***mytabletennis.net Interview w/ Borko**

The man can read your game through what you tell him and he will build a weapon for you. It's amazing how I like him better the more  I play his work because of those balls I do not miss anymore (blocking, lobbing,  slow loops attacks). The prime is that the fast loops are still as deadly because the wood will spring in/out with the right swing. This is what I am slowly discovering in TT with Borko blades: touch. The cherry on the cake is his valuable coaching on the phone (ask questions!!! he'll answer...)

the day I received my paddle:

i have a friend in seattle who owns a borko blade; i almost bought it before ordering direct from borko. I hope he shows off some pictures in this thread. (i'll work on it)

The question I have for him is:

What type of player would he recommend a carbon, arylate/kevlar, aramid blade to? and why?

2winged wrote: The question I have for him is: What type of player would he recommend a carbon, arylate/kevlar, aramid blade to? and why?

aight a couple of questions so far, let's keep'em comin :)

Question for him:

how long does it take to build the blade itself? do u have any set routines? is it a son and dad thing, with regards to both of you guys doing the one blade?

did u have any idols as a young boy [do u still do?]

Here's a bit of free association with context, clearly too long as is but hopefully the intent of the questions is clear and maybe people can pick ones they like and develop them further.

Custom building has a long tradition in other sports - cycling immediately comes to mind where both fit and application are taken into account by custom framebuilders, and mastery of certain builders is legendary and quality of the finished product greatly exceeds anything that is mass produced.  Table tennis seems like a clear case where custom blades would be welcome - each player's requirements being dependent on style of play, level, weaknesses, personal preferences just to name a few factors.  Yet somewhat surprisingly, table tennis is dominated by large companies, and custom builders are sadly few and far between.  Consumers are given only the barest factors to consider when choosing a blade - overall speed + control ratings, a little about ply selection, thicknesses - making impressions and reviews from other players very important.  And table tennis companies introduce new technologies in some instances almost as a dangling carrot for the bewildered consumer.  Many of these technologies are clearly beneficial, but many seasoned consumers and recovering EJs are sceptical when new products come out.

About blade construction:

Blade construction is mostly an undocumented art known only to builders themselves.  Are there any principles in construction, such as wood choice, ply thickness, gluing technique that you feel would help the average table tennis athlete make more informed choices about equipment?  Are there any fundamental tradeoffs between speed, feeling, dwell time, elasticity and so forth that are inherent in the design of table tennis blades, or do you feel that woods can be chosen to tune these parameters independently to a given player's game?  Hinoki wood is especially prized for its properties, what are your thoughts on hinoki and impressions of its properties?



Materials like carbon fiber have made their way into blades, producing greater speed, enlarging the sweet spot of the blade, and increasing dwell time.  You claim to be able to deliver the same benefits that these materials provide using only carefully selected wood, a claim that I personally don't doubt.

It would be very interesting to get to the bottom of this trend in mass produced blades to incorporate these materials:

What woods provide similar behavior to carbon fiber in blades?  Is this wood particularly hard to get in quantity?  Is it more prone to warping when being artificially dried?  Perhaps carbon fiber is used in mass production because it yields consistent results and is available in quantity to support production of many blades.

Do you feel the development of speed-glue effect rubbers necessitates a change in blade design or blade choice, or are current methods adequate?  How does rubber choice and blade choice interact for you?


On being a craftman alongside a large commercial industry:

As one of the few custom blade builders, what is your impression of the table tennis commercial industry?  You've been contracted to build blades for large companies in the past - how does your practice intersect with the commercial world of table tennis?
Do you have contact with other custom builders?  Do you interact with blade designers for large companies (or perhaps do some of these designs yourself?)  Do you keep up with developments in the commercial space? Are there any commercially produced blades that you feel deliver on their promises of control, speed, and feeling?  What is your impression of mass produced blades like Violin, Stradavarius, Acoustic whose names are clearly chosen to suggest an artisan or craftman quality in construction?


Professional players:

Professional players stand to benefit most from a customized design and construction.  Does custom design play a large role for top players?

yogi_bear wrote: Question for him:   Can you pls improve your handle design to make it look more attractive and cool?

rustyfo wrote: what is the general price range? I realise that it will probably vary since each blade is unique, but what would an average price tag be?

Delivery time is around 2 weeks for US orders. Borko lives in San Diego area and he will ask you 3 weeks, clearly to give himself a margin. You should think it's OK if he asks a month for delivery to Europe.

what type of woods he use to made the blade?

aeoliah wrote: He will select the it depends on your playing style. But the center ply seems to be balsa. My blade weighs only 73 grams.