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 😅

 

[SDC]

#1486_1487 - 3+2 - ALL+_ ALL

I got a request to make a "clone" of the old Stiga Super Carbon, and we tried to get as close as possible to the original, including the shape. I really enjoyed the feeling of that blade, so I decided to make one to put for sale here, but of course I had to make a few changes. The original has a Walnut top ply, but for this one I used Mahogany. I would say that the feeling is pretty much the same, those two woods are very close in terms of characteristics. Also, don't let the words "super carbon" scare you into thinking this is a very fast, stiff and hard blad. As I've said many times, the composition of a blade speaks more than its individual components. In fact, this is at best an ALL+ blade, not much faster than a allround classic for example. The advantage that carbon brings, is that the blade doesn't vibrate all over the place, but it still has an excellent feeling and a better sweetspot. The Mahogany handle matches the top ply quite well in my opinion. With the right rubbers, I think this one can still be used for a controlled attacking game.

I also built a second one, with a few more changes. The structure is the same, but I changed the top ply to Lati. Lati is a wood I only used recently (also called white Wenge), and is already in the higher range when it comes to stiffness and hardness, more than Mahogany and Walnut for example. I also used Glass-Carbon instead of Super-Carbon, which is a little softer and more flexible. Despite the denser top ply, this blade is a little slower than the first one, which supports another thing I've been saying quite a lot: "don't judge a book by the cover". What is under the top ply, is more important for the feel and performance of the blade, specially when it comes to composite blades. I think this one will do well in the hands of a push-blocker. The handle is made from Lati as well, to match the top ply.

- Mahogany / S-C / Ayous core and Lati / G-F / Ayous core
- 87.2 and 90.7g
- 4.4mm
- 153x152mm
- ST (23.0x28.5x100mm)
- Balance: 2.5cm and 2.4cm (Low)

 

[SDC]

I haven't posted a custom order in a while, but that's still the vast majority of what I do. This is all I have in the works at the moment, they will not be for sale apart from 2. Can you guess which ones?

 

[der Stift]

#1486_1487 - 3+2 - ALL+_ ALL

I got a request to make a "clone" of the old Stiga Super Carbon, and we tried to get as close as possible to the original, including the shape. I really enjoyed the feeling of that blade, so I decided to make one to put for sale here, but of course I had to make a few changes. The original has a Walnut top ply, but for this one I used Mahogany. I would say that the feeling is pretty much the same, those two woods are very close in terms of characteristics. Also, don't let the words "super carbon" scare you into thinking this is a very fast, stiff and hard blad. As I've said many times, the composition of a blade speaks more than its individual components. In fact, this is at best an ALL+ blade, not much faster than a allround classic for example. The advantage that carbon brings, is that the blade doesn't vibrate all over the place, but it still has an excellent feeling and a better sweetspot. The Mahogany handle matches the top ply quite well in my opinion. With the right rubbers, I think this one can still be used for a controlled attacking game.

I also built a second one, with a few more changes. The structure is the same, but I changed the top ply to Lati. Lati is a wood I only used recently (also called white Wenge), and is already in the higher range when it comes to stiffness and hardness, more than Mahogany and Walnut for example. I also used Glass-Carbon instead of Super-Carbon, which is a little softer and more flexible. Despite the denser top ply, this blade is a little slower than the first one, which supports another thing I've been saying quite a lot: "don't judge a book by the cover". What is under the top ply, is more important for the feel and performance of the blade, specially when it comes to composite blades. I think this one will do well in the hands of a push-blocker. The handle is made from Lati as well, to match the top ply.

- Mahogany / S-C / Ayous core and Lati / G-F / Ayous core
- 87.2 and 90.7g
- 4.4mm
- 153x152mm
- ST (23.0x28.5x100mm)
- Balance: 2.5cm and 2.4cm (Low)

I am the requestor of this Stellan Bengtsson Super Carbon clone.

In fact, Sergio made two clones.

I name them as Rodri and Pedri, in honor of two Spanish mid-field footballers (2026 World Cup winners).⚽ 🏆

These blades indeed play like Rodri and Pedri: for possession, placement, control, accuracy and occasional quick smash.

In addition, forehand and backhand chiquita are fantastic because of their low balance.
Thank you, Sergio.

 

[SDC]

#1491 - 7 wood - OFF

In the TT world we use the term "Spruce" very loosely. Basically, everything apart from Cypress that has that distinct two color grain, is branded Spruce, but we have some many types of woods with that grain pattern. This blade is made with species all belonging to the Pine family (Pinaceae), the top ply is Engelmann Spruce, the intermediate plies are Douglas Fir and the 3 inner plies that compose the core are thermo treated White Fir. I'm not gonna lie, it's not a user friendly blade, it's relatively heavy, and slightly head heavy, but that's precisely what makes it more powerful. It feels soft and stable, with low vibrations, and a linear output (what you give is what you get).

- Spruce / Douglas Fir / White Fir / White Fir //
- 91.5g
- 6.3mm
- 157x150mm
- FL (25.1-22.7x100mm)
- Balance: 3.4cm (Med)

 

[SDC]

#1498 - Outer Kev - OFF-/OFF

Another one of those cases where I built two compositions for a customer, but one of them ended up here. This is a take on the TB ZLF, the thing is, I don't work with plain Zylon. Although I had the opportunity to buy it once, the fabric is extremely expensive, and the low demand does not justify the investment. In these situations I recommend using plain Aramid (Kevlar), it's the closest thing I have. Both these fabrics were used originally to make ballistic vests, but they quickly discovered that Zylon suffers from severe degradation (losing up to 50–60% of its strength) when exposed to ambient humidity, heat, and ultraviolet light over short periods, so nowadays is mostly used in other applications, such as TT blades. Zylon has a tensile strength 1.6x higher than Kevlar, but we're not pulling anything on a TT blade, so that stat is negligible. What matters is the stiffness, which is also higher, so basically we can achieve the same performance with less material, meaning that zylon fabrics are often less dense. This is the main advantage of zylon, the weight/performance ratio. In the end, Aramid offers a similar performance at the expense of a little more weight, but far lower cost. It also has another advantage, because it's more commonly used, I can also find more density variety in terms of fabrics, and at the moment I work with 3 different densities: 60 g/m2, 120 g/m2, 170 g/m2.

In the case this blade, it was built with less dense outer plies, but a denser core than the other. The other was closer to the specs that the customer requested, so this one ended up here. In terms of performance it's exactly what would be expected: the other one was stiffer (higher frequency reading) and with a higher initial rebound but less responsive on harder shots. This one has a lower initial rebound, higher flexibility (lower frequency), but more responsive on harder shots and with a slightly firmer feel.

- Koto / Kev170 / Ayous / Kiri core
- 86.5g
- 5.55mm
- 157x150mm
- FL (100x24.0-22.9mm)
- Balance: 2.45cm (Low)

 

[Tyce]

I don't know if it's just me, but the Shop page doesn't show me the item details anymore when I click them (Chrome or Edge - Win11)
Can't get to the Shopping Bag either.

 

[SDC]

I don't know if it's just me, but the Shop page doesn't show me the item details anymore when I click them (Chrome or Edge - Win11)
Can't get to the Shopping Bag either.

You are not the first. It's working fine on my end, I have no idea what's the problem or how to fix it.

Edit: Ok, now I see it. Sometimes it works but you have to click multiple times. Still no idea how to fix it, looking into it.

 

[SDC]

The shop is integrated into the website with a Ecwid store, I think the issue is with Ecwid itself because I haven't changed anything and it suddenly stopped working. The Ecwid site also has some issues.

If anyone is interested in one of the blades, please contact me directly.

Edit: Found the bug, it just works if you click the price, it was supposed to work in the image as well. It was already reported to Ecwid, hopefully they will be able to help.

 

[SDC]

#1500 - Outer Dyn - OFF

1500 blades, who would have thought...

I'm not going to write a big fancy text about this one, I can sum it up pretty easily in 4 words: soft, solid, direct, powerful.

I will however, say one thing about the handle design. I don't think that people realize the amount of work that's behind something like this when you are making one at a time, not 1000. It may not look like it, but it's very hard to do by hand. I'm not using a CNC or other machines, it's not painted either, it's plain old good woodworking. My hands were trembling and I was sweating all over the place cutting this semi-circle as precisely as possible, and making sure it's perfectly symmetrical in the end. But this is what still pushes me, after so many blades I'm still challenging myself and by my clients, and creating new and unique things.

- Kiso Hinoki / Dyneema / Ayous / Ayous core
- 88.2g
- 6.3mm
- 157x150mm
- FL (25-22.8x100mm)
- Balance: 2.9cm (Low/Med)

 

[SDC]

#1501 - Inner B-S - OFF

First time using Tauari wood, also known as Brazilian Oak, as the top ply. Slightly heavier than Koto, a bit harder, but more flexible (lower elastic modulus). Pleasant wood to work with, not as brittle as Koto and the finish is nice and smooth. In terms of construction, the core is slightly thicker than your usual Innerforce, but not as thick as on the Ovtcharov for example, with the crisper Tauari top ply instead of Limba. The handle is again made with thermo treated Ayous, but with an obvious inspiration on the Stiga destiny.

- Tauari / Ayous / B-S / Ayous core
- 89.4g
- 6.15mm
- 157x150mm
- FL (25.0-22.8x100mm)
- Balance: 3.2cm (Med)

 

[SDC]

#1502 - 6+1 - DEF-

I wasn't aiming for that specifically, but it turned out to be one of the slowest blades I've ever built. Honestly, I wasn't really sure where I was going with this blade, I knew I wanted to make a blade with a thick cork core, the problem is that cork provides absolutely no longitudinal or transversal stiffness, which means that the risk of the blade warping was really high. So I decided to use a carbon layer right in the middle, this helps to stabilize the blade against warping, but also in playing. Although it's a very slow blade, it has a very decent sweetspot (compared to blades in the same range), and doesn't feel all that flimsy. I knew the blade would be very slow on its own, so I didn't use a larger head size as you would expect from a defensive blade. The composition is also very light, and 92g may seem high, but only because it has a very heavy Olivewood handle, which you can see by the very low balance point. All of this makes it more suitable for a close to the table defensive style, an annoyingly slow one 😅.

- Limba / Limba / Cork / Carbon
- 91.9g
- 6.3mm
- 157x150mm
- ST (23.0x28.5x100mm)
- Balance: 1.6cm (Very Low)