My One of a Kind Blade by (BBC) BladesByCharlie.com Mahogany - Hinoki - Koto

[phamster]

Hi guys, i am very excited to show the forum members my new blade.

it was a custom blade from BBC (blades by charlie) he made this for me as an alternative for a stiga clipper / rose wood nct vii / ebenholz nct vii.

my preferences are:

- heavy blade - 95 - 97 grams
- 6.5 - 7.0 mm thick (like a Clipper)
- off minus to off in speed
- must have some dwell like the Clipper or Rosewood 7
- handle must be flare with a large grip (like a legend grip) Japanese makers always makes grips too small for my liking - this one was about 102 mm long

So Charlie made 3 blades for me to try out and i ended up loving this blade.

it has the weight and mass behind it to handle strong loops and stable blocks and loop kills (loop kills are shots you hit off the bounce from an opponents loop and you take it off the bounce for a winner) similar to what Ma Long does when an opponent hits a loop off a heavy slice and then Ma Long hits a winner forehand smash/re hit loop off the bounce.

the weight behind the blade is essential for my game as i play chinese rubber on both side and i like to swing hard at everything.

you can visit www.bladesbycharlie.com/ - he has been making blades for a long time now. his web site states he has been making blades for 40 year now.. and from the looks of my blade i totally agree..

so the specs of my blade came out to

97 grams
6.9 mm's thick

he used some exotic wood for my blade ( really hard mahogany , Hinoki cross plys, and cool looking grey Koto for sharp sounds on smashes)

also he used a wood i never heard of , Bombax Ceiba wood for the Light colored hand, it is very sweat absorbent and light weight material

here are the photos, BTW the blade plays better than it looks..










upload pictures free

 

[Mtcollins]

That blade looks beautiful!

 

[violoniste18]

great work !

 

[rokphish]

niiiiiceee... what happened to the other two blades?

 

[Renol]

Beautiful blade!

 

[phamster]

That blade looks beautiful!

great work !

niiiiiceee... what happened to the other two blades?

Beautiful blade!

thanks everybody!!

Charlie made 3 blades, the first one was just around 91 grams and was too thin and didn't have enough mass, the other one he made i haven't had time to hit with it yet.. i really like the current one i have rubbers on it.. also only have played with for about 3-4 plays.. and am starting to get used to it..

friday night i used it and was able to beat a 2280 rated player with it so i think i am starting to get good production out of it.

i need about 4-7 more sessions to determine if it is my main blade..

 

[Renol]

Charlie is good at making blades with high workmanship and quality but communicating outside of US through emails is not easy.

 

[MDP]

It looks really nice but I find it strange to use the mahogany as the center (it's the heaviest and best looking wood,allthough the koto looks really cool too). It's something I've never seen before, as close to every blade has a 'lightweight' core such as abachi or balsa or kiri.

I'm guessing this blade is really topheavy? In combination with chinese tacky rubbers it must be reaaallyy topheavy.

 

[Renol]

It looks really nice but I find it strange to use the mahogany as the center (it's the heaviest and best looking wood,allthough the koto looks really cool too). It's something I've never seen before, as close to every blade has a 'lightweight' core such as abachi or balsa or kiri.

I'm guessing this blade is really topheavy? In combination with chinese tacky rubbers it must be reaaallyy topheavy.

If I am not wrong, I think OSP Ultimate also use Mahogany core.

 

[bobpuls]

It looks really nice but I find it strange to use the mahogany as the center (it's the heaviest and best looking wood,allthough the koto looks really cool too). It's something I've never seen before, as close to every blade has a 'lightweight' core such as abachi or balsa or kiri.

I'm guessing this blade is really topheavy? In combination with chinese tacky rubbers it must be reaaallyy topheavy.

Mahogany is pretty heavy compared to ayous or kiri... But it is not looking to thick ... 2mm max...hinoky is here much thickier ....but how it is playing ? ..... Hhmmm it is really like the rosewood ?
But nice looking .... What a shame bbc is using epoxy and not the waterbased glues.. Which can prowide much better feel .... Or mayebe he did.....

 

[MDP]

OSP ultimate seems to have a mahogany center ply(not sure) but it's alot thinner. A 2mm ply weighs about 25-30 grams i think. It's not a problem, it's just something I wouldn't think of because I try to keep the overal weight at max 90 grams and try to keep the blade balanced. It's all about preference I guess

 

[phamster]

It looks really nice but I find it strange to use the mahogany as the center (it's the heaviest and best looking wood,allthough the koto looks really cool too). It's something I've never seen before, as close to every blade has a 'lightweight' core such as abachi or balsa or kiri.

I'm guessing this blade is really topheavy? In combination with chinese tacky rubbers it must be reaaallyy topheavy.

yes.. i play with moon pro for my forehand <-- 52 grams cut 2 layers or 3 layers of glue
and for my backhand Xiom china Vega <-- is also about 52 grams with 2 layers..

so all together this blade with rubbers is about 202 grams.. but it isn't top heavy.. just somewhere below top heavy balance..

if you were to pick it up to hit with, you would say it is a heavy racket though..

Charlie is good at making blades with high workmanship and quality but communicating outside of US through emails is not easy.

i am lucky he responds..

Mahogany is pretty heavy compared to ayous or kiri... But it is not looking to thick ... 2mm max...hinoky is here much thickier ....but how it is playing ? ..... Hhmmm it is really like the rosewood ?
But nice looking .... What a shame bbc is using epoxy and not the waterbased glues.. Which can prowide much better feel .... Or mayebe he did.....

not sure what glues he is using..

OSP ultimate seems to have a mahogany center ply(not sure) but it's alot thinner. A 2mm ply weighs about 25-30 grams i think. It's not a problem, it's just something I wouldn't think of because I try to keep the overal weight at max 90 grams and try to keep the blade balanced. It's all about preference I guess

it is all about preferences.. my requirement for the new poly balls are heavy blades and sticky rubbers that are heavy.

i have found out i play much better with a set up that is about 200 - 203 grams . this heavy set up allows me to control the poly balls better .. we play with the nitakku premium plus ball , it does seem to be much heavier than most, and it has a very controlled "GOOD" bounce.. so everybody in the INDIANAPOLIS club uses this ball..

thanks for your input and i hope this stays in the bag.. i will hit with it again tonight , this will make it a full 4-5 sessions now..

 

[Archosaurus]

That website looks pretty legit.

I see they come slightly pre-sanded, too. Always nice.

 

[Renol]

i am lucky he responds..

Then I am unlucky that he does not respond to my emails since more than 2 weeks ago.

 

[tabletennisuk]

Dare I ask.... how much did it cost!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Renol]

Anyone know how do I contact Charlie from BBC?

I tried to email him but no reply since 3 weeks ago.

 

[phamster]

i sent Charlie this thread and your request Renol !! i hope he will come here and answer you..

phamster

 

[phamster]

Dare I ask.... how much did it cost!?


Sent from my using Tapatalk

just under what a normal carbon/arylate butterfly blade would cost.. so normal price for a blade

 

[Renol]

i sent Charlie this thread and your request Renol !! i hope he will come here and answer you..

phamster

Is he a member here or MyTT?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I hit with a Blade By Charlie blade today. It was made for Rocky Wang. I must confess, it was awesome. As good as any blade I have felt. A ton of feeling.

It also had a unique looking construction. The wood looked like maybe cypress or something that is similar to Hinoki but darker with a reddish brown color. The middle plies were dyed red but I couldn't tell what kind of wood they were.

But it made little difference to me. The blade felt really nice and crisp and had really good dwell and I was able to put a lot of spin on it. If I wasn't still addicted to my Virtuoso Plus I would think about getting one of those.

By the way, Phamster did say in the original post that he likes blades in the 95-97 gram range and that the blade mentioned in this thread is 97 grams. He also said he had one that was 91 grams that he felt was too light.

So, it is possible that part of the reason for a mahogany core would be extra weight.

More mass behind the ball is good if you have the arm strength to wield that beast. [emoji2]

Rocky's blade did not feel heavy but he has pips on one side so, even if the wood was 110 grams it wouldn't feel heavy or head heavy. Hahahaha.


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