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Handmade blades by Levi Made in Romania

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Johnny Erasure View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/15/2017 at 5:07am
Originally posted by Snakefish Snakefish wrote:

TSuBaSa:    how much did you pay for this custom blade ?

One would think about shipping a custom blade in cardboard especially when it's a special custom-made blade.

You should return it back to Levi for an exchange.  I know I would.  And he should be customer-friendly

If you want to order send me a pm and we can talk without any problem.
About the ding I have already talked with TSuBaSa and is resolved.
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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TSuBaSa View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote TSuBaSa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/15/2017 at 6:32am
Originally posted by Snakefish Snakefish wrote:


<span id="userPro113" ="msgSidePro" title="View Drop Down">TSuBaSa:    how much did you pay for this custom blade ?

One would think about shipping a custom blade in cardboard especially when it's a special custom-made blade.

You should return it back to Levi for an exchange.  I know I would.  And he should be customer-friendly


</span>


Johnny felt bad about the minor ding and asked me how he can fix the issue. But I'm not sensitive about those things, I dont look after my bats. So I would of easly demage the blade my self in the first training session. And Johhny told me he will use a cardbox next time...
I just needed inform you guys because I'm avare that a Lot of people would ve really upset about that.
Nittaku Tenaly Acoustic Inner Carbon
Joola Rhyzer Pro 50 & 45


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TSuBaSa View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TSuBaSa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/16/2017 at 1:44pm
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr151/tsuthebasa/IMG_20171216_121252_zpsfon3bvgk.jpg





https://youtu.be/RyDr_y30euA

Pictures are donic Persson seven vs Levi's 5 ply blade and osp virtuoso stsq vs Levi's 5 ply blade.
Persson seven's thick squared st handle fits ne the most. But ı have to say Levi's at handle is the most comfortable one. I couldnt feel and corner or any pressure point at all.

Thursday I attached my old t05fx pair on Levi's blade. But I couldnt find any chance to try it. Today I tried to change the rubbers and things went really wrong. You should checkout the youtube link. İn short, blade wasnt sealed and limba top ply came off a little bit.
Than I sand it lightly and sealed the blade. Waterbased sealant was totaly dry thanks to my hairdryer.
Couple of hours later İ went to my club and did some drills and played some games.

First of all I should say blade is 86gr but it feels lighter with the rubbers. Head size is compact and its not headheavy at all.

Speed is off- .

First I did some fh to fh drive and bh to bh drive for a while. İt was obvious its not like osp virtuoso at all. Both top ply and secondary ply is really soft so feeling is really soft. Blade offers a lot of dwell time. So flat hits are not so great or secure. This is not a good news for ne because İ like to smash with my backhand a Lot.
Topspins are a Lot better. My hexer powersponge became a lot spinnier than before.(my main blade is 7 allwood Persson seven) hexer PS is really soft and it bottoms out easily. Not this time thoug. You can take the ball early, change the timing no problem at all. İf you're complaining about your rubber cant produce enough spin and you dont like to flat hit. Than Levy's blade might suit you.
On the other hand feeling is really soft and there is no crisp feeling at all. Altough speed is really close Osp virtuoso feels really crisp, you can flat hit, drive, loop. Countering is also easy thanks to thin but hard composition. Virtuoso starts to flex more and gives you enough juice and angle from far away the table.

Levi's blade is always flexing, always dwelly and makes your rubbers throw angle higher. Thanks to relatively hard and thick ayous core ply, mid or far distance looping is really easy. Its not that fast,but that blade offers amazing dwell time so when you're out of position you just simply use your wrist a bit more and ball just lands in your opponents Side of the table. My 3 different opponents were all struggling with the spin İ was creating.

Pure brushers might love that blade. But I'm an allrounder. I smash, loop,chop etc. So I think İ will try something different. Limba-anigre-ayous maybe ör walnut-anigree-ayous...

Nittaku Tenaly Acoustic Inner Carbon
Joola Rhyzer Pro 50 & 45


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote W0LovePP Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/17/2017 at 9:39am
It might be interesting to try Koto-Spruce-Ayous-Kiri-Ayous-Spruce-Koto.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Skyline Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12/29/2017 at 2:17pm
Originally posted by Johnny Erasure Johnny Erasure wrote:

Levi 5 ply allwood with handle as old Power Drive:

Cypress-Mahon-Ayous-Mahon-Cypress, 150/157mm, 87g, 6.4 mm thickness, OFF:


Finally tried my blade, my idea was to create something similar to the old butterfly power drive/juic nebula. Unfortunately Rosewood was not available so I decided to go for mahogany medial plies. I tested the blade with T05 2.1 red on the forehand and tenergy 25 fx 1.9 black on the backhand. The blade has a nice feeling, it feels soft and quite solid. Ofcourse the blade is a lot more flexible than my usual Gergely carbon. I had to get used to the smaller sweet spot, it felt a little bit like the blade did not have enough umph and stability especially with softer T25 FX on the backhand. This blade seems to be a lot more suited for harder rubbers like the T05. On the forehand the feeling was a lot more stable and predictable, still a lot more fexible than what I'm used but definitely not unpleasant. Compared to the old power drive I have it feels quite similar. Although the old Power Drive has a softer feel and slightly more muffled feeling. I will test it some more with T05 on both sides.
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Johnny Erasure View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/14/2018 at 6:21am
Fixed all pics!
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/30/2018 at 7:48am
A special order with basalt, OFF speed:

Limba-basalt-limba-ayous-limba-basalt-Limba, 5.8 mm thickness, 86g, 150/157 mm head size.



Edited by Johnny Erasure - 05/30/2018 at 7:56am
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Johnny Erasure View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/08/2018 at 6:23am
A prototype with Textreme ZLC and a special Kiso Hinoki outer ply:

Kiso Hinoki-Limba-Textreme ZLC-Ayous-Textreme ZLC-Limba-Kiso Hinoki, 88g, 5.8mm thickness, 150/157mm head size.

Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Johnny Erasure View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/22/2018 at 7:40am
A special order of 7 ply OFF- blade with Basalt inner:

Limba-Ayous-Basalt-Ayous-Basalt-Ayous-Limba, 90g, 6.1mm thickness, 151/158 mm head size, handle from mahogany wood.



Edited by Johnny Erasure - 08/22/2018 at 7:42am
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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lineup32 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote lineup32 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09/10/2018 at 11:31am
Originally posted by Johnny Erasure Johnny Erasure wrote:

A special order of 7 ply OFF- blade with Basalt inner:

Limba-Ayous-Basalt-Ayous-Basalt-Ayous-Limba, 90g, 6.1mm thickness, 151/158 mm head size, handle from mahogany wood.




This is my first custom order blade based on generating blade spec's rather then buying an off the shelf existing blade. HM Levi changed the Head size to slow the blade down and provide better control: My specifications were:

composition: Limba-Ayous-Basalt-Ayous-Basalt-Ayous-Limba
Weight:           88g to 92G
Head Size:      150x157
thickness:       <6.2
Speed:            OFF-
There are few commercial Basalt composite blade options available and those are OFF and OFF+ rated and none using Limba outer. This was a gamble as I was not sure how the Basalt would impact the blade speed but I was sure it would not be as severe as one of the many carbon mesh options. I wanted the blade to have control associated with ALL and ALL+ blades yet enough power and stiffness to work well with the plastic ball.   I measured the Blade Frequency at 1311 showing it has moderate stiffness and some flex.
I have had the blade for only a week but my initial impressions with practice and playing is positive. The blade has outstanding control but enough power to finish the point. Balance is perfect as my current setup is 186g and does not feel heavy with easy flow from FH to BH.
The blade craftsmanship is outstanding, no sanding required has a solid feeling and the mahogany handle is comfortable and attractive. I would like to thank HM Levi and Johnny for there assistance as working with them from the U.S. was easy.

UPDATE:
After trying various rubber combination on this OFF- blade Tenergy 05 FH,BH work the best. Looping B.S. FH or BH is dynamic along with the overall control of the blade to place strong FH anywhere on the table. A pleasure to play with this blade.

Edited by lineup32 - 09/19/2018 at 2:00pm
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Johnny Erasure View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/06/2018 at 11:29am
7 ply Handmade by Levi with UDC and double Kiso hinoki outer ply:

Kiso hinoki-Kiso hinoki-UDC-Kiri-UDC-Kiso hinoki-Kiso hinoki, 90g, 6,4 mm thickness, 150/157 mm head size

 
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Johnny Erasure View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/26/2019 at 5:49am
7 ply Handmade by Levi with aramid carbon and black limba outer 20 years old.

Limba (black)-Aramid Carbon-Limba-Kiri-Limba-Aramid Carbon-Limba (black), 87g, 5.8mm thickness, 150/157mm head size

 


Edited by Johnny Erasure - 02/26/2019 at 5:51am
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fmarek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/26/2019 at 7:32am
How do I order? I want 5ply hinoki blade!
729 Green Goblin 5, FH: 729 Battle II National H39, BH: Palio HK1997 Gold.
DHS Long 5, FH: 729 Battle II Gold H40, BH: Nittaku C1
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02/26/2019 at 9:40am
Originally posted by fmarek fmarek wrote:

How do I order? I want 5ply hinoki blade!
PM sent
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Johnny Erasure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/25/2019 at 8:03am
5 ply Handmade by Levi with Textreme carbon and hinoki outer 1.1mm thickness, OFF blade.

Hinoki-TeXtreme Carbon-Kiri-TeXtreme Carbon-Hinoki, 90g, 6.1mm thickness, 150/157mm head size:





Edited by Johnny Erasure - 11/25/2019 at 8:07am
Blade: JM ZLC
Rubbers: FH Dignics 09C
            BH Dignics 05
Feedback: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63937&KW=Johnny+Erasure&PID=764628&title=feedback-for-j
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote YoAss Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/25/2019 at 8:08am
That's quite a composition.  Beautiful, and I'd say it's likely to play very well for those that fare well with the hinoki feel.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote gekogark1212 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01/16/2020 at 7:33pm
Received this baby (many thanks to John for being the middle man).


Very high craftsmanship by Levi. It is on par with the special edition stuff I bought from butterfly wayyyy back in the black tag ages.

Inquired purely out of interest, but then decided to get something slightly slower than my current T9. Also, some rule I read on the internet saying I should have N+1 blades. Hmm reaching about 45 now, but alas, N+1. *Shrugs*

Specs I requested:

limba +basalt+ayous+ kiri +ayous+basalt+limba
157x150
6mm
85-90g

Glued with G1 and T05. Very solid and smooth feeling. It's fast but linear.
Significantly faster than Boll ALC and ZLC. About as bouncy as the MJ ZLC but less pingy/hard (possibly due to the basalt layer instead of ZLC).

Will do another full training session tonight and will review.

So far, very very happy with it :)


Edited by gekogark1212 - 01/16/2020 at 7:35pm
(\__/)

(='.'=) But there's no sense crying over every mistake,

(")_(") You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote gekogark1212 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01/23/2020 at 8:42pm
So I've had a few sessions with this blade now and am happy to draw some conclusions.

Firstly, the blade indeed is very well made. The feeling is clear and neither hollow nor pingy despite it being rather stiff (as per my request). It is fast, definitely sitting in the OFF range. The feeling in hand is closer to a stiff 7-ply blade rather than any composite. In fact, if blindfolded I'd say it was a 6.5 mm clipper.

Fits very well with older tensors, newer tensors, and in my latest tests tuned Chinese rubbers.

The edges are smoothed well, not overly so as in some newer blades where it is cut at a 45 degree angle, but you can tell that careful attention has been paid to ensure the blade is of a high finish. 

I think it's also been sealed, I'm not too sure, but using Revolution No. 3 glue on it with 5 different rubbers and gluings seem to hold up well.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the outcome, and it's a good solution for me for the ABS 40+ ball. 
(\__/)

(='.'=) But there's no sense crying over every mistake,

(")_(") You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tyler45 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01/25/2020 at 4:30pm
N - 1

Where N is the number of blades which results in divorce ;)

(Also applies to hours of training per week LOLLOL
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