OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I am making my own 5 ply all wood asymmetric blade
I am looking for recommendations from blademakers here for veneers that go with 8 mm balsa core
My offensive side will be different from defensive side
I know what outermost ply I want for offensive side
So what is left are (what I need)
1. What ply do you recommend for the ply next to balsa on the offensive side & what thickness 2 mm each ? 3 mm ? 4 mm ?
2. What 2 plies you recommend for defensive sides if I want an extremely slow defensive side. I do not want plies like willow. I tried poplar outer ply but it is too fast. I want the defensive side to maximize the dwell time I want a very soft wood. I thought poplar would work out because it has very low Janka hardness value but it not work out. I tried Aldar which has very low Janka hardness as well also but did not work either

Also where can I order them in USA ? I tried Ali Express but they mostly have only balsa

Thanks

THE main problem with veneers is getting them, and getting them in the thicknesses you need. Fine veneers are flitch-cut - the wood billet is soaked, and then run over a very sharp knife blade, much like a carpenter's plane, and the billet is turned into a flitch (a "book" of veneer) and is then dried. There are companies that sell veneer, there's usually a lot of variety, but they generally come in one thickness (can't remember what it was, exactly - 1/40 inch - ~0.6mm - comes to mind). Companies that make blades have their veneers custom-cut - Yinhe, for instance, has its own veneer plane (I've seen photos of it). If you need thinner veneers than 1/40 inch you'd have to thin it down yourself. There was a veneer maker in the town I lived in many years ago, and I found out about it when I was in a blade making craze so I paid them a visit on the other side of town. It wasn't easy just buying wood from them, they wanted to sell entire flitches at a time, and there was the thickness problem. They did let me grab a bunch of reject wood from their dumpster out back, unfortunately it was all walnut and maple (I still have some). Using it wasn't that easy - apply glue to one side of it and it would curl up into a burrito. (Lesson learned - avoid water based wood glues..)

Here's what I suggest for your first attempt. Go to a model airplane store (I suspect this is where you are getting your balsawood from anyhow). Look for 1/64" birch ply and 1/32" birch ply. Yes, that's THREE layers of birch. Comes from Scandinavia. Three layers, 0.4 and 0.8mm thick. Use these as your face plies (I suppose, technically, you'll end up with 7 ply blades). You'll find the 1/64" side will be considerably slower than the 1/32" side (which will be bloody fast.. ). Glue and clamp, yellow woodworking glue (Titebond) will work fine here, unlike with single layers of veneer. Since it's a balsa blade I'd suggest using thinner than normal sponge when choosing the rubber.

If you're still looking for veneers, I found this a few minutes ago:

https://boothveneers.com/

If you're thinking of thinning down veneers I came across this, also a few minutes ago:



You'd need access to a thickness planer or a thickness sander.

Iskandar

Most outer veneers are paper thin. Less than half a millimeter or much less.

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You could try Cherry or Limba on the BH and maybe Koto as inner ply on the FH for more speed.