Customize a Wilson BLX Blade 98

[Hankenstein]

I stumbled across a bargain deal on 3 new BLX Blade 98´s and bought them. They are a very light racquet though and i will ofcourse play around with lead in some well chosen places on the frame. I also took them in 3/8 ostead of my normal 1/2 grip size so i could use grip enlarger and make the frame 17 grams more heavy in the grip and also more head light.

Has anyone on TT tried different balances, weights etc on the BLX Blade frame? Result? Anything to watch out for, to think of in specific?

Is the grip-interior hollow or foam-filled?

 

[Fireball]

Blx blade 98 customization

It would be interesting to hear from you Hankenstein what you did with the racquets and if you was pleased with the results.

Anyone with experience of blx blade 98 customizations?

I stumbled across a bargain deal on 3 new BLX Blade 98´s and bought them. They are a very light racquet though and i will ofcourse play around with lead in some well chosen places on the frame. I also took them in 3/8 ostead of my normal 1/2 grip size so i could use grip enlarger and make the frame 17 grams more heavy in the grip and also more head light.

Has anyone on TT tried different balances, weights etc on the BLX Blade frame? Result? Anything to watch out for, to think of in specific?

Is the grip-interior hollow or foam-filled?

 

[Torres]

I stumbled across a bargain deal on 3 new BLX Blade 98´s and bought them. They are a very light racquet though and i will ofcourse play around with lead in some well chosen places on the frame. I also took them in 3/8 ostead of my normal 1/2 grip size so i could use grip enlarger and make the frame 17 grams more heavy in the grip and also more head light.

Has anyone on TT tried different balances, weights etc on the BLX Blade frame? Result? Anything to watch out for, to think of in specific?

Is the grip-interior hollow or foam-filled?

I toyed with a BLX Blade. I couldn't make it work to suit my game because the SW is already in the stratosphere and the balance so much towards the head. Adding a heat shrink sleeve, different replacements grips, OGs etc, just made it feel even more clunky. Even if you change the balance, its not going to reduce the SW. I appreciate that its probably not what you want to hear but you did ask for comments....

 

[fed27]

is there any significant difference in balance if i replace the grip with TW private leather grip?? coz i want to make my blade more headlight..

 

[backatcha]

Well I can tell you want I have done...

Originally I choose to pass on the Blade 98 because I thought it seemed too light and too hh. But later I ended up playing with the BLX 6.1 95 (and loved it) then I got curious to see if the Blade 98 might have the same characteristics but with more power or a more forgiving frame. So on a lark I bought one!

Because of local availability, when I purchase my first Blade 98, I was forced to buy a grip size one size smaller than usual... this did not turn out to be a problem as I simply added an additional OG and it was fine.

Customization: The first thing I did was open the trap door. There are two tubes and they are filled with light foam. I decided to remove the foam to make room for clear silicone purchased from the local hardware store. Removing the foam was somewhat tedious until I got out the drill then removing the rest was very easy. I removed about 3-4in from each tube. Once the foam was gone, I open the silicone and squirted it in to each tube of the handle of the frame. It was a little messy and I had to use a thin bamboo stick to pack in the silicone. I had a scale next to me the whole time and continued to add silicone until the stock (unstrung) racquet weighed 320g, at which point I carefully cleaned up the buttcap and particularly the trapdoor ridge and sealed the handle. Then I added 2 Turna OGs and an "O" dampener... and strung it up with Black Code 17 originally @ 48 (though next time I dropped the tension to 46lbs... much better).

I ended up with a fantastic racquet... 350g (strung) and 7pts hl... (so I purchased another Blade repeated the process and matched the first spec perfectly).

Absolutely love this racquet... it has completely replaced the BLX 6.1 95 as my main frame. Note: If using a full bed of poly, please string this frame in the mid to upper 40s... the dense string pattern works very well at this tension... more feel, more spin, more power, more forgiveness, larger sweet spot with absolutely no loss of control... I promise!

PS: Don't put any lead in the hoop... you will not need to do this... In fact in stock form it is way too hh already!

 

[NetNinja68]

Well I can tell you want I have done...

Originally I choose to pass on the Blade 98 because I thought it seemed too light and too hh. But later I ended up playing with the BLX 6.1 95 (and loved it) then I got curious to see if the Blade 98 might have the same characteristics but with more power or a more forgiving frame. So on a lark I bought one!

Because of local availability, when I purchase my first Blade 98, I was forced to buy a grip size one size smaller than usual... this did not turn out to be a problem as I simply added an additional OG and it was fine.

Customization: The first thing I did was open the trap door. There are two tubes and they are filled with light foam. I decided to remove the foam to make room for clear silicone purchased from the local hardware store. Removing the foam was somewhat tedious until I got out the drill then removing the rest was very easy. I removed about 3-4in from each tube. Once the foam was gone, I open the silicone and squirted it in to each tube of the handle of the frame. It was a little messy and I had to use a thin bamboo stick to pack in the silicone. I had a scale next to me the whole time and continued to add silicone until the stock (unstrung) racquet weighed 320g, at which point I carefully cleaned up the buttcap and particularly the trapdoor ridge and sealed the handle. Then I added 2 Turna OGs and an "O" dampener... and strung it up with Black Code 17 originally @ 48 (though next time I dropped the tension to 46lbs... much better).

I ended up with a fantastic racquet... 350g (strung) and 7pts hl... (so I purchased another Blade repeated the process and matched the first spec perfectly).

Absolutely love this racquet... it has completely replaced the BLX 6.1 95 as my main frame. Note: If using a full bed of poly, please string this frame in the mid to upper 40s... the dense string pattern works very well at this tension... more feel, more spin, more power, more forgiveness, larger sweet spot with absolutely no loss of control... I promise!

PS: Don't put any lead in the hoop... you will not need to do this... In fact in stock form it is way too hh already!

Awesome Comments!