Questions about old 7 ply blade

[fjonsby]

Hi,

I'm trying to identify an old Sunflex blade I bought in China around 2005. Today Sunflex seems to focus mostly on premade rackets, but this blade appears to be quite well made.

Specs:
• 97 g
• ~6 mm thick
• 7-ply all wood
• Handle badge: Sunflex CSA
• Serial number: A81-222A

The ply structure looks a bit unusual. It seems to have a thick core with three very thin plies on each side, rather than the more typical 7-ply layout.

Possibly something like:
Limba – Walnut(?) – Limba – Ayous core – Limba – Walnut(?) – Limba

The second ply looks darker, which is why I suspect walnut.

Another interesting detail is the handle. It appears to be hollow with a tube inside and a hole at the bottom. I'm not sure if this is meant for vibration damping or some kind of balance/weight system.

Could it be an OEM blade made for Sunflex?

Questions:
• Does anyone know anything about Sunflex CSA blades?
• Has anyone seen this type of hollow handle before?
• Any ideas about the wood composition?

Thanks!

 

[Egon]

Hi! The wood on the outside is definitely not limba, it looks more like cypress (hinoki). Next are 2 layers across from dark wood, which can be anything, then two longitudinal layers from ayous and the core is more similar to the photo on kiri.
We once had a 7-layer blade Giant Dragon with a similar system in the handle during repairs. As far as I remember, it was a finished racket.
I tried playing with it and despite the rather stiff and thick construction of the paddle blade, it was surprisingly good.
I also had a Butterfly VSG 2000 blade a long time ago. It also had a tube in the handle, but a slightly different system. The handle was made of two halves, which were connected through a rubber insert. As far as I remember, that blade had no feedback at all.

 

[golden_son]

I was gonna say this reminds me of the VSG series. (I still have my old VSG-4000!) Interestingly enough, Butterfly sells Sunflex balls on their main website, so Sunflex could be a subsidiary/manufacturer for them based in China. This would explain the visual and structural similarities to the old Butterfly VSG line.

I think the top ply of that one is spruce, actually, based on comparison with my VSG and the top ply of my current Yinhe Pro 11s; but it's sometimes hard for me to tell the difference between spruce and cypress and Egon is more experienced than I.