OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I remember seeing in a tournament (2009, World Championships I think?) that Christian Suss removed part of the edge tape so that the referee could inspect the blade itself. That would not be possible with edge veneer. So some refs want to see the plies of the blade.

Wow, asome dude!

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Blade: Victas Koji Matsushita ST
FH: Xiom Vega Europe 1,8 mm
BH: DHS Cloud & Fog 1 mm

Blade: Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk ST
FH: Andro Rasant 1,9 mm
BH: Globe 979 0,9 mm

Wow, Ross, I am impressed, really and truly impressed. Not just because you have such an amazing skill and your blades look really beautiful. But I am even more impressed because you posted the great pics and explained the process. I greatly admire and respect people with skill and knowledge and the willingness to share it.

Now two questions, would you be willing to make a blade on order, and if so how much would it cost.

And would you be willing to send your blades out to be tested?

Last, the reference to the legality of the blades because of the edge veneer. TSP also makes a blade that has that edge veneer. Its one of their balsa plus series.

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1-ply Hinoki Club
Violin/Acoustic Clan
Recreational/Club Player
Local Press Club (Journalists) Champion

The speed of a Rhino and the power of a Gazelle!!!!
http://xtrariter.blogspot.com

Thanks, Ranger-man. I hope that the photos are useful. I've spent a number of years building wood-strip kayaks as a hobby (my site is http://blueheronkayaks.com), and in that particular worldwide community everyone posts pictures of everything.

I'll PM you about your questions.

Ross

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Here's my latest using sapele-mahogany-balsa-mahogany-sapele for the blade and padauk for the handle. I like the feel of the padauk handle, but even hollowed-out, it contributes about 30g to the 95g blade. I figured out a way to use the router to shape the handle instead of using the benchtop sander, which makes for a much more consistent shape with less work. If anyone's curious about the process, I can take photos the next time I'm making some handles.

Ross

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Wonderful work and documentation. Interesting bit on the hollowed-out thumb part of the handle. I might give that a try with a commercial blade.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

I would like to see the pictures when they are available.
Thanks

Okay, here's what I did to make the handle pieces. I started by making a jig that would hold the handle template (similar to the blade template) and provide a way to keep my hands clear of the router bit. I started off with a few scraps of wood:



On one piece, I traced out the handle pattern and then shaped it on the benchtop sander. The handle blanks that I use are 3/8" thick, but since I use a 5/8" roundover bit, the template has to be be made a bit wider than the final desired handle width.



On each side of the template, I glued a stop block so that I could easily mount the handle blanks in the correct position on the template.



I mounted two end pieces on the template to function as a sled for riding on the router table and provide hand holds that keep my hands well clear of the bit. They have a 3/8" reveal on each side of the template that matches the thickness of the handle blanks. Here I've rough cut some scrap cedar to test and verify the final width of the handles.



Some double-sided carpet tape holds the handle blanks to the template.



Ready to be shaped.



The 5/8" roundover bit has a bearing that rides along the middle of the template.



And here's the shaped handle.



Shaping both sides takes a couple minutes, and any sanding touch-ups can be done while still attached to the template. I use a putty knife to pop the handles off, and the double sided tape I found peels off very cleanly.

It takes a little time get set up, but making repeatable handles is quick and easy once you've got the template jig built.

Ross

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

If I do say so myself, I recommend a sticky. This is a great topic that should never be lost.

Thanks very much for posting.
tOD

Thanks for this fantastic post. I my self am a woodworker and make pingpong paddles though I've only been able to make one ply hinoki blades(poc,awc,etc.) because I don't have acsess to veneers in thicknesses other than a 64th 32nd 16th so i don't have any wood to make a nice core. Ive had trouble resawing on my bandsaw even with a new carbide blade specifically made for resawing. The planer I use tends to chatter to much to plane to that small of a thickness. So I was wondering where how from whom you get yours?

That handle shaping method is fantastic

using plain ply wood doesn't really appeal to me because I can't play around with the charecteristics of the blade dwell time hardness weight

I've also found that using a vacuum press to veneer a cork handle reduces weight while neither compromising strength or durability

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Welcome to the forum Almostusedanti! Love your username... very clever, but it's begging for an explanation

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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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

What's to explain? Two year old Anti isn't quite used. Thanks Ross for all the photo's and even better description of how to. The most difficult thing out of all this is your puting it into words for dummies like me to understand it. Very nice work! Oh, also I don't know who actually checked out the Wood Strip Kayaks but man you are ridiculously talented. I mean my goodness.

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Photino
My rubbers are 9 years old. They won’t be there long.

Thanks for the kind words. I don't have access to a planer or I would have tried to make some of my own thin stock for cores. For stock that thin, I'm guessing a wide-belt thickness sander would be a better choice. (I also don't have one of those.) I've been using balsa for all of my cores and varying the veneers. There's a couple places online that you can get sheets of balsa in various thicknesses (e.g., http://www.nationalbalsa.com).



The kayaks are a fun and rewarding hobby, and the building process is very therapeutic. I appreciate you checking out the site and your kind words.

Ross

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Ross
Handcrafted Table Tennis Blades

Thanks that's exactly what I needed

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