I used my friend's Speed 90 for a few games.  Those comments about speed 90 are from immediate feelings.  I don't like the H-1-9 in short game much because even lightly touch, vibration still there for off the center, so I would think that speed 90 is better for short game if pair up with soft rubber with not too much speed. 

 

I will get the Speed 90 shakehand by next week from Taiwan (cheaper than iruru given the current exchange rate).  I am still thinking about the rubber for it.  For BH I consider 2.0 F3 Big slam, nimbus sound/soft or Plama W (still not sure) and FH either max 380, nimbus sound/soft, almana sound syn tech or nittaku narucross EX soft.  I would be able to better compare both by the end of next week.

 

I got it from,

http://www.tabletennis.com.tw/index_2.htm - http://www.tabletennis.com.tw/index_2.htm

couple weeks ago, the exchange rate was $1=NT33, I asked one of my friends to walk into this store in Taipei and bring couple blades back to the U.S. for me.  My friend just got here couple days ago, so I didn't pay yet, but I expect to pay about $120, anyhow is less than iruru that I have to pay for big shipping (14,400 yen+shipping).

 

I also asked my friend to get the BTY Cypress shake pro, but this shop doesn't carry it anymore.  Because of the recent increase in hinoki price and overall price level, I believe that Cypress shake pro would have a higher wood quality than the new 3 bty shake blades which Jasupo say it would be around 4,700 which iruru probably sells it for a little less.  I think it would come out April, 21.  I have read somewhere that Cypress shake pro has lower wood quality than Darker Tanpan, so I wouldn't assume that the new bty quality would be even comparable to the Tanpan.  But since the price is attractive, I might try to get it later somehow.  EJ in me never dies....

 

I can clearly see the difference in their speed during my lob practice.  Hinoki blades can catapult the ball back without much effort.  It's really springy.  This is one of the reason why I am moving to hinoki from composite recently.

 

But don't get me wrong about it's speed.  I am just saying that my H-1-9 is faster than all composite I have, which is only Amultart, Photio, KC, Ishlion and KLHS.  And that Speed 90 is faster than H-1-9.  I never tried any other blade which rated faster than Amultart like SC, Tricarbon or any of other brand.

 

Half-dozen different one-ply blade materials.  Like Wingman, I feel like permanently moving to the one-ply blades now (and changing my avatar). 

 

OMG, you gonna let the last two SC go?  I guess your transition will be for good.  I haven't active on selling my composite blades at all and I haven't active on using my RH lately, now I am using absom salt with hot water to speed things up, it's really help.  I will trying using it slowly next week.

 

Recently I found myself really enjoy using RPB for my LH and experimenting with different setups.  if I like the Speed 90 shake, I might wanna get Jspeed 90 reverse... ie ie....

 

I've tried the western red, sitka, atlantic white, basswood, and northern white, as well at the corkenstein, which is a three-ply and soon to come in two variations.  All are beautiful blades and each one actually feels better than any BTY blades I've ever owned and used.  He has a blade to match pretty much any speed rating or style, and feel (hard vs. soft).  If you want a hard, fast blade that is more powerful than a Schlager Carbon, then the western red is the blade.  I think it weighs in the high-80s and up for shakehand.  Actually, it's more of a medium feel as it has no harshness found in many carbon blades.  The power is immense, though, as I've done some A-B-A-B comparisons with my SC using the same rubbers and the SC couldn't hold a candle to it in power.  For me, though, I am surprised to find myself playing better with one of his slower blades called the corkenstein.  The corkenstein has incredible feel (as do all of them), but the throw angle is higher and it's great for slow looping.  Granted, it's not as fast as the one-plies, but a truly awesome blade.  I think he also has a purely defensive model of the corkenstein, too, that is a little thinner with an oversided head available for the choppers.  Only after using all these blades for hours one end and then going back to my SC do I not care to use it much anymore.  (and to think that I found it...the SC.. to be the best of all the BTY composites out there,... and it really is a great blade.)  My favorites so far with the Am. Hinoki brand are the northern white and corkenstein, but I'd put the atlantic white first if it's 10mm thick and light.  Otherwise, if thinner and denser, it takes on a medium feel and more speed with a slightly lower throw.  I can see that the big manufacturers don't mess with some of these woods because they can be very hard to source.  But when you're a small company and do custom work for first-come/first-served customers, you can be more flexible.  I've been blown away by the customer service and quality of work, and the fact that the designer and builder is also a player that listens to the customer's input.

 

Which blade is the AW-8?  If it's the wood I'm thinking of (northern white), then it's very hard to find wood.  I'd hold on to it unless you just don't like it.  (Life's too short to hold on to blades we don't like, right?)  If you want to make a change to go faster, slower, heavier, thinner, etc., you have a benchmark already in his line-up of blades.  BTW, I read one of your other threads about the handle.  How did you hit the handle on the table?  Is it routine for you during flipping to contact the table with the handle?

 

Holda,

I think your PM box is full or sth, my message didn't go through. 

Thanks,

 

i will say that i am not going to composite blades for sure ,because hinoki is great for just about anything.i would imagine that somebody more experienced in tt should give this blade more detailed description.i personally think you guys can try one of these and you will feel more confident as soon as you strat playing.my us rating is low athis point(1500) so that you know i am not an expert,but after trying several blades over the past 4-5 years there is nothing like hinoki .spin is easier to generate,blocks,smashes are just pure pleasure.as far as prices go,paddlepalace has these for 72$.shipping fee is waived.

give me some time,i will put the speed 90 and juic blades up for you to see as it is the only place where we can get all the details(except for the lucky guys who have regular tt shops in town)

forgot...

for those who do not like "heady heavy" set-ups this is one the blades to choose.as far as spped of this blade-it is not slow at all.it is rated as offensive blade ,but you can slow it down with whatever rubbers you want.i think it is a great buy

correct!

but it is just a very user -friendly material,very forgiving if you are playing against more developed an onent as your shots are more accurate and when you have to be in defensive mode you have more control vs when you use a harder (all wood/composite) blade.

since may of us do not take coaching lessons,perfecting technique may take a very long time.with hinoki blades you can still play well,but you errors drop dramatically,because you maintain speed,but iprove contol a lot.

you may just try it later and find out that it works better.even if you cut a bit to fit your grip,it will not be a less valuable blade.of course you may have found something that works for better.there is Hercules at this forum.have you seen his modified darker?he did cut it nicely and the blade does look wonderful and he plays with it i think

not selling or trading speed 90.i like it a lot and just want to stay with this set up.juic and speed 90 are very similar so i don't want to let them go

 

I tend to prefer softer rubbers anyway, so my preferences will be skewed.  With that being said, I thought Solcion would have been a good rubber, but I thought it was just too soft and it didn't work out as well for me (on these soft one-ply blades,... on the SC it's a different story).  I still like Nimbus Sound on the FH and use Joola Tango on the BH.  I think most will prefer at least medium-hard rubbers, though, if not hard.  I've even been getting decent performance from LKT Pro XP 2.0 rubbers on this blade.

i am thinking it was someone's subjective opinion.it is clearly controllable vs juic air titan that has 10 mm thick core with titanium reinforcing layers.that blade made the ball dissapear..

someone may have erroneously concluded that because it is a thick blade it should be vary stiff(fast) so hard to control just a logical conclusion.

i mean look how jpen players get tricks with their equipment.

 

The designer is a Jpen player, anyway, and that's where his passion is.  Actually, he plays a slightly modified grip from the Jpen.  Check out the Jpen blades here:  http://www.americanhinoki.com/ - http://www.americanhinoki.com/   ... and click on Jpen.  The shakehands are $75 and I'm not sure about the Jpen.  Send him an email.  Maybe they're the same price.

 

@ Tommyzai:  Thanks! 

Here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/zhestyk/DarkerSpeed90JiucKisoHinokiAvalox700 - http://picasaweb.google.com/zhestyk/DarkerSpeed90JiucKisoHinokiAvalox700

 

Niceee....

Darker speed 90 has no varnish.The wood shines itself and I could not mask that.Should have probably waited or taken pics in the day time

i onlu saw a speed 90 in jpen version and it was not sealed.but,it does not really matter,because the company may have varnished blades per customer's request.jpens are very light!

 

I try not to be too fussy about the grain unless you're buying something to hang on a wall.  Sometimes if the grain is too tight, it will be denser and heavier (and harder) than wood with more separation in the lines.  Some of his blades is much tighter, but the pics are of sample blades and looks are subjective.  One thing to remember, though, is that it's covered with the rubber when playing and soon forgotten.

 

Maybe that's because 1ply hinoki are not popular among shakehanders, unlike Jpen is a "must"?  Juic and Tibhar have only one model each, so there is no blades withing the brand to compared to.  While Darker info are so hard to find.  On the otherhand, 1ply might getting more popular now that BTY decided to come up with 3 new models at once after a long discontinue of the BTY cypress shake pro.  But it seems that BTY will not use the best grain they have for Shakehand yet.

 

We (1ply shake players in this forum) might move into a right new direction.  So grab your gears guys, before the hinoki ran out....

whatever paddle palace info you can you use to roughly estimate what you r interested in

 

His setup is, Speed90 Cpen with Desto F1 max both sides... deadly combination.

 

Holda has both Speed90 and Juic one-ply, from his comparison, (from my understanding) there is virtually no difference in perfromances.  I want to get Juic too but he just grab the lightest one from paddle palace  (89grams?), so I rather wait with a risk of price increase, since I just ordered Cpen too...

 

 

 

 

juic is more a vibrating blade,but speed 90 is thicker,so vibro feel is not so pronounced.i want spee 90 in SH version,but i am now broke

 

American Hinoki has some one-ply blades that are only about $75, so they're not out of reach for most players.  If you want really soft with zero harsh vibration and some good power to boot, check out his NWC version.  He has other blades, too, with more vibration (good vibrations, actually, for good feel) and a little thinner, depending on what you're looking for.  So not all one-plies out there are expensive as the $200 ancient high-grade kiso hinoki blades.

 

Okie...