OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Interesting, Kees!
But here is what i've found about lauan and pf4 032:
old 032: 1 and 2(search by 032 on the page)
new cheap 032 (with a lot of negative feedbacks):
new reincarnated 032 priced 100$

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

You are on the wrong track, I am afraid. I have seen He Zhiwens blade and it is the old working horse, nothing in the least like the stuff in the pictures above. His has the old varnished short&thick grip with the painted DHS logo, and the too large varnished strip on the blade's face (both sides) which isn't supposed to be covered by the rubber - most of the varnish is gone off the face, though, and even the wood itself is worn where he has his thumb and index-finger.

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Without opponent, no match.

Yep, i know his blade is old and worn. Last attached photos are related to cheap new 032 version that caught many uncomplimentary feedbacks. Two photos of the blade plies in my first post in this thread are supposed to be "that" 032 from 1970-80.
Anyway i revised hardness of the medium plies. I don't think it should be medium-soft but medium-hard, however it shouldn't be light as cedar. I liked suggested sorbus much, now i'm guessing if this 2 mm plies of sorbus are enough to provide heaviness and hardness.

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

That would be the other thread, about parallel pengrip, viewtopic.php?f=43&t=19318&p=213276#p213276? Those pictures definitely are of the right blade.
As for the wood: it has to be the cheapest possible kind, since the other elements of the blade (basswood, hardwood grip, varnish finishing) would on their own constitute the total cost of the blade. As harder woods are generally more expensive and less available, I can't see what kind of wood would be a likely candidate except chipboard, which is cheap, medium hard, and rather heavy. Have you read this about luan-wood: http://www.insidewoodworking.com/luanplywood.html? It states luan is a plywood made of the "Shorea" family of trees (which has 196 species and is common in S-E Asia, and is often compared to teak in terms of durability, see: http://www.shorea.org/shorea-versus-teak.html) and is still used to make toys. It seems to me the typical kind of stuff to be used in cheap chinese blades. It is also known sometimes as Philipine Mahogany - that would bring it even closer to the requirements you stated before.

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Without opponent, no match.

This seems reasonable to me. But the strange thing is that new cheap 032 on the photos above failed to repeat old one's success. Maybe because luan plywood can be of vast quality range or maybe old one featured luan solid wood? Can plywood be distinguished from solid wood by photo?

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

I can't on these.
Solid luan is sort of a contradiction in terms, like "solid plywood".
As for the difference in quality between old and new 032s, what I think happened is this. The old version was made in a period when in China products for the internal market had to be both cheap and fit for use; there were no big factories yet, no serial production facilities like modern day, and a lot was done by hand by vast groups of skilled workers. Besides, pingpong was taken very seriously, a national sport of the highest standing, so equipment for it had to meet certain basic standards. The new version is likely a machine-made mass-production item which is not necessarily meeting high standards but should be cheap first and foremost, hence it is junk.

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Without opponent, no match.

Now it's time to refresh the post.
I finally ordered 032 clone from Ross, joined the queue and now it is almost crafted!
The blade's composition is: 1mm basswood 2mm mahogany 1mm basswood 2mm mahogany 1mm basswood
So lauan here was replaced with mahogany as the nearest equivalent that was in stock. I've chosen Compact-2 shape with extra thick and squarish handle made of wallnut and yellowheart. The blade is 7.1mm thick and weighs 101g.
Here are some preliminary photos of The Puncher:

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

Why not call it The Punisher instead?

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Allround Evolution ST + Any rubber really

Actually, "Punisher" was my first idea
but Puncher better corresponds to the style this blade is made for.

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

Some fresh photos:

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

Very nice pictures KUK I'm really looking forward to your review. I'm wondering if it has any similarities to my Armstrong High Level which is a rather thick all basswood blade.

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Xiom Sigma Pro 2.0
Xiom O4 Asia 2.0
Xiom win with us.

so how is the blade working out for you kuk?

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Xiom Sigma Pro 2.0
Xiom O4 Asia 2.0
Xiom win with us.

how is it working for the post or customs? - is the right question )
i can hardly wait for it

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

Got it! It's beautiful and plays amazing.
It is the best blade for double sided SP i've tried so far, although i can compare it only to japanese 20 yo primorac off- and rather new avalox p700. To my surprise not only flat hitting and blocking was better but looping as well. I would attribute this to the weight of the blade/rubbers, special composition and perfect crafting (not sure what contributes most). With my previous light setups bounce felt hollow, now it's solid. I'd like to compare it to other 100+ gramms blades.

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RL Puncher, Tuttle Summer 3c

Good that it's working out for you! I understand what you mean with the extra solidness. Blades which have that feel are so much better for hitting and blocking then those hollow flexible blades.
Actually this is the reason I'm having a very hard time to find a replacement for my Juic Nebula which also has that solid feel but is very light (82 grams), I have an Armstrong Hi Level which has the same solid feel but it's a lot thicker,chunkier and also heavier. When blocking and hitting this only is a plus but when looping I have huge problems with my timing with such a heavy blade. I guess the Hi Level must come pretty close performance wise to your pf4 032 clone. Please keep us posted with a deatailed review.

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Xiom Sigma Pro 2.0
Xiom O4 Asia 2.0
Xiom win with us.