FS: Two Heavy (100g +) Homemade Blades $30 Each

[Nate4s]

SOLD - Homemade Blades

Hello,

EDIT: Both Blades Have Been Sold - Thanks Everyone (and Especially Der_Echt)

I have two blades that I made a couple weeks ago, which I realized are too heavy for me after a session or two of playing with each. Veneers were pressed at high pressure with vacuum bag and titebond polyurethane glue, blades were sealed with a coat of polyurethane. As you might expect from a handmade item, there are minor imperfections - that being said, they are smooth, straight, symmetrical, fully functional, etc.

At this time, I think it only makes sense to sell to someone in the US (shipping internationally is horrendously expensive) - I'm looking for $30 each (with free shipping), Google Pay or Paypal (+fees).

Blade #1:

Composition: 7-ply, Limba - Koto - Koto - Western Red Cedar - Koto - Koto - Limba, Mahogany Handle
Approximate Thickness (measured with ruler): 6.2mm
Dimensions: Blade: 151mm wide, 159mm long, Handle (Subtle Flare): 99mm long, 25mm wide at the tip, 33mm wide at base, 23mm thick/tall
Weight: 104g
Playing Properties: Very fast, not too flexible (but looped well mid distance from the table), med-high throw










Blade #2:

Composition: 5-ply, Mahogany - Koto - Port Orford Cedar - Koto - Mahogany, Mahogany Handle
Approximate Thickness (measured with ruler): 5.9mm
Dimensions: Blade: 151mm wide, 159mm long, Handle (Moderate Flare) : 101mm long, 26mm wide at the tip, 34mm wide at base, 23mm thick/tall
Weight: 102g
Playing Properties: Med-speed, Med-flex, med-throw

 

[Tinykin]

Re the weight, have you thought of shaving a bit off the dimensions, say make it 157.5 x 150.5?
I don't know how this would affect the balance.

 

[Atas Newton]

Beautiful blades, man. Why do you think they ended up so heavy? Or was it by design?

 

[Lightzy]

What material is your handle?

Did you make sure to hollow it?

My hunch is that the blades are fine and the handle is overweight

 

[GinjaNinja]

I think the answers to the questions here were covered in the op's original post for these blades: I think it's called 'questions for bladebuilders'

 

[Nate4s]

Re the weight, have you thought of shaving a bit off the dimensions, say make it 157.5 x 150.5?
I don't know how this would affect the balance.

Great question! I think it would definitely remove a little weight, but I worry it wouldn't make enough of a difference - I don't think it would affect the balance too much.

Beautiful blades, man. Why do you think they ended up so heavy? Or was it by design?

Thank you! I think I was okay with them being heavy by design (since I used core woods that are heavier than traditional woods used for the core). I also thought that the additional 15g over what I'm used to wouldn't make a difference, but I noticed I couldn't BH loop/flick with the same speed/spin as a lighter blade.

What material is your handle?

Did you make sure to hollow it?

My hunch is that the blades are fine and the handle is overweight

Good suggestions. The handles are made out of light Mahogany - they weighed less than 19 grams for the set (9.5g each). I didn't hollow them out, since I really wanted to maintain that solid-wood feel. I couldn't imagine being able to take more than 3g off the weight of each handle if I did hollow them out - and my fear would be the blades would become really head-heavy.

These blades were just to see how I liked the different core-woods and if I could handle the higher weight (which, it turns out, I could not). I like how they play, so I was just putting them out there for any forums members who might like a heavier weight blade.

 

[Atas Newton]

I also thought that the additional 15g over what I'm used to wouldn't make a difference, but I noticed I couldn't BH loop/flick with the same speed/spin as a lighter blade.

yep, exactly my experience as well. "5 grams? That's nothing, I'm gonna be fine" a-a-and rip backhand timing

 

[Lightzy]

btw those blades are gorgeous.

If you ever feel like making a koto-limba-textreme-ayous-textreme-limba-koto blade with a hollowed handle that's well balanced and weighs around 85grams and about 5.8-5.6 thickness and with 151-158 proportion then I'm your buyer.

 

[Herbert]

If you ever visit Europe I would buy the second blade!

 

[Der_Echte]

The blades and the weight will be just fine.

PM me if you still need to sell them, maybe I make a special "Der_Echte Special" for a change of dynamics bat.

I will buy both now no problem.

I am on USA West Coast, so shipping will not be an arm and leg.

Maybe we make some more pics or a vids down the road with these.

 

[yoass]

Beautiful blades, man. Why do you think they ended up so heavy? Or was it by design?

By looking at the composition and dimensions: the core wood (Cedars, both) might be relatively heavy, and the head size is largish.

 

[Nate4s]

By looking at the composition and dimensions: the core wood (Cedars, both) might be relatively heavy, and the head size is largish.

Yeah - cedar was the biggest contributing factor, but they are a little on the large side as well.

 

[Nate4s]

The blades and the weight will be just fine.

PM me if you still need to sell them, maybe I make a special "Der_Echte Special" for a change of dynamics bat.

I will buy both now no problem.

I am on USA West Coast, so shipping will not be an arm and leg.

Maybe we make some more pics or a vids down the road with these.

Hi Der_Echte,

I thought of you and your legendary love of heavy blades when I posted these - the second one (Mahogany) might be sold, but I think you might really like the first one!

 

[Der_Echte]

Guess I'm gunna find out how heavy I can bring the fight with either of these...

I am also around TTD Member "erm", who knows just about every blade maker on the planet in the last 50 years... he will get a turn at them too.

 

[Der_Echte]

Both blades arrived in good shape and both over 100g.

Gunna be a little fun later this Monday.

 

[Der_Echte]

Played with blade two. OFF class pace, good solid feel.A winner. Could play my game instantly with 3 yr old rubbers.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Nate4s]

That's great! I'm glad it worked out alright for you.

 

[Der_Echte]

I actually played blade One Monday. That blade had center of weight balance more forward than blade Two for some reason. Blade One played like a controlled OFF wood blade, like low end of OFF or mid OFF-... but that is an over-generalization to rank the speed that way. A blade has several different speed or rebound characteristics for different shot situations.

I had more time with Blade Two Friday night. Balance WITHOUT grip tape was pretty neutral. Both blades had a solid feel. Blade Two had more "Bang" on well struck and moderately well struck balls. Could spin well, could hit well, had the SOLID wood feel I want n a blade. If a make hollowed out handles to get it into a weight range, then I remove handle and fil it in to restore or improve the weight and impact feel.

If Nate was to make the blade a tiny narrower and a few mm less lengthy, then it would have a harder feel and faster ball, which could be better for driving or hitting flat, but makes it harder to loop with spin. Unless the blade is really reinforced with something, then a larger blade has the potential to flex and impart spin on a loop.


If Nate was to make the blade thicker, he MIGHT lose some of the feel and flex, which would be a no-go.

Making a functional blade given a limited choice of materials calls for some thinking, some analysis, some research, some vision and decision... and some trade-offs. I didn't say compromise, but informed, well thought out decisions on what to get with what one has... One cannot have it all with a limited selection of materials, nor can one have it all with access to EVERY material.


As much as I like FL handles, I would be willing to try any future versions of Nate's heavy handed creations with a ST handle.

 

[Der_Echte]

On Monday, I should be getting a black sheet of Moritso for the BH... I have been tearing it up using that rubber that has been around forever... but I always tear it up on the BH wing with whatever I use. Der_Echte WAS gunna put a sheet of new Karis H (That would REALLY pep up the hitting power of that sucka) on Blade 2, but TTD member "erm" tossed me a new sheet of Xiom Omega IV Elite, which I never tried... my 30 seconds using it shows me it can bring the spin just like Vega pro did. I borrowed a sheet of black T05 for BH... I sucked rocks using it. Glad I got divorced from Tenergy years ago, woulda been an expensive relationship.

I'll know more on Monday, but it looks like I got another battle ready setup... dude I got these piling up in my big bag. I already gotta tote around 12 complete bats with cases, just in case a player wants to know what such and such blade does... I guess that is a fun good problem to have.

 

[Nate4s]

On Monday, I should be getting a black sheet of Moritso for the BH... I have been tearing it up using that rubber that has been around forever... but I always tear it up on the BH wing with whatever I use. Der_Echte WAS gunna put a sheet of new Karis H (That would REALLY pep up the hitting power of that sucka) on Blade 2, but TTD member "erm" tossed me a new sheet of Xiom Omega IV Elite, which I never tried... my 30 seconds using it shows me it can bring the spin just like Vega pro did. I borrowed a sheet of black T05 for BH... I sucked rocks using it. Glad I got divorced from Tenergy years ago, woulda been an expensive relationship.

I'll know more on Monday, but it looks like I got another battle ready setup... dude I got these piling up in my big bag. I already gotta tote around 12 complete bats with cases, just in case a player wants to know what such and such blade does... I guess that is a fun good problem to have.

Der_Echte - What would your ideal blade look like? How would you describe your play-style? I just want to have a sense of what it might be, just in case I stumble upon something that would really suit you well. Things like: Weight? Balance Point? Blade Dimensions? Handle Dimensions? Speed/Class?