Tomahawk Serve BLADE DAMAGE

[thekleifheit13]

Hi guys and gals. I was practicing my tomahawk serve today and smashed into the edge of the table, causing some pretty bad damage to my blade. Pictures of the damage are below. Right now my thought is to put some wood glue between the plies and clamp it with a c-clamp and some pieces of 1 x 4. Then, I'll use wood filler to make the profile right again and sand it all smooth. Any better ideas are welcome! I chambeau'd myself pretty bad because I have a tournament tomorrow morning and my backup blade is very different from this one. Nobody can overnight me a blade similar to what I have either, so I'm in deep dookie at the moment.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Epoxy also works well. Wood filler can work first, but will become brittle with time and wear out. I will post pictures of my blade that I had to glue multiple times after practicing banana flick too hard

 

[thekleifheit13]

Do I use the epoxy just like wood filler? I know they make stuff that dries in 5 minutes as opposed to 12 hours, which is awesome considering I glue rubbers with rubber cement and need them to air out.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Do I use the epoxy just like wood filler? I know they make stuff that dries in 5 minutes as opposed to 12 hours, which is awesome considering I glue rubbers with rubber cement and need them to air out.

You definitely can use epoxy as a filler. But your blade will be no all-wood anymore, it will become composite

 

[thekleifheit13]

Luckily I shouldn't ever really make contact with that part of my blade so it won't matter

 

[Xylit]

I would not do anything just for this tournament. Glue rubbers on the blade, apply edge tape and it is invisible. Should not matter while playing. Then buy new blade

 

[Shuki]

This is one of my biggest fears. Especially since it takes over a year to get my backup blade since Ross's waiting list is so damn long. But hey, I want the same exact weight, thickness in plies and cut from the same wood as the first time so It's worth the wait.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

. But hey, I want the same exact weight, thickness in plies and cut from the same wood as the first time so It's worth the wait.

But the new blade will be made from a different piece of wood that come from a different tree, that grew in different conditions and has different age. What to do with that?

 

[thekleifheit13]

I would not do anything just for this tournament. Glue rubbers on the blade, apply edge tape and it is invisible. Should not matter while playing. Then buy new blade

I still gotta get the blade surface flush, I couldn't even get a protector sheet to lie flat on the rubber before I peeled it off. I'm thinking epoxy and a clamp will do for this tournament, a backup blade with same rubbers is on the way

 

[thekleifheit13]

This is one of my biggest fears. Especially since it takes over a year to get my backup blade since Ross's waiting list is so damn long. But hey, I want the same exact weight, thickness in plies and cut from the same wood as the first time so It's worth the wait.

Luckily, this entire setup cost me $55 so I'm not out much. Cole doesn't have any more CJ topsheets though, so I have to use an LKT XP topsheet on the same sponge.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Listen, Xylit is really, actually correct.

Take something like a pliers and make it so the blade surface where the damage is, is flush. Then glue the rubbers back on.

If you wanted a small amount of reinforcement, use a simple glue. It could be a simple wood glue or even that white Elmers glue.

You do not hit with that part of the racket. Don't worry about it.

You can do a fancier job where you fill in the part that has been bashed in. But you would sort of be wasting your time.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

As far as the serve motion that got you that prize, you need to change it. If your follow through caused you to hit the edge of the table your followthrough goes too far forward and too far down. On a Tomahawk your motion will be more efficient if the stroke is short and if the stroke goes forward and the blade is always above table height.

A 2-5 inch motion, if you have the whipping action from your wrist is long enough. I think the motion on mine is about 3 inches and you can ask NextLevel if it is a good serve. Okay, mine is more of a hook than a tomahawk. But they are very similar.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[thekleifheit13]

As far as the serve motion that got you that prize, you need to change it. If your follow through caused you to hit the edge of the table your followthrough goes too far forward and too far down. On a Tomahawk your motion will be more efficient if the stroke is short and if the stroke goes forward and the blade is always above table height.

A 2-5 inch motion, if you have the whipping action from your wrist is long enough. I think the motion on mine is about 3 inches and you can ask NextLevel if it is a good serve. Okay, mine is more of a hook than a tomahawk. But they are very similar.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

After I finished cursing I worked on a shorter motion for the serve and it went fine. I do it Kenta Matsudaira style and just squatted too far down...

 

[Der_Echte]

Go to Lowes or Home Depot. Get a wood filler - DAP makes one that comes in a squeezable tube in a light wood color. Press it in and smooth it out. Work quickly. Press it in. Press it in. Work quickly, but carefully. Moisten you finger and smooth it out. Pat it down with a paper towel. Dry it. takes only a few minutes. Sand it lightly, real lightly.

Get some 8 oz can of Mini Wax Polyurethane Satin at $7 a can. Seal blade. Takes only a dip of a cloth and a few passes accross the blade. Re-apply and re-sand if you didn't quite fill it in. Rome wasn't built in a day.

I chucked a new KJH at a barrier I THOUGHT was middle and soft and harmless, but there was another barrier hidden behind it and I caught the blade right on the side and dented mine even more.

I filled in the obvious stuff with HIDE glue from Amazon at under $6 a 8 oz bottle. Dried overnight, and sanded away any excess. I filled in the remaining small area with wood putty at the club and fixed 'er up in under 15 minutes start to finish. I cannot tell where I dented it now. Plays exactly same. HIDE GLUE is good stuff for transmitting good vibrations. It is a thing to consider for the area where you separated it some.

 

[thekleifheit13]

Here's the plan: wood glue with c-clamp for a half hour followed by wood filler. I'll post pictures of finished product!

 

[Der_Echte]

I had to clamp mine as well, and used two small pieced of wood - one on each side to reduce the spot pressure of my clamp I left on overnight when I used Hide Glue.Be sure you check the clamped setup frequently the first hour and wipe down any run-off or glue seeping out. Find a way to press in your glue into the cracks to ensure you got all the loose areas glued. Wood glue is gunna affect the way vibrations move, but since it is on the very end, it won't be so bad as it could have been.

Took just two days to get me the hide glue from amazon and I was glad I waited.

 

[thekleifheit13]

If I had that kinda time I'd definitely wait for it, but I gotta play at 10 am tomorrow! My backup setup isn't too bad, I at least had my usual FH rubber and a rubber I used to use on my BH. Main blade = 7 ply but backup = 5 ply though.

 

[Der_Echte]

It is do-able tonite. Another thing you could use in place of store bought wood filler is sawdust or wood dust mixed with wood glue. Slap that stuff on after you have clamped and cured your wood glue job. any kind of knife or something with straight edge will help you paste the dust/glue mix on there.

 

[thekleifheit13]

Got it repaired and it plays just fine. I'll post pictures in the morning when I pull the protectors off!

 

[Der_Echte]

At $20 USD a blade, you sure could afford a new backup... Cole only charges a max of $5 USD for shipping in USA, damned difficult to beat that deal.

He charged me that whopping $5 a medium flat rate box when I was in Iraq and Korea... and he could pack a lot of stuff into one of those... and he tossed in extra stuff for Soldiers.