OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi Thomas,
how's going? Yes Ross has hit another home run. This will be my main blade for a good long while.

Anthony aka Cheok

If you have found the blade you like, always remember to have two, ready for tournaments, in case one becomes unplayable for some reason. Looking forward to seeing you and your family in November.
tOD

Congrats Anthony, Looks like Ross has hit another one out of the park.
Thomas[/quote]

Hi Thomas,
how's going? Yes Ross has hit another home run. This will be my main blade for a good long while.

Anthony aka Cheok[/quote]

Hi Thomas,
My family and I look forward to see you and Kimberley this Nov. We need to keep up our effort to persuade Ross to come to Baltimore as well.

Yeah, I normally have 2 blades of the same kind. I will have Ross make another one in the near future.

Later,
Cheok

I really liked the feel of this blade - both the composition and the rounded rectangular cross-section of the handle. So between work on some commissioned blades, I squeaked in the time to build one for myself. I substituted a slightly softer outer ply of limba on mine and a eased the corners on the rectangular handle a bit more. I might have to do one with edge banding - all that exposed balsa is making me nervous.

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Beautiful Ross, abosolutely beautiful. I look forward to hearing how it plays.
tOD

So it's exactly the same as the last commission for your friend with the exception that the outer ply is Limba instead of Cedar; he'll either be very upset or honored that he has the "manufacturer's personal pick."

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Custom Blade 'Hard Justice' w/ Yasaka Cobalt a
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

Gorgeous as usual. But... you haven't used either of your signature touches!!! Do you play shakehand? with a preference for a straight handle?

And what did you use for the handle? Is it Ziricote or Bocote leftover from the blade with the extended handle?

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Thanks, Thomas. I've only had about an hour of playing time with it, but I really like it. The ipe is both very hard and very stiff, contributes to a large sweet spot, and it makes a good platform for the soft limba. I used the limba on mine with the expectation that it would marginally increase the control over the alaskan cedar, which is slightly harder. (Anthony can handle the speed, but I need to work on control and consistency.) Mine has a little deep sound to it, which I think is partially attributable to the softer limba and its coarser grain pattern. However, we're playing different rubbers, so that has a contribution as well. I'm finding that my placement is noticeably better than with the last blade I was experimenting with.* The blade is sufficiently fast, not outpacing my skill level. Pushes are effortless. I do have to be more mindful of the blade angle while blocking - there's less margin for error. It's definitely a blade I can use now and also grow into. I'm very satisfied.


Anthony only has eyes for his blade. As far as he's concerned, mine is a completely different animal. He even sneers at my slightly more rounded cross section handle.



Thanks. Yes, I know - no pistol handle or edge banding. I'll put the edge banding on my next one. I'm experimenting with the handle shapes/sizes. I don't want to be thought a "pistol handle snob".
The handle is East Indian Rosewood. I like using this wood because it's not super heavy, has some beautiful color and movement, and polishes nicely.


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* The previous blade is the one in this post. On that blade I used some thicker transverse medial plies, which gave the blade a lot of flex. While I used some traditional control woods, the flex gave the blade a whiplash effect on smashes, so it had some kick to it. Good for blocking, not great for pushing. Should be decent for looping, even though it's got a smaller face. I had trouble taming this blade. The prototype handle width is on the small side. If any one with small hands or who likes a small handle would like to try it out and tell me if it's worth persuing any further, if you'll cover shipping, I'll send it out for a trial. PM me if you're interested.

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Here's a uniquely Australian blade that I recently completed for Tassie52. We incorporated a couple of his native wood species - Tasmanian Blackwood on the outer plies and Australian Silky Oak for the handle. The Blackwood has a wonderful warm glow and shimmer. The new owner has already selected an appropriate name - I'll let him reveal it, because it requires a bit of explanation.

Here "she" is:

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the new love of my life, "Silky Sally"!

Let's get the new name out of the way: The outer plies are Tasmanian Blackwood, which some of the old timber getters used to call "Black Sally" - "black" for the dark lines usually prominent in the wood (but not particularly evident in this example). I figured I might drop that part of the name in favour of something a little less problematic. The "Silky" part of the name comes from the Australian Silky Oak handle, sometimes known overseas as Lacewood. So "Silky Sally" she is.

Sally comes about because I've loved Australian timbers for a long time, and when I received my first blade from Charlie at BBC and then saw what Ross was doing I began to entertain the notion of finding a way to have a real "Australian blade". Wouldn't it be wonderful to demonstrate what our unique Australian bush was capable of providing? Ross agreed to participate in the project and the hunt began for appropriate timber. Some blademakers have stated that the best timber is what is used in the sound boards of musical instruments. Blackwood is highly prized as an instrument wood and Ross was able to access some veneer on the net.

[I think the most embarrassing part of this story is that Ross in Ohio found it easier to get the Tasmanian wood than I did. I could get it in large quantities: if there are 28 of you who would like Ross to make you a blackwood blade, let me know!]

Ross already had some Silky Oak (the second blade in his gallery has a "lacewood" handle) and so then we played with the composition of the blade. I was looking for something just slightly faster than my much loved (still much loved!) All Around, and we decided 7 ply to give us the speed and sweet spot I was looking for.

The final composition is:
Tasmanian Blackwood - Western Red Cedar - Balsa 1.5 - Ayous 1.5 - Balsa 1.5 - Western Red Cedar - Tasmanian Blackwood
Ash edge banding
Final weight - 92.1 gm

The Blackwood has a Janka rating almost twice that of Western Red Cedar and also significantly higher than Alaskan Yellow Cedar. It's obviously softer than Ipe, but still harder than most TT timbers. It is also a little on the heavy side and it's quite stiff. All of which should add up to a good outer ply material. One of the veneer suppliers I was talking to was very enthusiastic about Blackwood, commenting on its "resonant" qualities: it certainly makes a beautiful sound when I bounce a ball on the bare blade. The process of deciding the other layers was all about balance: flexibility vs stiffness; weight.

The final product is absolutely magnificent: so well crafted - a feast for the eyes and a joy to hold. At 92gm she's a buxom wench but that is right in the middle of the range I was looking for. In the next week I'll dress her up in Reflectoid and IQUL and see how she plays. And I will be posting more!

Silky Sally - the only blade in the whole wide world who speaks with a genuine Aussie accent!!!

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Looks nice.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Tassie - it was a pleasure to collaborate with you on this blade. I look forward to hearing the results of the practical tests - where the rubber meets the road.

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Silky Sally is a winner.

So far I've had two sessions with the robot plus this morning's regular Friday hit out. All impressions so far have been very good. Because I'm using exactly the same rubbers as before I have a much better sense now of what is the blade and what is not. Here are my thoughts:

Speed: I was looking to boost just a fraction from ALL to ALL + , and that's what I've got! Well done Ross. Definitely not super fast but there is an added crispness to everything. My counter hits and occasional smash are coming back less often, which is rather nice. I'm never going to win matches purely on speed, but at least Sally allows me to put my opponents under more pressure.

Control: Excellent. The slight increase in speed has not been at the expense of control. While there is a relatively large sweet spot, even balls played closer to the edge of the blade are often manageable. I suspect that this is some sort of by-product of a hefty seven ply blade and the hardness of the outer veneer: I'm already a fan of the Blackwood after just one week!

Touch/Feel: This is where I have been very pleasantly surprised. Definitely an enhanced sense of contact with the ball and more direct feedback. I don't experience this as the "vibration" some comment on and seem to dislike. This is more a sense of "directness" - the feedback is more direct, less ambiguous. (I'm not sure how else to describe it.) I like!

Driving/counter-hitting/smashing: A noticeable increase in comfort playing these shots. Less dwell-time than the All Around but still very good control.

Looping/Fishing: Perhaps a little more problematic. When I was practising with the robot it took a while to get it right. Less loop, but more direct. Good control though - I'm not so intimidated looking for the end of the table. How can that be? With less loop I should be less confident, no?

Blocking: This is a really nice surprise. The crisper response is easy to control and the ball goes back with noticeably more zip. It's never going to challenge a carbon blade, but that's not what I was looking for. What I have got is a blade that helps me put pressure on the other side of the table. I clearly won more points today with my blocking than previously.

Chopping: Some adjustment needed here. This is perhaps a combination of a couple of things: shape - the blade is more long and thin than Charlie's chopper shape (somehow this seems to have an effect, which makes no sense to me, but there you are), and the handle - I'm holding the blade further back which means a slightly different wrist movement. No major problems here, just a difference in the nature of the beast.

The handle: Hmmm... If there was on thing I'm slightly less than one hundred percent convinced about, 'tis the handle. (Perhaps only 98% ) It's a dimension thing as much as anything: the pistol grip is quite tapered - I love the feel of the base of the handle which accommodates my relatively large hands really well, but the throat is a little too narrow to be entirely comfortable. Having come from a made to measure straight handle, the pistol grip is just taking a little getting used to. Not uncomfortable enough to be an issue; as I say, 98%

Interestingly, I'm finding I'm holding the blade with what is a slightly more backhand grip. And this turns out to be not a bad thing! I think that my shot structures lend themselves to this marginally offset grip and Ross's handle allows me to make the adjustment. Result: better control of both forehand and backhand strokes. The other change is that I'm adjusting my grip for the coves in the handle and am not holding the blade as deep in my hand as previously - see comments above on chopping.

Overall: Excellent! Such a great piece of workmanship and a joy to play with. Even after a week, I still get an idiot grin on my face when I take Sally out of her bag. This is such a fabulous blade. Is Tasmanian Blackwood a suitable timber for TT blades? I think the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Apart from looking very fine, Silky Sally also knows how to handle herself.

Thank you so much Ross for an incredible job!

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

yaaay yet another good blade added to the Ross Leidy Hall of Fame

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my youtube channel
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Main: / secondary / LP
Blade: DHS Hurricane hao/ Blade- Hurricane Hao 2
FH: Skyline 3(Blue Sponge)/ FH- Nittaku H3 pro
BH: Omega Asia/ BH- Calibra Tour H

I am thrilled to hear that Silky Sally is measuring up to your expectations. All of our pre-planning and tweaking the composition has paid off!



I think that this attribute is what we focused on primarily when tweaking the composition. I'm glad that we arrived at a formula that put the blade in your desired speed range. And you did it with the Tasmanian Blackwood - so kudos!



In addition to reducing weight, I've found that hollowing the handle pieces has the side benefit of reducing vibration transmitted to your hand. The vibration isn't eliminated, it's just reduced to a level where it's useful as feedback and not total sensory overload to your hand.



If we go for another Sally in the future (or Sally's sister), I have some ideas for the handle that might push you up to full satisfaction. There are a couple ideas that I've been pondering that I've been looking for a reason to try out. They are based on my own observations, but they align with what you mention in your report.

Thanks for such a comprehensive report - It's great that Sally hits the mark for you in many categories. I hope that she continues to serve you well as the two of you get better acquainted.

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades