nighitimare wrote:
I was looking for a soft, all around but specially controllable blade. I am a beginner Jpen and my style is quite defensive, I mainly block until I can get a counter hit or a powerloop in
Gotcha - thank you for that.
Given the type of blade you are after, I can understand now why you are interested in one that is made from Ayous / Obeche.
While I haven't tried the blade you mentioned, all things considered it could be a good purchase for you, if you can find yourself a good one.
In my experience , the more pores a core wood shows in its endgrain, the more springy the blade tends to feel to me personally, and Ayous is no exception. Ayous is typically regarded as a reasonably springy and spongy core wood on the whole, though really it depends hugely on the individual blade in question, the individual pieces of wood involved, and the individual who's currently using them.
If you wanted a reasonably sedate Ayous one-ply blade, I would consider looking for one which has relatively fewer pores in its end grain. (NB: my dealings with Ayous are limited to multi-ply blades with Ayous cores. Playing characteristics in a blade are always largely relative, so I encourage you to try out different blades and decide for yourself, rather than put too much weight in reviews.)
Further details on typical timber end-grain features, and what Ayous end-grain pores look like, can all be found:
...here ==>>
https://www.wood-database.com/obeche/ \
...here: ==>>
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-arti ... d-anatomy/...and here ==>>
https://www.wood-database.com/wood-arti ... d-anatomy/If you're looking for any potential alternative one-ply timbers to Ayous which may also have a soft feel to them, there's a few alternatives you may wish to consider:
HINOKI / CYPRESS:
As you know, most jpen blades are typically one-plys made from hinoki or cypress - both these woods give you very good touch / spin / speed / control, though they are also not exactly always beginner-friendly, solely for their speed. Both Hinoki and Cypress however can have a very soft touch on a short game, and have excellent control. in general, with a far softer feel than your typical carbon/composite blade.
WILLOW:
If you are looking for a blade that will absorb ball speed when blocking (as opposed to reflecting it back to your opponent) then Willow is a good choice. While a Willow one-ply will be hard to find, Darker make some excellent defensive multi-ply blades using Willow that may be close to what you are looking for (they also are more likely to have something in a jpen that could suit your playing style)
BALSA:
Balsa (thanks to the Balsa effect) is an excellent blocking wood which can still give you good control on your short game, as well as plenty of counter-attacking power close to the table. A thick blade teamed with Koto outers may be just the ticket for the game style you describe, though you will wrestle with blocking faster shots from your opponent.
If I recall correctly, I have heard that there are some balsa one-plys out there apparently, though I could not direct you to any off the top of my head. A balsa one-ply would need to be made of reasonably dense balsa in order to work - such timber is usually found at the buttress of the tree trunk, where the trunk meets the roots of the tree. You can spot it by its far darker colour - its more of a dull-browny-grey colour as opposed to the usual stark white wood from the trunk.
KIRI / BASSWOOD / LINDEN
All the above are reasonable all-round control woods -- Again, not all of these commonly feature in commercial one-plys, but given their physical characteristics and average densities, I see no reason why they couldn't all feature in a handmade one-ply (especially since you are looking for a softer touch blade)
OTHER EXOTICS
The above timber species are all very commonly used in blades of all varieties by numerous manufacturers - largely because they are all reasonably cheap, readily available, and well-suited to their particular purpose.
That said, just because the above timbers are commonly used in blades, does not necessarily mean they are the best timber options out there. I know of a few other, more exotic timber options (apart from the above) for example, which may also do the job for you, and may potentially out-perform all the above. I hesitate to recommend them at this point for a few reasons, including the fact some of them are better-suited to either specialist applications in a blade and/or more advanced play. In the end though, this is immaterial - Most if not all the above options will do the job for you quite nicely.
Hope this helps - happy to answer more questions if required.