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Is there such a thing as too much Limba? |
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mrdoodzki 
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Joined: 06/10/2011 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 1279 |
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 Topic: Is there such a thing as too much Limba?Posted: 11/04/2013 at 7:33am |
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limbastic
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Blade -- Stiga Clipper
FH -- DHS Hurricane 3 BH -- Japtec Experience HAPPINESS is....sometimes no words, just the sound of a ball |
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AndySmith
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Joined: 11/12/2008 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 4378 |
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Posted: 11/04/2013 at 5:22am |
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LOL - excellent. I was thinking of Limbalicious.
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This was a great signature until I realised it was overrated.
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NextLevel
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Joined: 12/15/2011 Location: Somewhere Good Status: Offline Points: 14845 |
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Posted: 11/04/2013 at 2:49am |
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Limber.
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I like putting heavy topspin on the ball...
Cybershape Carbon FH/BH: H3P 41D. Lumberjack TT, not for lovers of beautiful strokes. No time to train... |
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stiltt
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Posted: 11/04/2013 at 2:35am |
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"Limba" itself is such a nice name.
Since there is a lot of limba in the blade how about "Limbation" as long you do not find the pun with libation too boring.
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Ross Leidy
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Joined: 10/13/2011 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 402 |
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Posted: 11/03/2013 at 9:02pm |
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I haven't decided on one yet.
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mrdoodzki
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Posted: 11/03/2013 at 9:31am |
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hi ross do you already have a name for the limba blade that assidous tested?
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Blade -- Stiga Clipper
FH -- DHS Hurricane 3 BH -- Japtec Experience HAPPINESS is....sometimes no words, just the sound of a ball |
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caidtt
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Joined: 06/28/2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 388 |
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Posted: 11/03/2013 at 7:43am |
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If you have a technical game, based on heavy spin, control and setting up your attack from the short game...and used to use old stiga ALL or Off blades you may want to look into trying this blade! That's me, i think i might order 1
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Pondus
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Joined: 04/07/2012 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1933 |
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Posted: 10/21/2013 at 4:38pm |
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Ross provided me with a unique opportunity to test one of his all-limba 5-ply blades, for which I'm very thankful of course.
The blade was (no surprise) beautifully crafted, weighed just north of 90g (92-93g) with about 5 1/2mm thickness. The balance of the blade felt great - not too head heavy. I tested this blade with Tenergy 05 on both sides. My immediate impression was a great feel - similar to what you'd find in high-quality Stiga limba blades from the 70's and 80's... but just a touch more 'crisp' and perhaps a bit faster. Not much though, and as the Stiga blades from that era varied so much in thickness, that's probably a useless comment anyway. The feel and sense of control of Ross' all-limba blade is awesome though. I would say speed-wise, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a Petr Korbel f. ex., but with a bit more "natural feel" (I know that's subjective nonsense, but I don't know how else to describe it). Overall, if you like all-wood blades, especially in the All+ to OFF- category, then this concept of all-limba could really be something for you to look into. Also, if you enjoy that nice "dung"-sound that limba wood provides when you hit the ball (as opposed to harder wood, and especially composites', higher pitched sounds), then this 5-ply limba blade will be music to your ears. Thanks again, Ross, for letting me try this out - and I apologize for taking so long before posting my review. Edited by Pondus - 10/22/2013 at 5:03pm |
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emihet
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Joined: 09/22/2009 Location: Oregon Status: Offline Points: 2315 |
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Posted: 09/08/2013 at 9:23pm |
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nice
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Viscaria, Ma Long 5, Old Clippers, BTY Ovtcharov and Various Custom blades
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Ross Leidy
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Posted: 09/08/2013 at 9:05pm |
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Here are a couple photos of the new all-limba demo blade heading off to Pondus this week. It's the same as the original blade except with a curly Hawaiian Koa handle.
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emihet
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Posted: 09/07/2013 at 3:03am |
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that is a very good thought...surface hardness vs core hardness...how much difference would it be between these 2? i wonder
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Viscaria, Ma Long 5, Old Clippers, BTY Ovtcharov and Various Custom blades
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bluebucket
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Posted: 09/06/2013 at 7:47pm |
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emihet, rather than change the thickness or anything else in the blade, maybe just changing the top ply or second ply to Koto would sharpen it up enough for you and give it slightly more speed. I have a blade with Koto ontop of Limba and it works very well
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Ross Leidy
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Posted: 09/05/2013 at 11:29am |
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Emilian - thanks for your review of the blade. I know that you had expressed interest in an all-limba blade earlier, so it's great that you were able to try it out. Even better that it hit the mark for you. I'm glad it worked out well.
It would be possible to increase the speed and stiffness of the blade by increasing the core thickness. However, this would likely push the blade up to or over the 100g point. For those who favor heavy blades, this may not be an issue. For most though, a 3-digit weight could be a big psychological hurdle. There will be a brief intermission in the eval while I ready a 2nd demo blade for Pondus.
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emihet
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Posted: 09/05/2013 at 3:14am |
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'the blade flexes but i did not feel loss of control because the extra spin i could put on the ball gave me the extra control i needed...
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Viscaria, Ma Long 5, Old Clippers, BTY Ovtcharov and Various Custom blades
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emihet
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Posted: 09/05/2013 at 3:12am |
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+1...more spin and no loss in feel
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Viscaria, Ma Long 5, Old Clippers, BTY Ovtcharov and Various Custom blades
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emihet
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Posted: 09/05/2013 at 3:10am |
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Sorry but the trail of the too much limba blade has come to an end...I am currently using another custom made blade and i don't have a tournament back up blade...I received the blade 2 days ago and had the chance to play a couple of times with it...after the first trial i knew it would be hard to let go of it...
It is one of those rare blades that i could just pick up at any time and i could play without needing time to get used to it. The handle is nice, a bit glossy for me but that is ok...since it is not slippery. Head shape is right on, for flex and feel...and it does not feel heavy or too head heavy even at 94 grams. Before the speed glue ban i used Avalox BT550, BT555, P500 and the last batch of Butterfly Powerdrive from the 90s that had the misspelling word swining in the text...a very soft off- high throw blade. Well, with the speed glue ban...i started using old clippers from the 80s with 7 layers of limba and liked the feel of limba.... Ross' blade feels in between the Avalox feel and the Powerdrive feel...a bit more soft then the avalox but not as much as the Powerdrive...thus it is great for: heavy serves, heavy pushes, heavy spin opening loops, easier and spinier flips, easier to lift underspin, high control, ability to hit sharper angles when looping as you expect from a blade that is All+ to Off- and has a great dwell time... I played with Tenergy 05/Baracuda and both worked though i liked the 05 feel better...i will have to try it with chinese on the forehand as well. By the feel of the blade, i think it likes medium to medium-hard sponge rubbers. So that works great for me. I did not find anything wrong with the blade, but there could be a couple of things to make it ideal for me: if the blade were to be only 10-20% faster it would likely be my playing blade instead of my back up. and maybe...only maybe 5% stiffer so punching loops with more power would be easier and faster... great job Ross from the 5 blades i tried from you this is the one i like the best, and sorry to Pondus...he will have to wait until another demo will go his way. If you have a technical game, based on heavy spin, control and setting up your attack from the short game...and used to use old stiga ALL or Off blades you may want to look into trying this blade! |
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Viscaria, Ma Long 5, Old Clippers, BTY Ovtcharov and Various Custom blades
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Pondus
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Joined: 04/07/2012 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1933 |
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Posted: 08/26/2013 at 10:09am |
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I'm really excited to test this blade after reading Assiduous' review. :)
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Ross Leidy
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Joined: 10/13/2011 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 402 |
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Posted: 08/26/2013 at 9:52am |
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The high throw is undoubtedly due to the flex of an all-wood 5.5mm blade. The limba core is a bit heavier than conventional core woods, making the overall choice of thickness a balance between keeping the blade a reasonable weight and retaining a certain stiffness. Had the limba been a little lighter, I may have targeted a 5.7mm thickness to add a bit more stiffness. Every design is a bagful of compromises, but that's what makes it so interesting.
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bbkon
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Posted: 08/26/2013 at 2:30am |
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a full limba version of clipper would be nice but 6mm |
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emihet
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Posted: 08/26/2013 at 1:52am |
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look forward to test it...thanks for the review
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Viscaria, Ma Long 5, Old Clippers, BTY Ovtcharov and Various Custom blades
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crackfst
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Posted: 08/26/2013 at 12:22am |
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"Korbel and Clipper just feel hollow and blurry and don't come even close to this"
I think thats because your blades inner plies is more solid and heavier, Clipper and Korbel are 6.7mm, much more than this blade Clipper and Korbel both use ayous(also called Abachi/Obeche/Samba) inner plies vs your limba
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Darker Speed 90 Jpen
Tenergy 64 |
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assiduous
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Posted: 08/26/2013 at 12:01am |
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And finally about the new blade. Everything I wanted to achieve is in this blade. I am telling you, if you like Korbel or Primorac or Clipper, you will LOVE this blade. The only flaw would be the weight, but I always look for blades over 90 gr, so that is not a flaw for me.
the blade has much better touch and feel than any limba blade. You have to feel it to believe it. The ayous core in all limba blades creates hollow, blurry feeling. And impotency. After hitting the first ball you can feel the harder core. You just feel it. And the stability and accuracy that come with it just give you confidence to try shots! But the best part is that limba is not very reactive. Not like hinoki or cedar that are REALLY JUMPY when compressed. Limba has great contro, no vibration, just a mild pleasant feedback. This blade has better control than any of the all wood limba blades on my list above. No, it is still not as dead-stable as a TBS, but then nothing is, and that much stability comes with a price. With respect to speed, it is on the lower range of OFF. It is exactly the same like Korbel and slower that a clipper. However the blade feels extremely powerful. When you swing hard and make a good contact the ball is hard to touch. Yeah, if you swing right, you wont lack punch with this. The blade has very high throw. Even more so than Korbel, and much more than Clipper. Opening loop is simply a pleasure. Away from the table you have to deal with landing loops with very high arc but those are very consistent and is up to you. I had tenergy on BH and MXP on FH, and with that blade the setup was extremely reactive to incoming spin. There is no other way with those properties. It doesn't bother me because I am used to this type of blade. The great touch makes for this being the best blade in the world for serving. Yes, it is. Ultimately, if you have played with a fast carbon blade already and you like it, i don't see this as a substitute, despite the good speed and control. Mid distance rally with all wood blade is just going to put you at a disadvantage against any opponent with carbon. If anyone tells you anything else don't believe them. But as far as the wonderful world of Limba is concerned, this one is truly atop of the pyramid. Korbel and Clipper just feel hollow and blurry and don't come even close to this. And primo vibrates wayyy too much. If you can afford it and can deal with the weight - I highly recommend this blade.
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puppy412 : Sorry man, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but I know that more training will make me better, I don't need to come here to figure that out
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assiduous
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Posted: 08/25/2013 at 11:45pm |
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Best Limba all-wood blade i have used!
I have had 4 Primoracs, Maximus, Korbel, Clipper, IF ALC, IF ZLC. I also bough two custom limba blades from Ross already this year, in the pursuit of the perfect limba blade. Aside from playing extensively with all of these blades, I have spent a lot of time researching the properties of the cores and thinking about what should be used for the core. The problem with the all-wood limba blades is one - control. No matter what they tell you, limba is too soft to wrap around a even softer ayous and expect good accuracy away from the table. It is physically impossible. I'm not saying its bad, but the moment you compare to a koto blade and you feel extra stability in long trajectory. The thing is, the limba outers have such great feel, and allow opening loops even against the heaviest backspin. Koto is much less cooperative in that regard. So I spent a lot of money trying to find a blade that has the opening loop of Korbel, but the stability of a koto blade. The only variable that is left to modify is the core, if you want to keep the outer veneers. So in my first effort with Ross we made a limba blade with west red cedar core. Very nice feel, extra punch compared to Korbel, but difficult to control. Especially passive blocks - the ball jumped out of control sometimes. For the second blade I, the genius I am, decided to put limba core (smart) but instead of two limba plies I put only one, thick ayous ply. The goal was to have extra dwelly and soft BH, but hard and powerful FH. In hindsight, that was a mistake. The problem is that the BH plies also support the rest of the blade for rigidity. Since it was a single soft ply instead of two transposed plies, the blade became too flexy. That blade has too much dwell. I did not think that's possible, but it is. It is just crazy. You expect the ball to take off the paddle already but it is still on the paddle. It messes up with your timing because you are not used to such long contact with the ball. Also, because of the flex, accuracy was not that great if you step away from the table.
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puppy412 : Sorry man, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but I know that more training will make me better, I don't need to come here to figure that out
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SmackDAT
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 10:21am |
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Yeah.. 94g for a 5 ply blade, it would easily be 105g+ for a 9 ply blade.
:o Good job though!
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Ross Leidy
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 9:49am |
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It could be done, but the weight would go up due to the extra glue layers. The glue accounts for 1g-1.5g per layer.
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SmackDAT
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 9:38am |
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You should make a 9-ply limba blade, you know.
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Pondus
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 9:37am |
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I'll be really interested hear how this blade plays (I'm a big limba lover myself).
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Ross Leidy
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 9:32am |
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The thought did occur to me. I resisted.
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AndySmith
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 9:26am |
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Hmmm. Needs more limba. Maybe a limba handle?
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This was a great signature until I realised it was overrated.
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assiduous
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Posted: 08/22/2013 at 9:25am |
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Ayous in inferior to limba in every aspect. Except weight and cost : )
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puppy412 : Sorry man, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but I know that more training will make me better, I don't need to come here to figure that out
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NextLevel wrote: