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Comparing composites |
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BobPong
Beginner Joined: 03/31/2020 Location: Denver,CO Status: Offline Points: 2 |
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Posted: 03/31/2020 at 2:33pm |
I am relatively new to this thing and trying to understand various composite materials in the contect of table tennis blades. Are there any websites that talk about this ? Looks like ALC is the fad now .
I heard that they used to have just one material such as carbon only or kevlar only but now it is ALC or ZLC etc Also what does it mean 15% maximum limit in your blade ? is it by weight or thickness ? How would an umpire measure it anyway since many players these days use custom made blade ? |
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jpenmaster
Platinum Member Joined: 12/24/2008 Location: Chicago Status: Offline Points: 2176 |
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You can use just about any composite out there. They all have different properties. I made some blades recently with Innergra that worked very well. Composites have different weaves 3k is standard and 1k is considered "super". Textreme is a tow weave. There is also fleece in various thickness. The percentage is by thickness. Most of your commercially available composite weaves used for making a TT blade are .25mm so with 2 sides you end up with .5mm +/- . Personally when I made blades that were past 20% composite they get too stiff and were not very playable. There is discussion of ITTF allowing 100% composite blades soon . Guessing you would start with a foam core. As for an umpire checking a blade it would be rare unless requested. I actually saw that Killerspin carbon blade at a USATT tournament once. No one really cared. Plus unless you are playing in the open or over 2400 event semi or finals, umpires usually aren't at matches.
Edited by jpenmaster - 03/31/2020 at 3:33pm |
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Baal
Forum Moderator Joined: 01/21/2010 Location: unknown Status: Offline Points: 14336 |
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ALC blades have been around for nearly 20 years and popular for a good portion of that time. ALC or ZLC give some extra speed, like carbon always did, but the arylate or zylon woven with the carbon keep it from feeling like you're playing with a piece of glass. Arylate and zy,on are liquid crystal polymers that absorb some high frequency vibration. The extra speed of composite layers caused its popularity to really take off after introduction of 40 mm balls, and even more after 40+ balls in 2015. Some people who found composites too fast before found them to be just right after the balls got larger.
Arylate or kevlar or zylon by itself is pretty slow but some people like it. The availability of cloth with carbon and arylate woven together was a big advance for blade designers.
Edited by Baal - 03/31/2020 at 3:33pm |
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TT newbie
Gold Member Joined: 11/25/2011 Location: Far Far Away Status: Offline Points: 1391 |
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Arylate is what BTY used to call Vectran Fiiber. It has property to absorb impact and reduce vibration.
I tried some pure Arylate blades and didn´t like at all. They all became too slow without the carbon to combine. The only Arylate blade I liked was Moonbean, that was fast but due to the big mass, the blade was around 9mm thick. Also tried Zylon (Photino), Fiber Glass (Persson Powerfibre) and a lot of pure carbon blades, but imo no material suits best than ALC for table tennis. Never tested Titanium or Texalium blades.
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mykonos96
Gold Member Joined: 07/19/2018 Location: Southam Status: Offline Points: 1949 |
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wow. 100% composite blade aproved by ITTF? can you show me that discussion?
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jpenmaster
Platinum Member Joined: 12/24/2008 Location: Chicago Status: Offline Points: 2176 |
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Back a few years ago there was an ITTF resolution to look at different materials for TT blades. They said nothing could or would take effect till after the Olympics if the ITTF decides(votes) to make a change.
Edited by jpenmaster - 04/01/2020 at 10:08am |
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murrayblhrc
Super Member Joined: 04/21/2007 Location: Scranton Status: Offline Points: 303 |
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Blade materials would go 100% composite if not for rule 2.4.2.
Look at every other racket sport. Tennis, racketball, badminton, squash, but especially Pickleball. Can barely find a modern racket made with wood in these sports.
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murrayblhrc
Super Member Joined: 04/21/2007 Location: Scranton Status: Offline Points: 303 |
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Speaking of which, anyone on this site have a first hand experience using
The reviews locally there read as written by fraternity house basement champions...
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