Making a Table Tennis Bat

I'm making my own blades now, just for fun.  It is simple enough, and quite satisfying, to make a basic blade but it is not cost effective.  I have found with a bit of experimentation with different plies and thicknesses and combinations that you can drastically affect the speed of the blade and depending on what you use as the top ply, the spin and feel as well.  However, I can also confirm that in fact Jeff and Alois are right when they say the blade really is the minor player and the rubbers have by far the greatest influence on how the bat plays. Using the same rubber on to vastly different blades reduces that difference significantly.

I use various combinations of balsa, basswood and different hardwoods. There is a post on another site (Link below) that describes the process from end-to-end using more sophisticated wood working tools (and skills) than I have but the principles are the same.  Instead of using a vacuum press I just use two pieces of 25mm MDF and 6 clamps as a press and instead of the router (which I have only just purchased) I have used a simple jigsaw. The core is primarily balsa but some designs have a 0.5 mm hard wood sandwiched between 2 balsa plies making up the core. I use balsa for my handles too as it provides great feel and keeps the weight down. For ideas on different plies and combinations to try, troll through the Re-impact site, also linked below.

TT blade contruction technique

Re-impact

Good luck and have fun.  Oh, and I use commercial rubbers.