The inside view, design, and construction of factory blades that come to us for repair

[Egon]

Another Butterfly Viscaria with a longitudinal crack in the canvas has been restored.
After the repair, both the frequency and amplitude became higher.

 

[Egon]

Blade surface repair Butterfly Kenta Matsudaira

Parameters of this blade:
Head Size - 150х157 mm
Weight - 86,8 grams
Thickness - 5,78-5,84 mm
Chord - 90 mm
Handle - Fl 100 mm
Balance - 30 mm Low
Frequency - 1477 Hz

Visually this blade is very similar to the Viscaria, but has a smaller handle.
Here are the dimensions of the handle:
- top - 21.5x27mm
- middle - 21.8x26mm
- bottom - 22.7x33mm

 

[Egon]

Hi, guys!
This time we got a very interesting blade for repair - Gewo Aruna Hinoki Carbon OFF with a broken handle.
There are a lot of curiosities, let's go!
On the end, this blade is closed with a green fineline end tape, which we removed, so take a photo of the internal structure.
We see a core layer of ayous, then two thin layers of carbon, some light wood across and hinoki on the surface. We remove the top veneer and see koto across, take a photo. So the structure of this blade looks like this: hinoki/koto/thin carbon/ayous/thin carbon/koto/hinoki.
Also, among the features, this blade has a very low balance 24mm, due to the light canvas 61.4 gr and a massive heavy handle 25 gr without cavities. The handle is thicker than most standard handles:
- top - 27x23mm
- middle - 28x24mm
- bottom - 34.7x25.6mm
- length - 100.5mm.
To compare handles, take a photo blade with a more or less standard thickness but a longer handle.
The canvas is slightly wider than standard and has dimensions of 153x157 with a thickness of 5.8mm.
Blade weight - 87 gr.
This blade is really not fast. Before the repair, the frequency was 1078 Hz. After the repair - 1195 Hz, catch the graphs!
I would classify this blade as Off-

 

[Egon]

Continuation of the Gewo Aruna Hinoki Carbon blade.
Such a low balance was needed, because rubbers Gewo Nexus EL pro Superselect max weigh a lot.
The racket, complete with rubbers, weighs as much as 195 grams

 

[Egon]

I didn't want to measure anything and post it here. Just a routine repair of a new! DHS Long 5 blade on the surface. But I decided to measure the dimensions anyway and it turned out that the size of the blade is different on both sides.
On one side - 159x150 mm, as it should be, and on the other side - 158.5x150 mm. The reason for this is that the handle is glued with a skew. The difference in chord is as much as 84 mm and 87 mm, and the chord greatly affects the flexibility of the blade. Things like that.

 

[kapahoo]

But will it affect the over all stiffness of the blade?

 

[Egon]

But will it affect the over all stiffness of the blade?

The blade will bend differently on one side and the other, and a sensitive player will feel it.

 

[Egon]

The thing is that when gluing the handles, a slippery layer of glue is formed and the handle "floats" when clamped. To solve this issue, for example, Nexy made two centering holes in the handles and the canvas. As far as I understand and saw from the videos, other manufacturers use special clamps, but that still doesn't protect against human error, what we could see on the blade from the previous post. By the way, in Butterfly blades I have not yet seen any distortions on the handles, so I am very curious as to how they do this during mass production. By the way, carpenters solve this problem by adding something abrasive, which then penetrates into the soft wood, or they use ordinary salt, which dissolves in the glue over time.
When I glue the handles, I make a markup and very carefully clamp along it and correct the position of one half of the handle and then the other. This requires time and attentiveness, but that's okay when you're only dealing with one blade.

 

[Egon]

I was repairing a well-worn Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit blade.
This blade features a very interesting koto top ply. Firstly, it has an unusually dark color; secondly, it displays a beautiful coarse "fish-scale" pattern; and thirdly, it is extremely hard. While koto on new blades tends to cut and crumble easily, koto on this blade is very hard, not brittle and well-bonded to the ALC layer.
The owner told me, that he had played with this blade during 15 years. He is a professional and played intensively. In my opinion, this blade is still in very good condition.
Blade specifications:
Composition: Koto/ALC/Limba/Kiri/Limba/ALC/Koto;
Head: 150 x 157 mm;
Chord: 86 mm;
Handle: FL 100 mm long;
Thickness: 5.7 mm;
Weight: 92 g;
Frequency: 1477 Hz.

W

 

[arashfarshadi]

Why are the handles of some blades hollow? I'm not talking about Donic and Stiga technology, for example Butterfly blade w5 but blades like Viscaria doesn't have it? Which brands empty the category and why? Some make holes in two pieces of the handle, And some the whole handle of the blade؟

 

[Egon]

Why are the handles of some blades hollow? I'm not talking about Donic and Stiga technology, for example Butterfly blade w5 but blades like Viscaria doesn't have it? Which brands empty the category and why? Some make holes in two pieces of the handle, And some the whole handle of the blade؟

The cavity in the handle makes it lighter, shifting the balance more toward the blade. Additionally, when the ball hits, acoustic vibrations are generated inside this cavity, which can be felt in the palm. Some people like this, while others don't.
For example, I personally like these vibrations, but I also prefer a medium or lower balance. That's why when we make a blade for me, we make the handle heavier than standard and then hollow it out.
Aside from lowering the handle's weight, the overall weight of the entire blade is also reduced. Because of this, some manufacturers—knowing that most buyers prefer blades under 90 grams—use handle hollows to meet weight limits, while disregarding the balance.After all, they don't specify the blade balance, only the weight.

 

[arashfarshadi]

Thanks, which brands do this the most? It is less common in butterfly models.
What about the inner force layer series of the butterfly?

 

[Egon]

Thanks, which brands do this the most? It is less common in butterfly models.
What about the inner force layer series of the butterfly?

Hollow handles can be found in most brands. However, I’ve seen variations in the hollow volume even within the same blade model from Yinhe. In one blade, the hollows were both in the ply and the handle halves; in another, they were only in the halves; and in a third one, the hollows in the halves were shallower.
I can't say anything about the Innerforce series, as so far we've only received these blades for surface repairs. Unlike the Viscaria, we haven't had one with a snapped handle yet. By the way, it's very interesting why, because Innerforce blades are just as popular here as Viscarias. Maybe their owners play more carefully? I don't know.
If you want to buy such a blade without any hollows, first of all, you can measure the balance using three-ruler method (link below) and indirectly estimate the handle's weight based on that balance. If it has a lower balance, there are definitely no hollows. You can also hold the blade by the hand and tap the handle with your fingernail. If the sound is dull, there are no hollows. If the sound is hollow or high-pitched, then there are hollows.
https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...-that-come-to-us-for-repair.38892/post-566946

 

[arashfarshadi]

Hollow handles can be found in most brands. However, I’ve seen variations in the hollow volume even within the same blade model from Yinhe. In one blade, the hollows were both in the ply and the handle halves; in another, they were only in the halves; and in a third one, the hollows in the halves were shallower.
I can't say anything about the Innerforce series, as so far we've only received these blades for surface repairs. Unlike the Viscaria, we haven't had one with a snapped handle yet. By the way, it's very interesting why, because Innerforce blades are just as popular here as Viscarias. Maybe their owners play more carefully? I don't know.
If you want to buy such a blade without any hollows, first of all, you can measure the balance using three-ruler method (link below) and indirectly estimate the handle's weight based on that balance. If it has a lower balance, there are definitely no hollows. You can also hold the blade by the hand and tap the handle with your fingernail. If the sound is dull, there are no hollows. If the sound is hollow or high-pitched, then there are hollows.
https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...-that-come-to-us-for-repair.38892/post-566946

thanks. Does the hole have a big effect on the feeling?

 

[Egon]

thanks. Does the hole have a big effect on the feeling?

Yes. If there are hollows in the handles, the palm feels a vibration when hitting the ball. If there are no hollows, the feeling is more solid (more dampened). By the way, as for the Viscaria, the entire feeling goes from the blade head to the index finger, and in my opinion, hollows there would only get in the way.
Mass-produced blades with hollows often have a higher balance, meaning the weight is shifted more towards the head. On one hand, this allows you to hit harder, but the moment of inertia can make it harder to return to a neutral position after a stroke and also makes it more difficult to do a "banana flip" (banana flick). I call this the hammer effect. Again, this balance limit is individual. Some people have a very strong wrist and arm, so it feels normal for them, while for others, it's the exact opposite. Also, a head-heavy balance imposes some restrictions on the weight of the rubber. If you plan to play with Butterfly rubbers, which are lighter than Chinese or ESN rubbers, then this is not a problem at all, but rather a plus.