OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I don't think flex and vibration are highly correlated. I have played with stiff and flexy blades that have differing levels of vibration. The Gergely doesn't have much vibration and it is stiff. The Hurricane King doesn't have much vibration and it is flexy. The instinct+ was stiff 7 ply and IIRC it had more more vibration than either Gergely or HK.

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S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
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I am glad I asked. I have always thought that flex equals vibration I hate vibration but like firm feel blades. Looks like I cannot rely on the flex/rigidity score to get an idea of vibration.

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Umm what is the difference between :
- Hardness and stiffness
- Softness and flex
of the blade..

Still kinda confused..
Because seen some hard blade yet very flexy (TTdb).

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
Crossover to Takeover!

Different combinations of woods make different notes and different vibration. The thickness in total counts a lot but it doesn't mean a 5.0m blade will for certainly vibrate more than a 6.0mm blade but I most likely will.

You can get a good idea of how a blade sounds and vibrates by holding the handle firmly against something solid, like a hardwood table and having the rest of the blade hanging over the edge then dropping a ball on the blade, You might have to do this in a very quite room to hear it properly depending on how good your hearing is. Once you've done this with all your blades that you know how they play you can learn to understand how each blade will play just by the sound of it.

Once you are get your feel and hearing practiced you can drop 5 balls in different spots on a blade and know just about everything you need to know about it. Rebound height, the Initial pitch sound tells you the hardness of the outer ply, you can usually feel and hear a soft second ply like spruce too and you can even feel how much kick is in the core. Soft plys within the blade will dampen the vibration and hold the ball a little longer on the blade, the Hurricane King doesn't vibrate quite as much because as you would expect because of this but it also doesn't kick very hard for the same reason. The blades that kick hard are faster in a real life situation than even your thickest and most beastly carbon blades no matter how low they are on a bounce test. I'm sure this is because once you reach the limit of the rubber and ball the only thing that's going to give you more speed is the rebound from the blade flexing.

Another odd example is I have a couple of old 7 ply basswood blades and despite being around 6.0mm thick they are the most flexible blades I have and also have the least vibration, smooth as butter they are but again because of the soft wood they absorb a lot of the flexes energy.

I've run this sound and feel test through all my blades and lined them up from best to worst just on sound and it's scary how that's also the order I like them in actual play, also funny how my second best blade is a $5 DHS premade I bought in Kmart sometime years ago.. (I can't even remember buying it) I wish I had of bought more than one . You should all go and do this test and tell me what you think about it

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Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
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As I understand it, softness and hardness relate to the ability of wood to resist impact/indentation (see articles on Janka hardness scale - balsa = very soft, ipe = very hard) while flex and stiffness relate to bending properties (see articles on Modulus of Elasticity). Technically you can have wood which is soft and stiff or hard and flexible, but generally harder equals stiffer and softer equals flexier.

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Thats an enlightment
Thanks a bunch sir Taz !

So basically flex will bend more, giving more dwell time thus more spin, in the other hand a stiff blade will be better for hitting because it provides much less dwell time.
And hardness is talking about how much vibration it produces, therefore correlated to how much touch it gives to your play overall.

I hope I don't get it wrong.
Once again thank you sir

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
Crossover to Takeover!

This is a great topic and the post Ive been looking for. I'll keep this as short as possible. What would you all say is the best 7 ply blade that mirrors a 5 ply's looping tendency? I LOVE Dark Knight's post regarding rubbers making up the difference in dwell time and throw angle. Here's what I'm thinking: A 7 ply made from ayous, hinoki, koto or limba wood (all known as good looping woods) with an overall weight of mid 80's with the rubbers making up the difference? I'm definitely a looper but certainly wouldn't mind an addition in speed, power, and control.

If you're looking for a 7ply that plays like a 5, you need to look for something that has a thick core with thin outers.
Nothing pops to mind at the moment. Most current popular 7ply blades I can think of right now have the centre 3 plies equal thickness, clipper style, which stiffens the core up.

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Chasse Patate

Hmmm... I will go in the opposite direction. Seven plies of equal thickness. Specifically the Yinhe Kiso 7.

Iskandar

P.S. Good luck finding one....

Incidentally, if you do want a 7 ply blade with a thick core and thin outers, you can make one using 0.4mm 3 ply birch plywood. This stuff is available from art supply stores and the better model airplane mailorder places. Model airplane stores USED to be a good source but these days it's all electrics and ready to fly stuff and few people scratch build,any more. The core can be balsa (easiest) or any other wood you can get that is thin enough (Daiso sells paulownia i.e. kiri, for instance). Your outer plies will be 0.13mm each!

Iskandar