OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I was wondering if anyone here has played with it?

I was able to play with friend's Iolite today, and was really impressed with the catapult effect. Much more than the Photino. Since the Iolite is a bit hard to find -- I might as well get the Iolite Neo for the thicker handle.

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Review/Impressions:



The classic Iolite is a well-regarded as a solid-feeling, fast, 5-ply blade, much like the Viscaria. The Iolite Neo is said to be a design update for the post-glue era,
increasing the speed of the blade by increasing the thickness of the plies; the core perhaps?



Right out of the package, the Iolite Neo is a handsome blade. The finish is typical Butterfly Japan standard, and the blade throat is smooth and shaved from the factory.



I personally prefer a slightly boxy handle, much like the old Butterfly ST handles and the Xiom current straight handles. However, the FL handle is similar to the new Butterfly
products, so it's a little thicker. Cheers to those who had to do something to beef up the old Viscaria/Iolite/Korbel FL handles. The handle comes in a...baby blue color.



At first take, the Iolite Neo is incredibly similar to the original Iolite, only given a bigger handle. Perhaps a tad faster than the original. They preserved the thick-core,
solid feeling of the Iolite. That is, a mild ball feeling on the short game coupled with a strong ball rebound/catapult. One recalls this particular set of characteristics
in the Butterfly Amultart.



The hinoki top ply is about 1mm thick. Second layer is Arylate-Carbon. The core wood, which looks like kiri, is about 5.2mm thick.

In contrast, the Photino, and perhaps the Amultart as well, both have hinoki top plies of about 1.4mm and core woods of about 4mm.

Perhaps these may account for the significant increase in rebound and a decrease in dwell time.



Describing the blade, it is:

• a 5-ply composite blade.
• Specimen is about 7.4422mm thick. Nearly nominal.
• Specimen has a mass of 87g. +4g on the listed nominal weight.
• Very small handle problem of the original Iolite/Viscaria family may have been resolved, has similar fit as the new Butterfly handles FL and SI (means bigger).
• Relatively excellent dwell time for the amount of rebound. Matches well with Japanese rubbers, especially the new heavier ones when you get a light blade.

Butterfly.co.jp lists the Iolite Neo as:

• fast speed
• soft feeling
• head size of 157mmx150mm
• typical mass of 83g
• 7.5mm thickness typical

I would say it is an excellent blade for doing a power-spin game with directional control. Rather excellent feel with Tenergy, a good match for spin to control
the potential speed of the blade.

I'm now waiting for Spinart to hit our shores to try it on this...exciting blade.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

Redid the review. Hopefully someone chimes in with some reviews about the original Iolite or the new Iolite Neo.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

Great pictures and nice looking blade Yuzuki!

Amazing they can keep the weight down so well, considering the thick core. Kiri must be quite light... perhaps some similarities to Balsa?

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
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Now that's where I am unsure. Some texts say that it's balsa, others kiri. I'm no woodworker, so I have no clue. I'm not willing to dissect the blade as well.

Only thing I'm a bit sure of is that, it looks to be the same wood Butterfly uses for the cores of Viscaria Light, Photino, and Amultart. But at this thickness, I would have expected significant weight reduction coming from a thicker core than the usual blades.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

As usual, Yuzuki has professional quality photos. Great review though!

EDIT: I'm sure presports.com has the Iolite...

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Stiga Offensive CR WRB ST/ BH: Renanos Bright Hard 2.0mm/ FH-???
Butterfly Korbel SK7 FL/ BH DHS Hurricane 3 Commercial/FH Gambler Outlaw 2.2mm
DHS CW-C/ BH: DHS G555 2.0mm/ FH: DHS Hurricane 3 Provincial 2.2mm
Nittaku Violin/ BH: Tenergy 64 / FH: Hurricane 3 National 38deg
Experimenting with weird combinations... And I may find a permanent setup.

that may not be balsa...ive worked with it (cut my finger while cutting it) and cut balsa looks shinier...i think. yuzuki, could you take a picture of the blade straight on into the grain, at the edge of the blade? half way up the head? so i can try to determine...that could be balsa though...i want to compare the picture you take with a thick sheet of balsa i have at home. if you can

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SPW/Solo

Fast forward 9 years...I am getting one in the coming week. Wonder if it plays just as described.

The blades was discontinued, wasn't it?

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I (can) bet that is Kiri.
The blade is discontinued, yes!

Got it! It looks just as good as in the photos. Blade Freq 1894Hz.
Yes, it's discontinued.
And yes, it's himoki-ALC-kiri-ALC-hinoki.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipM ... QigqcYymkS