OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Ok so blade is done and tested .
I gave it to our trainer for test here at club.. and he was pleased from the amount of control and weight ratio. He like it a lot.
The blade is OFF+ and has a great feel (from my point of view is more vibrant (significantly more ) than all wood blades i have made so far) So i`m really happy to achieve this kind of blade .

So it is
0.4 mm Mahogany (originally it was .6 but i brushed it down to 0.4mm ) 0.2mm carbon 5 mm balsa 0.2mm carbon 0.4 mm Mahogany.
weight is 85g.

Finish coat is teak oil only one layer (not measurable weight difference) .

On the side is hard to see the carbon layer (photos taken with my cell phone) but it is there.



Robert

I found a interesting truth about the carbon blades.
It is common knowledge that carbon did not change shape in direct sunlight or heat.... But i forgot it and i let dry the bladesafter gluing the handles to the dirrect sunlight...... And i think you now what had happened. The top ply has just jump out from the carbon layer..... So two blades in trash...... Good knowledge for me.....
Robert

Wow.. Never thought that would happen. What glue was used to attach the top plies to the carbon??

Iskandar

i have used the CHS EPOXY 324.
But this is normal ... the wood is really sensitive to heat and can pretty quick change the shape (especially when is a thin ply of wood)... but carbon stay always the same shape ... so it is only a matter of time where the tension breaks the glue.

Nevertheless it's not a common occurrence, given the huge number of carbon blades in use. I'd never heard of it happening before.

Did you allow the carbon layer to cure hard before adding the face plies? Sometimes getting glues to stick to already-cured epoxies isn't easy.

Iskandar

I glued all 5 ply together and it was one week left for dring. ....but is was really hot day....but who is placing his blade onto direct sunlight when outside is 36 degres celsius and inside of the room it is cool. It was for about 20 min.

Been feeling like this might be fun, and so I stopped by a wood supply yesterday. Bought a couple pieces of wood: Red cedar (apparently alright for single ply blades), Limba (Which unfortunately cracked, luckily I only bought 1 foot), and Bubinga (Not a common TT wood, but it had a very nice tone when knocked). A bit less than a solid start, as I found that I'll need a band saw and a planer to get these down to a usable size (Which means going to a woodworking makespace or something). I'll have to check other places to see if they have single plies closer to 1/4". I started working on a blank from the red cedar, but messed up and made it a bit too thin near the top, so it's going to be a really janky 3/4" single ply.
One thing I noticed was that the veneers they had stocked mostly had paper backs. Would this mess with the vibration and make the veneer worthless for blades? Or would it be too little to matter?

I do not get most of your post. But the wood choice looks fine.... Have fun and do not be afraid to ask... I will try to help if it will be possible from my side.

The paper backs are supposed to be removed, I think - or you can remove them after gluing the faces to the core.

Real simple blades - go to a model airplane store and buy birch ply. It's available all the way down to 1/64" (0.4mm) thick, and that's THREE plies of wood. They'll also sell balsa in various thicknesses.

Iskandar

Nope, the backing is definitely permanently attached. The purpose is to provide a more glue-friendly surface so the attachment will be easier and less likely to pop up.

I'll check that out!

Well I just started playing about a month ago and found this thread and was inspired.

So after several failed attempts I finally produced a blade now I gotta figure out this rubbers nonsense. Learned a few tricks/ideas in the process and v2 is already under construction.

anyway:

Nice.. And congrats .....what is the composition ?

And what's with the wires? The shape is reminiscent of the LKT Toxic, I think..

Iskandar

Thanks!
its mahogany mahogany balsa.


lol wires are so the poly can dry.

So I wanted to take what I learned from the first blade and try a second. Also I wanted to build a more defensive blade.

heres the newest version:
composition:
-bubinga
- 3/32" balsa
-walnut
-3/16" balsa core
-walnut
-3/32" balsa
-bubinga

-ebony handles

production upgrades:
-router template blade shape
-router template handles