SDC Handmade Blades

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I really didn't want to go down this path but you are forcing my hand so I have to defend myself.

Let's recap, I posted a blade, you said it reminded you of something because it had 3 carbon layers, I showed some blades I made in the past with 3 carbon layers. I had no idea where this was going, but you clearly did, like something trapped in the backed of your mind. You already knew about the "copied" blade, but I never posted it. So I will ask again, how can I credit someone if I never posted the blade?

You clearly don't have any idea about what I do, so I'll enlighten you. The majority of my work is to make custom blades, I do some blades now and then out of my own initiative that I put for sale on the website, but those are a minority. If a customer comes to me asking for a certain composition, and if it's within my reach to do it, I will do it. And I go the extra miles for my customers, so even if I can't do it I will try to find a way. I really hate these pi**ing contests, I did this, you did that, but it's offensive when someone says I'm just gluing layers. If you bother to look through this thread you will find hundreds of unique compositions and designs, not one. I share more knowledge than anyone else about blade building, I was the first to have a scientific and technical approach to blade building, not just gluing layers, I work with more fibers than anyone else, and possibly wood too. Every aspect of my blades is customizable: weight, thickness, size, balance, handle shape and size, handle design, fancy bling bling, you name it. This includes layer thickness too. I buy my woods premade and woods that are ready available? You are clueless... I worked very hard to have the stock of woods I have, and I buy them from all different places so I can fulfill the aforementioned requests from my customers. I'm just not lucky to have the tools and space you have (just imagine if I did), I can't re-saw my own wood and I don't have enough space to store all the materials I would like. I worked for two years on a tiny garage without even enough space for a proper bandsaw, and I still managed to do what I did. I buy my Ayous cores with 4mm, and I bring them down to whatever thickness needed, so as any other wood, just not with as much ease as you. So, if anything, I'm having more effort than you.

I don't have models of blades, and I don't publicize my blades, I post here and on social media, that's it, and I'm posting less and less. I'm basically posting the blades I put for sale on the website and my approach is very simple: I made this blade, it plays like this, if you think it suits you then buy it. No BS or shiny words, straight to the point and objective. I stopped posting the custom stuff long ago, and believe me, I have very cool stuff to show. I have my fair share of flops and mistakes, but the majority of people love what I do, and that's what gives me the strength to keep going. I've been having amazing feedback and I don't share it either, you know why? Because I have to control the demand, I'm already working at full capacity for long and every time I post this kind of stuff there is a rush of orders. Despite not being very active here I have a 7 months waiting list, and it just keeps growing. People try each others blades and love it, so they come to me. It's growing organically, it's not me telling them my blades are good, it's them telling me they are good, and it's an amazing feeling.

And you know what? I deserve every bit of my "success" because I work my a** off. Between buying materials, processing materials, answering emails, actually building the blades, taking pics, packing and sending, dealing with accounting... I'm working 10-12h a day, 6-7 days a week. I haven't taken more than 3 days vacation since this started (and this happens 1 time a year, 2 at best), I stopped training and playing because I don't have the time. So don't tell me I have it easy and that I'm just gluing layers.
My guy nobody is attacking you…all I said was I knew the guy asked you to copy the blade. Sorry but it’s true. If that upsets you I don’t know what to tell you. A lot of what you said here I didn’t say so I’m not sure how to even respond I actually agree with a lot of it? I pointed out that there’s a lot of variations and yes you work with more composites than pretty much everyone. If you can bring wood down to thickness without the proper tools then yeah good on you, certainly ARE working harder. But I’m not clueless, I think you claim that you were clueless when you copied that blade?
 
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Oh yeah sorry I got lost in all the “I’m clueless and have no idea what you do” talk despite being a blademaker for just as long as you lmao. To answer your question. Yeah when I saw it, the blade reminded me of the one you copied. I mentioned something and you posted the actual blade you copied. I said I knew the guy had you copy it. I showed the conversation I had with the guy when I said you had a guy copy the blade and he confirmed he did and it was you who copied it. I’m not sure credit really does any good at this point but if I were you I probably would’ve admitted I copied the blade and that it’s a great blade. Then I’d tell you all about it where it came from and who actually created it. Probably wouldn’t try to shame another blademaker and call them clueless and say you have no idea what I do because although we have different methods I’m sure your well aware of what I do just as I am of what you do.
 
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My guy nobody is attacking you…
Maybe not an attack, but it wasn't a fluffy caress either...

your own words:
Sure if you order your woods online premade there’s only so much you can do, so many variations. But that’s what hipnotic does and there’s still tons you can do especially if you add in composites, glue, weight of composites, weight of wood!

But I’m not clueless, I think you claim that you were clueless when you copied that blade?
See, you still don't get it, I didn't copy that blade, I didn't go out and take Charlie's composition and claim it as my own. Someone asked me to build that composition and I did. See the difference? And the blade was never posted anywhere by me, so I couldn't even credit anyone.

I knew it was him who asked you to copy it. After that I was pretty much done with that guy. Never again. Anyways, that blade from 2021 that you made is called “boomslang” and was created by Charlie from BBC. Pretty sweet blade.
"If I ceased communication with everyone who asks me to "copy" a blade, I wouldn't have any customers 😂. I have a good relationship with him, no problem whatsoever."

After this comment, I think it's pretty much implied that I knew that the composition was from Charlie, I never stated otherwise. So I don't know what do you want from me, do you want me to explicitly say that one blade, that someone asked me to copy back in 2021, was originally created by Charlie? Ok, blade #391 which had a composition of Kiso Hinoki / Koto / Soft-Carbon / Balsa / Soft-Carbon / Balsa / Soft-Carbon / Koto / Kiso Hinoki, was inspired by a BBC blade. Happy? Oh, but the Kiso Hinoki and the cool looking handle were my idea, so credit to me on that.

Probably wouldn’t try to shame another blademaker and call them clueless and say you have no idea what I do because although we have different methods I’m sure your well aware of what I do just as I am of what you do.
Never tried to shame anyone, but I did feel a weird vibe from you and apparently I wasn't the only one. To be honest, I'm completely clueless about what you do because I don't pay attention to your thread, so I don't take what I said as an insult. I have enough worries with my own work.
 
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Cmon @CCBladecraft … all you’re doing here is a lot of mimimi while spamming a great, nice and humble persons thread. Sergio is a very nice guy who wants to satisfy his customers as good as possible. He definitely is not someone who miscredits anybody on purpose. He always refers to blades which are alike or the role model for his blades. By the way: ever seen andro, xiom, Stiga, DHS, donic, etc referring to butterfly’s Viscaria when copying it? No? Right!

Long story short: nobody cares about the things you say here, because we love Sergio. So stop trolling this thread.
 
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I don’t want to continue “trolling” your thread but if I say you copied a blade you get upset, then you say if I cease communication with everyone who wants me to copy a blade…it’s okay? Why can’t I say copy? I was originally just pointing out you copied the blade which you say your customers ask you to do. So we don’t communicate well or copy doesn’t hit the same when we say it to each other I’m really not sure. Anyways I don’t disagree with @Creek on most of what he said maybe you didn’t do it on purpose and if that’s the case then I overreacted so that’s on me. My bad. Just to be clear I am aware of your success with what you do and I do think your work is good. Aside you calling me clueless and saying I don’t know what I’m doing, I still have respect for you and what you do. No more mimimi’ing
 
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@CCBladecraft Don't worry, my friend. Over time you'll find that the vast majority of folks on this forum are friendly, and are really just huge fans of our wonderful sport! Sergio is a really good guy. I've had a good amount of interaction with him outside of this forum, so I know—and I know he's always encouraging to the other blade-makers on here too.
I really encourage you to just put this one down to a misunderstanding / miscommunication (which is not at all uncommon on online forums, so really no big deal). Everyone on here wants to see you succeed in your blade-making endeavours, especially those of us who like to buy custom blades from time to time just for the fun of trying them out.
Personally, I'm 100% sold on Vodak blades as the best fit for me, but I own a handful of SDC blades which I keep just 'cos I really like them. There's a good chance I'll buy from you too at some point.
Sergio has earned his reputation here. Be patient, and I'm sure you will too over time.
 
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@CCBladecraft Don't worry, my friend. Over time you'll find that the vast majority of folks on this forum are friendly, and are really just huge fans of our wonderful sport! Sergio is a really good guy. I've had a good amount of interaction with him outside of this forum, so I know—and I know he's always encouraging to the other blade-makers on here too.
I really encourage you to just put this one down to a misunderstanding / miscommunication (which is not at all uncommon on online forums, so really no big deal). Everyone on here wants to see you succeed in your blade-making endeavours, especially those of us who like to buy custom blades from time to time just for the fun of trying them out.
Personally, I'm 100% sold on Vodak blades as the best fit for me, but I own a handful of SDC blades which I keep just 'cos I really like them. There's a good chance I'll buy from you too at some point.
Sergio has earned his reputation here. Be patient, and I'm sure you will too over time.
I have no doubt he’s a good guy and I see what he contributes to the community. You’re probably right and I’ll chalk it up as a misunderstanding and consider it squashed.

That’s probably my biggest regret that in the past 7 years I’ve been making blades I was for the most part, offline. Which funny enough the blademaker I learned from told me this was something he wished he was better at, being engaged in online forums. How am I doin? Lmao! (Sarcasm)

Thanks for the words of wisdom
 
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I don’t want to continue “trolling” your thread but if I say you copied a blade you get upset, then you say if I cease communication with everyone who wants me to copy a blade…it’s okay? Why can’t I say copy? I was originally just pointing out you copied the blade which you say your customers ask you to do. So we don’t communicate well or copy doesn’t hit the same when we say it to each other I’m really not sure. Anyways I don’t disagree with @Creek on most of what he said maybe you didn’t do it on purpose and if that’s the case then I overreacted so that’s on me. My bad. Just to be clear I am aware of your success with what you do and I do think your work is good. Aside you calling me clueless and saying I don’t know what I’m doing, I still have respect for you and what you do. No more mimimi’ing
I didn't get upset about you saying that I copied the blade, I say that someone asked me to copy it, which to me it's different, but that's just semantics. The fact is that the blade was copied and I never denied that. I got upset for you pulling this whole drama, when the blade wasn't even shown to the public when I made it two years ago. I didn't credit Charlie, I didn't credit me, I simply didn't show the blade. Yet you knew about it's existence and demanded it to be credited.

Later I got upset for you saying that I'm basically gluing premade layers, and that "most people on this forum are SDC guys and that’s all you know", like I'm brainwashing them or something.

Aside you calling me clueless and saying I don’t know what I’m doing, I still have respect for you and what you do.
You clearly have a reading problem because I never said you don't know what you are doing, I said you don't have any idea about what I do.

You clearly don't have any idea about what I do, so I'll enlighten you.
I buy my woods premade and woods that are ready available? You are clueless...

To me the matter is closed, I want to show some blades 😅.
 
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And here I am involved in a Mexican soap opera when I should be replying to my customers. I'm sorry, I will get back to you as soon as possible! 😆
 
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I don’t want to continue “trolling” your thread but if I say you copied a blade you get upset, then you say if I cease communication with everyone who wants me to copy a blade…it’s okay? Why can’t I say copy? I was originally just pointing out you copied the blade which you say your customers ask you to do. So we don’t communicate well or copy doesn’t hit the same when we say it to each other I’m really not sure. Anyways I don’t disagree with @Creek on most of what he said maybe you didn’t do it on purpose and if that’s the case then I overreacted so that’s on me. My bad. Just to be clear I am aware of your success with what you do and I do think your work is good. Aside you calling me clueless and saying I don’t know what I’m doing, I still have respect for you and what you do. No more mimimi’ing
Please no more polluting this forum or distracting this man from his important work!

I miss the blade porn on this forum :(

...and have also contacted Sergio to order a blade
And yes I want that cool asymmetric chamfer on the handle taper just like on the TSP Hino Carbon Power.
And no, I don't expect Sergio to pay homage to whoever at TSP came up with that detail. Or James Gibb or David Foster or anyone else.
(https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/who-invented-table-tennis.4970/)

Keep up the good work Sergio
 
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Oh yes, please do not stop anything Sérgio. There are hundreds of guys here, who love your work, your craftsmanship and your ideas.

Maybe I am one of Sérgios heaviest "fan-boys" ;) because I already ordered 10 or more blades from him:
there were "copies" of famous constructions (with little differences or special handle design), blades that were based on my own thoughts and also experimental blades of Sérgio, which he posted here - ready for sale.
 
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That’s probably my biggest regret that in the past 7 years I’ve been making blades I was for the most part, offline. Which funny enough the blademaker I learned from told me this was something he wished he was better at, being engaged in online forums. How am I doin? Lmao! (Sarcasm)

Honestly, I think you're doing great! You've made plenty of other really helpful contributions, and we all hope you continue doing so.

This particular interaction wasn't the best but, as I said before, I suspect there's a good amount of misunderstanding going on in this one.

More importantly, I know the etiquette of the online world tends towards assuming the worst of people, and then judging them and writing them off based on one (real or perceived) mistake. But there are still lots of people old enough to remember the time when we tended to let a few mistakes slide, give folks the benefit of the doubt, and then move on together in friendliness. Happily, on the whole, the TTD forum is that sort of place!

I'll say no more, as I don't want to hijack Sergio's thread, but keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing more of your creations and learning more about blades from you.
 
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I have always followed this topic with interest because I was very interested in how others put together and made their timbers. My interest still stems from my younger years when we sometimes experimented with making our own speakers and table tennis wood. More than forty years ago, we bought a carbon mat (no idea what type but it was black/silver woven) in a shop in the centre of Antwerp.
Apparently they have existed for 55 years but have long since moved to another location.
@hipnotic: https://www.v-sure.eu/en/about-v-sure/history/ > products > fibre reinforcement.
I absolutely do not remember which wood composition we used at the time but in any case it was based on a "Paul Day"-wood. It has remained at 2 blades in the past and we never experimented later.

It's a bit unfortunate the finger pointing above about copying. It is of course true that you cannot make infinite wood compositions (at least a few hundred I think) but the handles are already unique works of art by Sergio.
 
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My Sunday, sealing and finalizing this batch of blades before I start a new one tomorrow. Seven blades, each with their own composition, handle design and shape, weight range and balance, characteristics extensively discussed with each of their respective owners.

IMG_20231119_095618.jpg
 
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My Sunday, sealing and finalizing this batch of blades before I start a new one tomorrow. Seven blades, each with their own composition, handle design and shape, weight range and balance, characteristics extensively discussed with each of their respective owners.

View attachment 27452
More blades! Much better use of this thread. Interesting looking handle on the 3rd blade from the top 🤔
 
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Have you ever thought about selling SDC branded edge tape? I would buy some if you did...
I did, as well as some other merchandising too, but thank you for the idea. At the moment that plan is on the background, my priority is finishing my workshop and then I can focus on other projects.
 
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