SDC Handmade Blades

[Tyce]

Can you elaborate on the balance?

I value actually the grip and balance over the playing characteristics first. Had too many good blades play really great, but that I don't want to use because it always slightly feeling off.

Usually Sergio includes a balance measurement, which is taken from the rubber end of the handle upwards. You can get a good idea by trying to balance one of your own blades (without rubbers on) on the tip of a finger, I have used a thin bolt before for slightly better accuracy.
Personally, anything with a balance of roughly 3cm and lower feels balanced, under about 2.5cm it starts feeling predominantly handle heavy.

Lighter blades will experience more of a balance shift when applying rubbers, same goes for larger defensive blades.

Lighter rubber does bring balance back down, but it's a few mm at most when changing inverted for inverted. Changing to thin or no sponge, with pimples for example, has a larger effect. I have not measured this but estimate a full centimeter can be attained.

 

[SDC]

Can you elaborate on the balance?

I value actually the grip and balance over the playing characteristics first. Had too many good blades play really great, but that I don't want to use because it always slightly feeling off.

@wiktor145 already pointed you the right direction 🙂.

 

[SDC]

#1483 - Outer A-C - OFF

You don't have a lot of outer fibers blades on the market with an Ayous core, and the reason is very simple, Ayous is denser than Kiri, which means it's harder too. With the composite already so close to the surface, adding something harder underneath, may make the feeling too hard. The problem with Kiri, is that it sometimes it makes the blade feel hollow, especially on harder shots. This blade has an Ayous core, that's what you can see, but it also has other unusual things that are not visible. The A-C fabric underwent two rounds of resin before it was bonded to the wood layers. This of course makes it a bit stiffer and harder, so the bonding was made with a very flexible glue, which gives back some elasticity and softness. I like to think that the composite layer as an independent layer in the blade not a reinforcement. This is only a concept in my head, but it changes how I approach things, and consequently how the blade feels. Don't get me wrong, it's not a fluffy pillow, it's still an outer fiber blade, relatively stiff and direct, but it doesn't have that metallic and pingy feel. It's a firm, compact feeling, and similarly to inner fiber blades, it has a more linear power output, especially further away from the table.

Another handle made with the themo treated Ayous, but this time with the company of thermo treated Ash.

- Limba / A-C / Ayous / Ayous core
- 89.6g
- 5.75mm
- 157x150mm
- FL (25-22.3x100mm)
- Balance: 3.2cm (Med)

 

[SDC]

#1484 - 5+2 Inner - ALL+/OFF-

Today we have a double post because these blades are bonded by birth. We also have a bit of a rant, sorry about that 😅.

At this point you already know I have a long waiting list for custom orders, and if after one year or more of waiting, you still wish to proceed, I assume you reeeally want a blade from me. So, as soon we have everything defined I start working on the project, usually by gluing the layers, I don't want to make you waste any more time. I trust in the decency of people, so I don't even worry about the payment until further ahead in the process, sometimes after the blade is finished. I also respect your investment, so I will try to deliver something that you like, even if I have to build it twice, sometimes 3 times. This was such a case, sometimes 1+1 does not equal 2 and, for reasons unknown (to me at least), this blade turned out slower and softer than what I expected.

- And a side note on the side note, I don't believe in bad blades (in terms of performance that is), I believe there is a right blade for every player. It happened many many times, I sell a blade to someone and they end up not liking it and sell it to someone else, then that someone else comes to me and asks me to make another one because he loved it so much. It's not uncommon for the first person to come back for another one because he still appreciated the craftsmanship, and he accepts there's a risk involved in this kind of thing. -

I finished this one with a standard size and a fully solid thermo treated Ayous handle. Soft, controlled, very spin friendly and light, will pair well with medium soft rubbers. I made another for the client according to his specs, the blade has been finished for a while, and I never heard from him again. I was going to make this post a pity party on myself, feeling so bad I got scammed, but now I see it in a different way. This doesn't happen that often, the vast majority of my customers are indeed decent people, and I can say I have even made a friend here or there. So yeah, there's always going to be a rotten apple, but the lesson to be learned is another one 🙂.

- Limba / Ayous / B-S / Ayous core
- 83.8g
- 5.9mm
- 157x150mm
- FL (25.4-22.8x100mm)
- 3.2cm (Med)

 

[SDC]

#1485 - 5+2 Inner - OFF-/OFF

And this is the second blade, the one that was meant for the customer. It's based on a Harimoto, so it still has the slightly larger head size, but with a marginally smaller handle, Vis shaped but thinner.

- Limba / Ayous / B-S / Ayous core
- 88.4g
- 6.0mm
- 158x152mm
- FL (24.3-21.9x100mm)
- Balance: 3.3cm (Med)

 

[Haito]

What is B-S?

 

[SDC]

What is B-S?

Well, in common language is Bull***t, but here, for copyright reasons, it's my name for big B's Blue-Stuff 😅

 

[Haito]

Well, in common language is Bull***t, but here, for copyright reasons, it's my name for big B's Blue-Stuff 😅

Aaah the famous Japanese a cloth with blue color XD Out of curiosity do you also get the new fancy green one?

 

[SDC]

Aaah the famous Japanese a cloth with blue color XD Out of curiosity do you also get the new fancy green one?

Nope. I'm trying to reduce the number of fabrics I work with, not come up with more stuff to make my life harder 😅