buying a custom blade

Here are some thoughts, tips, etc. for those of you thinking about buying a custom blade.

1- You can't just order anything.
custom blade sellers in general don't have trees and chopping machines.
they buy their wood from providers.
Their providers have standard thicknesses for different types of wood.
So for example you want limba, they probably have only in 0.5mm,
you want ayous, then they have in 1.2, 1.5 and 2.5 for example.
So you have to fit what the seller has.
It's not like you can think any particular blade and it can be built.

2- Don't be too picky on the measurements of the blade.
Blades don't always come in the exact measurements you asked.
This is not stiga or butterfly, sometimes it's just a guy doing everything by hand.

3- Once you have an idea on what you want to build, just contact the blade makers.
Here's a list of most of them.

borko56@cox.net
info@soulspin.tt
Tricky1blades@yahoo.com
prosales@ospblades.com
bladesbycharlie@gmail.com
vodak-dreva@centrum.cz
info@tt-piet.de (peter from germany)
kontakt@retturn.pl (retturn)
info@tischtennis-manufaktur.de
ross@rossleidy.com

4- Prices depend on who you buy from.
In general the more popular ones charge more, while the least known charge less.
But to give an example a 5 ply can cost 30, 40, 50 euros.
More plies, materials like carbon, they all add to the price.

5- Personally I bought from "peter from germany" and "retturn".

"Peter from germany" is one of the cheapest ones I think.
His blades are still very good, material is good.

With "retturn" I had a bit of a strange experience.
I email asking "can you do a blade with these characteristics?".
They answer "yes we can do this."
I send them another message saying "ok, this is what I need exactly, please let me know if you want to do it because I'm also in contact with other person who wants to do it."
2 weeks pass, no message, nothing.
In the meantime I agree with "peter" to make the blade.
so after two weeks I get a message from "retturn".
your blade is ready, please deposit the money in this account.
I'm thinking like "we never agreed on making this in the end".
But well they did it anyway so I bought it.

I think retturn maybe have a higher production.
The blade even has a logo with their name, it seems cut by machine, seems more like a normal blade you'd get from andro for example.
The blade from Peter is more like craft work.
The  handle is shaped by him using his hands, etc.

I was also in contact with ross leidy, soulspin, bladesbycharlie, stefan elsner....
But for one reason or another it just didn't happen.
For me it was just an experiment, so I wanted to keep it low profile and low cost.
This is not what some of the sellers have in mind, they see their blades as better than buying a stiga or a donic.
So it's good that there are many alternatives for different public.