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[729 fx]

I have a chance to test-drive 2 blades from ian worz(who produce "worz beat stick" blades), one an all-rounder and the other an offensive one. Both comes in in cpen handle. The first blade is made of walnut-cypress-cypress-cypress-walnut combination.

Cypress Chinese Penhold Blade (with Sriver rubber).

My overall feedback is as follows:

Look & Feel:
The craftsmanship on the woodwork is flawless and of high quality. The surface is extremely even. And I like the walnut dark brown finishing – it gives the blade a class above the rest. I must say well done to Ian on the handle as it is very comfortable as it has cork on the bottom of the handle for a softer feeling in the grip.

Weight: This blade is extremely light. (sorry, I do not have any blade weighting machine to test)

Play:
1) Serve: Both fast and slow serves are excellent with this blade due to its lightness. It is probably as fast as my Galaxy (YinHe) carbon blade.
2) Block: Good, especially over the table blocks. Off-table blocking/countering will need some push (additional force) to get the ball where I want compared to the Galaxy blade.
3) Loop: Good for control looping. When I try power looping the ball seems to go slightly further off the table (could be I am not getting used to this bat at that time).

Summary: This blade is good for an all-round play (could be because I am using Sriver rubber on it.
The sweet spot covers a rather large area, almost similar to a carbon blade but tends to taper off as the ball hits closer to top of the blade near the handle. I would rate this blade as an OFF- (Butterfly category), fast but not as fast as the Balsa core with an all-round features, that is easier to change from defensive mode to offensive mode and vice versa. (Note : This blade is suppose to be an All-round category, but I put it between OFF- and All+ but more towards the OFF-). Will be suitable for those who plays an all-round game (defensive/offensive).
There is one feature that I really like is the cork handle at the back, which made gripping the bat comfortable.

Today I shall use a slightly fast and tacky Chinese rubber on it, the 729 Tackspeed.
Will send a review once I am done with it.

[varghese]

Do you have some pictures to post? That would be great if you have some.

[729 fx]

Here are some pics :

1) The box which the 2 cpen are packed in.

The box.

P1.jpg (31.2 KiB) Viewed 206 times

2) More packaging to keep the blades from scratch/dents

Inside packaging

p2.jpg (37.63 KiB) Viewed 207 times

3) The 2 blades (left-balsa core blade, right-thinner cypress blade)

Balsa core & thin cypress core blades

P3.jpg (35.31 KiB) Viewed 207 times

[729 fx]

More pics.

4) Thickness of balsa core blade.

8.7mm thick

P4.jpg (29.58 KiB) Viewed 208 times

5) Handle of balsa core blade.

Solid handle for balsa core cpen blade

P5.jpg (22.04 KiB) Viewed 208 times

6) Walnut-cypress-cypress-cypress-walnut combination blade.

FH of cypress core blade

P6.jpg (34.64 KiB) Viewed 208 times

[729 fx]

The thickness is less than 6mmContinuing with more pics.

7) BH of cypress core cpen.

The BH side of the cpen with a cork handle

P7.jpg (33.25 KiB) Viewed 191 times

8) Comparison of the handle.

Notice the different wood on the handle.

P8.jpg (24.9 KiB) Viewed 191 times

9) The thin cpen blade.

The thickness is less than 6mm

P9.jpg (28.45 KiB) Viewed 191 times

[varghese]

729, you are like Micheal Jackson to me . I'm becoming your fan.

Have you seen a loop angle (some call it throw angle) between both the blades. The balsa blade pumps a lot of speed to the ball, so it may have a lower throw angle. The hinoki blade may give a higher loop angle.

I'm little surprised at the outer layers. I have not studied this walnut wood before.

Could you please also check the linearity of the ball falling? When you block the ball, give a little of punch to the ball. Then vary that force in that punch in a serious of balls. Let me know what do you find out.