OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi
I would like to know where its possible to purchase small pieces of wood veneers to make a blade? :

Depends very much where you live really. Here in Holland it's nearly impossible or very expensive to buy any kind of veneer, 40 km across the border in Germany veneer is widely available and very cheap. You could also have a look at http://www.tt-piet.de/infos-zu-furnieren.html
, he sells custom made bats at very low prices (around $30-35) but also sells glued or unglued veneer.

_________________
Competition bats:
Win-tec power def Tibhar 5Q sound Power Update 1.8 * Spinlord Agenda ox
TSP Balsa 3.5 Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound 1.8 * Grass D-tecs ox

Put to rest:
Galaxy T10 Bluefire M2 2.0 Palio Ck531a ox
Victas Koji Matsushita Tibhar Genius+Optimium sound MAX * Spinlord Dornenglanz ox
Donic Defplay Senso Tibhar Aurus Sound Black max * Grass D-tecs ox

Check out my quest for my new blade here: http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=23241
Current standings:
Butterfly Matshushita powerdefence * Joola Chen Weixing * Nittaku KVU * Nittaku Shake defense* Tibhar stratus power defense * Victas Koji Matsushita * Yasaka Sweeper * Win-Tec power defence

I posted a couple sources under "making your own blade" under "Blades". Also sources for composite materials. Balsa is easily available from many places.

Iskandar

Thanks Elvis 56
You make a good point. I live in new Zealand but I have bought from Australia. / England./ USA so any of these countrys I can send to.

In the States, http://certainlywood.com has a good selection.

_________________
Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Hi iskandar tair,

Thank you for your suggestion, I managed to get into Alans Hobby but was unable to get any info on veneers which I think was my fault.

Hi Ross
Thank you for your post, I have been a admirer of your blades since I joined the Forum. As a retired builder and joiner having my own workshop with all the machines for manufacturing high class fittings I appreciate your craftsmanship especially in those handles.
Now Im 79 and no machines apart from hand tools and a jigsaw but you can do a lot with two spockeshaves.
At the moment I play with a Re-Impact blade and before that an ULMO,but I have had an urge to make a blade with cork inner.Then looking through posts "making a blade" I came across your post of 03/16/13, I thought I could try that without the ayous.
The other blade you posted back in sept 2010 appealed to me because the smooth line flowing blade to handle as if one, not something glued on. The other reason was the veneers and thickness suited defensive play which at 79 I have to be,
I looked up the company would they be bothered with an order of veneers for just 2 blades?
They certanly have great veneers if only it was as easy as buying rubbers
Trevor

Hi ulrich, thank you for your reply to my post where to buy veneers.
I have taken Ross Leidy's advice and ordered Black Limba veneer from Certainlywood.
I live in New Zealand, incidentally I have ULMO Spin Def blade which is very good. It is just that after seeing Ross Leidy's stylish blade I have this urge to make a couple of blades myself.

Ross if you could reply or someone else that has any knowledge to my question, I would be extremely grateful. I am wanting to know if wood will ever have to be a problem in the future for table tennis bats, as the resource could become more scarce and selecting the proper veneers will be harder to find and be at a higher cost?

_________________
Victas Dynawood Power
Tibhar MX-P
Victas V15 Limber

I'm sure that it would depend upon the type of wood. Fortunately, most blade manufacturers use economical species of wood, which generally means that they're plentiful sources and hopefully sustainable sources.

_________________
Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Thanks for the reply. I thought some woods like Kiso hinoki would stop in table tennis production as it requires very old trees and the Kiso forests in Japan were getting smaller and smaller. The Japanese company darker who only produce Kiso hinoki blades might have to increase price or change production.

_________________
Victas Dynawood Power
Tibhar MX-P
Victas V15 Limber

There are alternatives to hinoki, I think, such as cedar - this can be explored.

One problem I see is that veneers come in a standard thickness - about 1/40" (i.e. 0.025 inch, 0.65 mm or so). Getting thinner sheets will be a problem, if that is what is wanted.

Iskandar

The bigger problem are thicker veneers as 1/1.2/1,5/1,7 mm. As well as the cores from 2-5mm. I took an advice from Ross and bought a drum sander. This way I could reduce the outer veneers of the laminate in a defined way - never tried. More important is that I can reduce 5 mm slats down to the desired core seize. The whole setup would be perfect with a bandsaw producing your own 5 mm slats from thicker planks.