Do blades improve with age?

I've ordered an OSP Virtuoso OFF- (should be arriving today ) and one of the things I found interesting when I was researching and reading reviews about this blade is that people were saying it's feeling will change noticeably in the first 10-20 hours of using it, and even after that it'll keep changing.

I don't really know much about blade construction or the aging of wood, so I was hoping some more experienced players could shed some light on this. Do blades really "mature" with use?


I've included some of the reviews I read about the Virtuoso aging:

My Virtuoso softened up after a few weeks of play, making it less crisp.

It is absolutely correct that Virtuoso gets softer after maximum a week of training. Maybe after each reglueing it gets its final feeling after half a week. It looses some crispness you are absolutely right. We exprerienced the same. The manufacturer Palatinus claims that as the blade gets dryer over years it gets better. My friend is using joola rhyzm on a virtuoso, and after half a year of training everyone finds it amazing. At the beginning he had rakza on it and it was good, but now after half a year and with rhyzm it really gets special attention from coaches in our club. I think it is still crispy enough, it does not have speed limit, it does not have dead feel, and if you want to you can play topspins with it for minutes with minimal effort.

Oh, one thing you should know, when you first get a new OSP blade, for the first few times training they feel weird, almost like the glue hasn't dried yet. But then after a few hours of play or a few sessions of play. The blade breaks in and it starts feeling great. When it is new you almost feel too much and the wood feels really flexy in an odd way. Totally worth having a new one and playing with it till it breaks in thought.

Funny thing is, you don't even need to play with some blades for them to improve with age.  I have no idea why it happens.  The other day I glued up a four-year old Viscaria that had been relegated to a drawer after being used exactly once (when new was too fast, too hollow the first time).  It is now very good.  People say the same thing about some stringed instruments. 

An early change like that should be the break up process of the use, but if you don't seal the blade with something like polyurethane the wood will dry slowly and may give you more feedback with the time.

Blades change with age and gluing. Does it becomes better ? Depends, it becomes softer and slower, for most amateurs it's a good thing.

like wine, then

My OSP blade has definitely gotten better. I have played with it for about 5 months now and its gets better with age and reglueing. 

in2spin wrote: like wine, then :)

Edited by slevin - 05/24/2016 at 1:35pm

I wonder if any pros seal their blades?...

Nasche wrote: If handle is not sealed it will absorb the sweat of your hands over the time and if you play often it changes a bit.

Oh man I have a friend who has very sweaty palms and you do not want her blade anywhere near your nose

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Edited by ericd937 - 05/27/2016 at 7:56pm

ericd937 wrote: ;I had always heard that some composite blades, such as carbon fiber, can degrade over time. Is that true?

I have heard this mentioned here specifically for zylon fiber but have no idea if it is true.