Who wants to try out a blade?

Alright, here's the deal. I've been making blades for a good while and now that the local market is saturated, just about everyone at my club has bought one. I pretty much need to drum up some business or I'll have to stop making them for financial reasons. My proposition is to send out a blade to whoever responds first and they can in turn send it to the next person interested and so forth (not unlike what occurred with the Ulmo shark blade). I will send out a 5-ply all wood (balsa core) ALL+/OFF- (mixed reviews on speed) with a ST handle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You may not want to participate if you 1) Hate Balsa blades 2) play consistently far off the table 3) hit your blade on the table frequently 4) steal, cheat or lie.

The blade I'm going to make for this little project will be constructed of....
Walnut-cypress-balsa-cypress-Walnut
It will be about 8.5mm thick and weigh between 75-85 grams. Hopefully those who favor balsa blades will get a chance to hit with it and if they enjoy it then they may contact me about doing a custom blade.

I hope some of you folks are into it.

Thanks,
Ian





Left to Right-
1. 5-ply oversized defense, w/ cork strip handle, (willow,poplar,willow,poplar,willow)
2. 5-ply ALL, conic handle (palo maria,cypress,willow,cypress,palo maria)
3.7-ply OFF, Tenaly style, (purpleheart,cypress,basswood,balsa,basswood,cypress,purpleheart)



4. 5-ply All-, slight conic handle, (limba,poplar,balsa,poplar,limba)
5. 5-ply All+, Straight handle, (limba,cypress,balsa,cypress,limba,new rubbers!!!)

any cpen

I would like to try either a conic handle(shakehand) or a cpen(penhold).

I would love to try CPEN, also I'd like to try 1,2,4,5

ianworz: you might like to mention where you are located, and where you're willing to ship to...this forum has a wide range of nationalities...

You might also like to fix up the link to your blog, in your profile... there is an "@" symbol that should be a "."

The only bad thing about that blade is that it weighs in right at 100 grams. It's pretty quick though (probably just like anything that heavy).
Fat, you can have it for $15.00+shipping.

Those two are my personal blades but I could reproduce either. Also, be aware, I can make a number of ply combos depending on what you want as far as speed, spin, control, aesthetics, etc. P.M. me for more details about pricing etc.

Alright,

The 3 blades to be sent are just about finished, they just need a final sanding.

Fatt or skyline PM me your address and I'll send out the shakehand.
minicd PM your's and I'll send you the two penholds.

I should be able to get them out by Tuesday or Wednesday.

My girlfriend got a new camera so I thought I'd play around with it and maybe give a brief explanation of the blade making process.


It all starts here with a pile of core woods, handle woods, and a bunch of veneers.

Then everything is cut down to about 8"x12", then glued and clamped, and finally sealed with polyurethane.

After that, the rough shape is cut with a band saw, then rough sanded with an oscillating drum sander.

Handle pieces are glued up (if they are layered) and cut out...


Then the handle pieces need to be routed and sanded, and then glued up to the tang of the blade. Then someone gets a blade.


This is the cypress-core c-pen.



One side is a hardwood concoction and the other is cork. I figure if you play wood out and cork in, you may have a bit more comfort.


The Balsa-core c-pen.


The Black Walnut Shakehander



I Think I'll cap the night with some sh*tty *ss beer.

I am so happy with my violin so I won't pay anything to make me wonder again. If I receive a blade at no charge I will do my best to write a honnest review about it before sending the blade to somebody else in the US on my tab. I want to deal with off- all + blades only.

http://mytabletennis.net/Forum/uploads/New/20090523_234725_DSCN0207.jpg that pictire is so cool.

@ Ianworz I send you a PM.

Hi Black SOul,
     I do not know what glues you have in Chile. Ciano acrylate is not a good glue for veneers. It might work but is not the ideal glue. You need to find a glue made for wood. In the US I use Elmers Wood Glue, epoxys, and some other types. There are glues made especially for veneer work. Epoxys work well and make a blade faster than other type glues but also make the blade heavier as they do not dry by evaporation.

Fantastic pictures,  Ianworz.  

ianworz wrote: Thanks man, are you still down to try the two c-pens?

yeah, whats the difference between the two besides the handles.

Hookshot wrote: Hi Black SOul,     I do not know what glues you have in Chile. Ciano acrylate is not a good glue for veneers. It might work but is not the ideal glue. You need to find a glue made for wood. In the US I use Elmers Wood Glue, epoxys, and some other types. There are glues made especially for veneer work. Epoxys work well and make a blade faster than other type glues but also make the blade heavier as they do not dry by evaporation.

Hide/hoof/animal glue aside, there are really only two feasible glues to make quality blades, polyurethane liquid glues (like gorilla glue) and epoxies. I use poly glues for all wood blades and it is the best glue for the application because of how it foams. The expansion of foam fills into the grain and creates the best possible bond between plies.