OOAK Table Tennis Forum

What do you guys think about the following wood composition:
Core - Balsa
FH veener - Inner: Aoyus ,Outer: Limba
BH veener - Inner: Poplar ,Outer: Koto

I can also choose mahogny, spruce, ebony,ash, white ash, padouk,ebenholtz,walnut,cypress and zebrano

Would appreciate yours lore

What's your style? What rubbers do you play? What feeling do you like? What's your playing level?

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Thanks for your answer. Hope I could bring some sense to them.

Spin and loop on FH, Backhand block and topspin. More placement and reading the game than smash the 3 ball. ( but should work on that more than I do)

Rubber I go with inverted I like Andro, Victas and Yasaka rubbers.

I like to have good control on the feeling but with decent power/speed in it. I have own about 30 blades the one that I always comeback to is Nittaku Accustic. Playing in the lowest league both of my cruciate ligament have been broken, so my movement isn’t the best

Try something that is close to the accoustic but with your own specifications I would think.

I like koto and hinoki as outer plies.not really a limba man.

Try to make up if you want a flexi or a stiff blade.

But honestly if I was you. I would just play the accoustic. It's a primo blade

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The composition list you've put forward should work okay in theory - but I would will sound a note of caution, as there is the potential for problems.

When using different woods on different sides, the biggest risk is having an unbalanced panel.

If the wood density and grain you use, is not similar enough between the two sides, then you get a difference in distribution of forces within the blade as the glue is drying.

The risk being, one side can move more than the other as the glue cures, and you end up with a cupped blade panel.

The density differences between the two sides you cite are probably not extreme enough to worry about... it's more the accumulative effect you have to watch out for. But without seeing the wood myself, I can't say that for sure.

When experimenting with asymmetrical panels, always remember that wood density can vary enormously - not just between different species, but also between two trees in same species, between different sections of the same tree, between different sections of the same individual board, and between the earlywood and latewood that makes up the wood grain (at this point especially!)

Different densities often means different porosity if not different moisture content as well. When using only one species of wood in a panel, or when using the same wood from on both sides, the risk of cupping is lower, as the density differences are usually smaller, and you can be sure that the wood you use is going to at least move at roughly the same rates / amounts / percentages as you're making the panel.

Here however, the risk is that small differences between the boards/woods on each side, added to the different movement rates for the different woods, will all add up to a large enough difference to throw the panel out of balance and warp / cup / twist / bow over time.

I'm not a huge fan of asymmetric blades myself, for this exact same reason, but also because you can usually get the exact same effect through rubber choice, and it doesn't risk the long term stability of the panel in the process.... but that's just me. Other bladesmiths do asymmetric blades all the time.

If you're worried, I would weigh the individual wood panels used on each side carefully before using them and ensure there's no big weight difference between them, as this is a dead giveaway for different wood densities.

I would also look up the various average movement rates / percentages for all your cited woods, and keep these in mind as you're planning your lay-up.

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Hi Revlyjj6117 !

All these are very good choices for blades, ...and it depends on your playing style whether the particular combination results in the right outcome for you. I am sure you have already researched a bit the hardness of these woods, and compared them to the veeners in blades that you liked. I think that is the best that you can do at this stage, ...and then trying it out.

If I understand your question correctly, you seem to want to build an assymmetric blade, with different playing properties on backhand and forehand? That is something that I will tackle next in my projects. I have heard an experienced blade maker say that the result would not be assymmetric, because (according to him) it is the entirety of the blade that determines its palying characteristics.
I believe that he is not correct with that statement, ...although he spoke from a point of decades of experience. But, for example, if the hardness of the outer layer plays a role, and it is hard on one side of the blade, and soft on the other side, I cannot avoid expecting that it results in a blade with different properties on backhand and forhand. Also the "spring force" for with differently elastic woods on forehand and backhand should be assummetric". So yes, I personally still believe that assymmetric woods will have assymmetric palying characteristics, just as you intend to achieve. The manufacturer Re-Impact (certainly overstating in colorful language the properties of his blades) works with that concept, and he clearly makes excellent blades. (Although I have not tested his assymmetric ones...). So yes, I personally think that you are on the right track.

And whether the actual choices of veeners are good? I think you need to try, guided by the comparison to the playing characteristics of blades that use those veeners, and guided by a bit of knowledge (reading) about the hardness of these wood types.
An important point, though, is: If you choose a thicker core, this makes the blade NOTABLY stiffer, and may alter the playing characteristics MUCH more than the actual choice of the wood for the veeners. It is a complex topic, where experience and trial will probably bring you further than thinking.

I had a plan to try out many different combinations of wood, ...but ended up to test for now some extremes:
Combinations of the very soft balsa (end-grain is actaully not so soft, but in regular fibre direction it is obvioulsy very soft), with the rather hard walnut. If interested, you might want to check-out this post:

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=11969&p=403229#p403229
https://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=11969&p=403229#p403229

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Re-Impact - Taipan --- Donic Vario Big Slam (RH+VH)
JOOLA - K3 --- Donic Desto F1 (RH+VH)
TSP - Balsa 6.5 --- Donic Desto F2 (RH+VH)
Re-Impact - (Achim) M3 --- Donic Desto F1 (RH+VH)