OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi there,

Just got my DHS Hurricane 301 blade, but it there are severe grooves on top layer on both sides. those are under 0.5 mm wide and almost the whole first layer deep.

Shell i return it back to the seller (i probably have to pay the shipping) or just seal it and enjoy?

I don't care that much about the looks but rather the impact on the play and whether it will tolerate changing rubbers.

It is kind of sucks that 70 dollar blade has such shitty quality.

Here are the pictures. it is not very well visible and in reality it is a bit worse.



Thanks!

Maybe some close-up shots? Kinda hard to evaluate at that distance. Yes, you'd expect better from a $70 blade..

If you got it from China I don't think it'd be worth returning - the return postage would be a significant portion of the $70. However you might be able to file a dispute and come to some sort of agreement where you don't have to send it back but can get a partial refund (I've done this for something quite a bit cheaper than $70, and in fact got FULL refunds for some counterfeit/defective memory products - NEVER buy memory products on AliExpress unless you WANT to get cheated). Take some good, close up photos if you want to do this. If you got it from a European or US dealer I'd contact them and see what you can work out.

Iskandar

Thanks for your reply. It is hard to do a very good close up photo as it is still covered in plastic.

Here is the best i could do.

I did ordered it from one of the biggest official TT store in Europe, so it is definitely not a fake product (i hope). Will be super expensive to ship it back from Canada (our post office charges are sky-high).

The dtore said the whole batch has similar 'imperfections', but i just refuse to believe that factory QA would release such a poor product.

My biggest question if it affects the bounce - there are few areas on the top ply where small cracks are located so close to each other so it almost forms volumetric material loss over quite significant area (few square cm). And if this blade dosn't play well i will not likely buy other one of the same kind. And what it is the 'one' i would really like if it was perfect?

It's hard to tell if those are dark streaks or actual cracks. I suppose you could ask the store if they've tried playing with one and if they play OK. The blade might play just fine, I suppose. On blades these days the top veneer is very thin, I don't think it'd affect the strength of the blade, it might not even affect the blade's feel or playing qualities.

Iskandar

the dark streaks are areas of missing wood... through the first ply or almost through. looks much worse in reality than on photo. another concern - when i seal it, the lacquer will fill those gaps and those areas may have different hardness which may affect the bounce.

If those lines are actual gaps, I don't think it's acceptable, the surface should be smooth. You might have to remove plastic to make sure, because like iskandar taib already mentioned, they may be dark lines.

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As i said, they are not smooth - i can clearly see gaps and i can feel them with my fingernails through plastic with closed eyes.

the quality of dhs blade is not good, especially medium price blades. I had an pg5 blade and it was very easy to be break the top ply and the core when you put out the rubber. My friend `s H301 is also. And the feeling of the same blades are different....

I've glued quite a few of the 301 blades, I've never seen any with the grooves that you describe.

Yes some blades use a fragile wood on the outer ply, presumably to give it a special feel by design, so you need to seal these blades, or splinters will come off when you removed the rubber.

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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

Thanks, this is what i thought... most likely i will return it and will ask for the replacement.

Those are splinters from either cutting or working the wood. Shouldn't affect play. But is a sign that it will splinter further if you don't deal it.