Central Blade Thread (EJ welcome)

[Tyce]

I figured it might make sense to have a central thread about all things blade related. You can post your smaller questions, experiences, advice and ramblings about all things blade related right here.

I'll start!

I've been experimenting recently to find the right step up for my Korbel Japan (87g). What I'm missing is a little more pop on low power, where I'm dunking balls in the net that I feel I should be able to block passively. Also, on higher power, I feel the spin/speed ratio is missing a lot in the speed department. For me, that means I overcompensate in power and in turn lose control over placement.
I'm comparing the blades using the same, or closely similar, rubber, which in my case is Fastarc G1 FH and C1 BH.

Here's my findings so far:

Yinhe Pro 01
Good balance but a bit heavy (approx. 92g)
Low power has a bit more pop which is pretty much what I want
Medium and higher power, I find it's easy to overshoot the table unless I get a really good spin contact. This could just be a matter of time.

Yinhe Pro 05
Too head-heavy and heavy in general (91g)
Low power is slightly more responsive than Korbel
Medium power is right up my alley, not as sensitive as Pro 01 but solid and predictable
High power is tooth-rattling on flat hits, but better to control than Pro 01 with plenty of power.
I can't deal with the clunkiness of this blade, it's way too head-heavy for me.

Waldner Senso Carbon
Good balance and light (78-80g)
Low power is worse than Korbel, really, really slow.
Medium power is OK, in familiar territory.
High power feels slightly better than Korbel but not by much. Control on high power is good though.
It feels great, but doesn't help me on low power, where I want it to.

Waldner Legend Carbon
Balance is OK and it's light (82g) but this one is no good for me. Hard to feel, hard to control on all levels. I don't think it works with these rubbers, found it much more enjoyable on harder Chinese ones.

Moving forward, I'll stick with Pro 01 until I find something just a little lighter but otherwise similar. Something like a 85g Viscaria might be nice

 

[Wrighty67]

Viscaria is a lot faster - a big jump, even at that weight. Why not try to match the blades you try with the weight you are used to so that you don't rule out what might be the right blade simply because it feels heavy to you?

Might be worth trying some other inner carbon blades that have more to give than WSC - HL5 / Vodak Horesci / Butterfly Boll ZLF (Outer but far more control and really nice blade) Butterfly Innerforce alc / zlf. Joola Rossie emotion is another really nice mid speed blade worth a look.

 

[Tyce]

Viscaria a lot faster than Pro 01? I was under the impression that it should be slightly more controlled as Pro 01 is a tad harder but the speed difference would be minimal.

Compared to Korbel, sure it's going to be much faster.

Innerforce ALC is a blade I do think could fit me well, I'd love to run into one and try it out.

 

[andzejgolot]

Gan goes ballistic with new review with the blade...

https://a.aliexpress.com/_Exh7Hh4

 

[Sriver1]

Just boost your G1.

 

[Zwill]

Just some unpopular ideas:

Some version of DHS 301. Should be interesting since on low power the koto is quite bouncy, if you hit harder it still has the power since it's not a thin blade but also not thick. You have options for the carbon. Relatively cheap. I can tell you it's quite popular in China.

Outerforce CAF. No carbon but still has fiber reinforcement, I think it's a very interesting choice as a poor man's CNF-ish blade and it's cheap too. Also not thin. not crazy thick. (I would probably take this over a cheap Loki CNF blade, I would be surprised Loki has the same CNF as Butterfly)

Rosewood 7, since ther rosewood has that low power default bounce and it's actually a nice blade. (Probably Yinhe has a clone of this or some other brand so maybe not even needed to buy Stiga for double price)

Your Pro 01 and Pro 05 covers most of Viscaria or Innerforce blades so I don't think there's much benefit in buying Viscaria or HL5 etc.

 

[Topspinslinger]

Ma Lin Soft carbon
soft, wooden like feeling. Very good for blocking and using the opponent speed, mostly using it now for enhancing/improving the basics. Going all the way back to how I hold my blade.

 

[K.K]

you can try butterfly outerforce ALC

 

[joshmak10]

Pro 01 is probably the best cheap Viscaria clone at there as far as I am aware (though i really want to see if ProTT’s “Golden ALC” by Yinhe is a good Vis alternative as well). I also wonder how the new Loki LJK ALC version will be as it is also same composition as Viscaria. I’m planning to order a LJK ALC as a backup for my Viscaria.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

though i really want to see if ProTT’s “Golden ALC” by Yinhe is a good Vis alternative as well

Pretty good blade but I felt Viscaria and its brothers are sharper and more direct. My D715 develops arc better than Viscaria though and it has a bit more support than the Pro01 I tried even though the Pro01 had clearer feedback. My D715 has good support and arc protection but the hand feeling is a bit pillowy for an outer ALC imo

 

[joshmak10]

Pretty good blade but I felt Viscaria and its brothers are sharper and more direct. My D715 develops arc better than Viscaria though and it has a bit more support than the Pro01 I tried even though the Pro01 had clearer feedback. My D715 has good support and arc protection but the hand feeling is a bit pillowy for an outer ALC imo

Is D715 the yinhe golden alc?

 

[Julzig]

Perfect timing with the thread, I recently bought the Yinhe V-14 Pro 30th anniversary as a backup and to test outer ALC. And I have to say that I am a bit dissapointed.

Compared to my main Xiom blade, which is an inner carbon and has limba as a top ply, surprisingly, the Yinhe is slower.
(Maybe the most top end is faster but at that point it doesnt really matter since for me it is often all or nothing )
2 different people have also said that my usual Blade is faster too. Same Rubbers, both blades 91-92g.

And probably due to its stiffness it produces little arc and is rather direkt. Works great for my backhand I have to admit that atleast. As always, with better/different technique this might be different.

The thing that I dislike the most is the rather hollow feel (the pillowy feeling mentioned above might be accurate), the Xiom really feels dense and high quality while playing and even just holding it. I guess that is due to the outer carbon giving less feedback? Atleast while playing. Oh and the wings are sharp as hell, so I sanded them down.

Anyways, for the price of 30Euros it is good. But I will stay my backup, should my main decide to really break.

Btw, does anybody know a good alternative for the Xiom IceCream AZXi? A fast inner blade that has good feel and balanced flex/stiffness. I once mentioned that mine has a very subtle cracking sound and look for a succesor.

 

[Julzig]

Is D715 the yinhe golden alc?

Yes should be

 

[Tyce]

you can try butterfly outerforce ALC

To my inner EJ, I can't buy that. I'll always keep thinking if I should have bought a Viscaria.

A DHS 301 has been on my mind before, too. Haven't pulled the trigger on one. Is it head heavy @Zwill ?

I highly prefer medium to low balance. My old long time blade was low balanced, too so that's basically how my feeling has been ingrained for years.

 

[Zwill]

To my inner EJ, I can't buy that. I'll always keep thinking if I should have bought a Viscaria.

A DHS 301 has been on my mind before, too. Haven't pulled the trigger on one. Is it head heavy @Zwill ?

I highly prefer medium to low balance. My old long time blade was low balanced, too so that's basically how my feeling has been ingrained for years.

A bit head heavy like all DHS and Stiga head shape. The balance I wouldn't worry that much about, you can always just stick a coin to the end of the handle. But you need to figure out if you want 301, X, Z, T... so many options.

 

[Tyce]

With lighter setups (under 170g) I don't mind a bit of head heaviness but I usually end up around 180g. Already have a golfers elbow that I don't want to aggravate, and my wrist was having a hard time last week.

It's a thin line, when I go too light I swing too hard, when I use too heavy stuff swinging is too hard I'm an old fart aren't I.
And yes, when I use correct technique most of the time there's no issue at all. But when I have to smash it flares up very quickly.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Is D715 the yinhe golden alc?

Yep

I really just ended up throwing some random rubbers on it, I had C1 and O7P sitting in the drawer bc I couldn't get a good feel for these rubbers on other blades. C1 is very hard and O7P is much bouncier than I usually like but on D715 they feel much more comfortable to me

 

[Tyce]

I'm looking for numbers! Blade balance is my latest obsession, and I need to quantify things.
I really would love to get some numbers on Viscaria blades in particular, measuring the balance of the bare blade starting from the blade end of the handle.

For my blades, the ones I measured at least, I have these:
Yinhe Pro 01: 3.0cm
Yinhe Pro 05: 3.6cm
Petr Korbel EU: 3.2cm
Waldner Legend Carbon (original size 161x153): 3.4cm
Waldner Legend Carbon (cut to 157x150 size): 2.9cm

I would personally classify most of these, even the Korbel EU, to be towards "head-heavy". But as this is different per person, I'd love to see more numbers.

 

[MaggiGoreng11]

How about the Xiom Hayabusa ARX? Same koto outer layer, just that the arylate carbon has been switched out for aramid. It also seems to be quite light too, with most being under 89 grams.

With lighter setups (under 170g) I don't mind a bit of head heaviness but I usually end up around 180g. Already have a golfers elbow that I don't want to aggravate, and my wrist was having a hard time last week.

It's a thin line, when I go too light I swing too hard, when I use too heavy stuff swinging is too hard I'm an old fart aren't I.
And yes, when I use correct technique most of the time there's no issue at all. But when I have to smash it flares up very quickly.

 

[Larshos]

Yep

I really just ended up throwing some random rubbers on it, I had C1 and O7P sitting in the drawer bc I couldn't get a good feel for these rubbers on other blades. C1 is very hard and O7P is much bouncier than I usually like but on D715 they feel much more comfortable to me

Does the D715 and Pro-01 have the same dimensions on their handles? In shape they look very similar, as far as I can tell from pictures.