with it are perfect then it's someone else did something (accidentally or otherwise) when you weren't looking or it's bad wood used.
Having all plies fail at the same spot it highly unlikely though so I'd bet my money on someone doing something accidentally and not having the guts to tell you. Or it it was the outside blade in your bat wallet it took a whack while stored and you didn't notice.

 

[pong99]

Unlikely a failure due to joined wood. When wood is joined, it's usually done where the edges are saw toothed to make the joint stronger.

There was a thread years ago on mytt where custom blade makers discussed the issue of joined wood at length

This looks like someone stepped on the blade

 

[thisisit]

it probably wasn't this guy