Darker Hinoki or Kiri 1 ply

[cretton]

Hi everyone. Just got this Darker with a friend and I'd like to know the model and material.
He told me it is a 1 ply Kiri but as far as I know Darker usually made 1 ply Hinoki.

 

[Tinykin]

Mine is the same, also ST except for the handle design. Yours is younger. But definitely a Darker Speed 90 which is always 1-ply hinoki blade..........I think.

 

[cretton]

Mine is the same, also ST except for the handle design. Yours is younger. But definitely a Darker Speed 90 which is always 1-ply hinoki blade..........I think.

Thanks. What's the design difference from a 90 to a 15 or 25 or 70?

 

[xavi]

In the past, I played with Speed 90 (jpen) I remember 90 was for topspin and 70 for hit. And yes, 90 was more expensive.

Searching their website: http://www.darker.co.jp/speed/
Google translator says:

1. Drive rotation system

• Speed 15 (a racket that emphasizes drive rotation and stability)
• Speed 25 (a racket with added speed to Speed 15)
• Speed 90 (a racket that maximizes spin, speed and power)

2. Speed-oriented

• Speed 20 (fast ball release and strong rebound)
• Speed 70 (a racket with significantly improved speed and power over the Speed 20

3. Popular version

• Speed 25PI (The most basic cypress racket)
• Speed 25GR (a popular racket made of cypress wood, equivalent to the Speed 25)
• Speed 25AL (the most popular racket made from cypress wood)

According to their catalog: http://www.darker.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/webyoudata.pdf
It seems on 2024 the only sell Speed 90 and Speed 15.

 

[Wakkibatty]

To conclusively tell if a one-ply blade is Hinoki or not, look closely at the end grain of your blade and see if you can spot any vessels.

Vessels are very small, all-natural hollow tubes through the wood. They are there to help spread nutrients and moisture through the tree.

If you see any vessels / pores in your end grain, then it ain't Hinoki.

To explain, you only ever see vessels in end-grain timber if it's a hardwood species. Hinoki however is a softwood / conifer... like pine, fir, or cedar. Softwoods don't have vessels.

If the end grain wood doesn't have vessels, it *might* be Hinoki.... If it does however, then it just ain't Hinoki -- not even close.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lazer]

To conclusively tell if a one-ply blade is Hinoki or not, look closely at the end grain of your blade and see if you can spot any vessels.

Vessels are very small, all-natural hollow tubes through the wood. They are there to help spread nutrients and moisture through the tree.

If you see any vessels / pores in your end grain, then it ain't Hinoki.

To explain, you only ever see vessels in end-grain timber if it's a hardwood species. Hinoki however is a softwood / conifer... like pine, fir, or cedar. Softwoods don't have vessels.

If the end grain wood doesn't have vessels, it *might* be Hinoki.... If it does however, then it just ain't Hinoki -- not even close.

Hope this helps.

I think another question is. Does Kiri make good 1 ply’s? I never heard of it.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Wakkibatty]

I think another question is. Does Kiri make good 1 ply’s? I never heard of it.

Cheers
L-zr

Ummm.. yeah... Please define what you mean by "good" (... just kidding! )

To answer your question, yes there are some kiri one-ply blades out there apparently (or so I'm told 🤷‍♂️). Same goes for Ayous-only one plys.

They wouldn't behave very much like a hinoki / cypress / Sköllawood one ply, but I can conceive of them making a semi-reasonable one ply blade, depending on the wood density.

I actually bought myself a cheap, 12mm thick "hobbyist" charcuterie board made from kiri about a year back. My intention at the time was to try turning it into a one-ply to see how it went, purely out of curiosity.... but I never got past bouncing some TT balls on it once I got it home, to see how it might feel.

While I never actually bothered to turn it into a blade, the kiri board still had a nice playing feel and a reasonable weight to it. It was reasonably fast at that thickness and had okay levels of feedback, but there wasn't much in the way of popping catapult to it, and the feel was miles away from hinoki.

I suspect it would make an okay one-ply, but not a great one. I might try turning it into a blade at some point if I'm feeling bored, but given how well Sköllawood performs, I very much doubt I'll be making more than just one of them.