Table tennis blade wood types - Limba

Terminalia superba (Superb Terminalia or Limba, Afara (UK), Korina (US) ) is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa.

It grows to 60 m tall, with a domed or flat crown, and a trunk typically clear of branches for much of its height, buttressed at the base.

The wood is either a light ('white limba') or with dark stripes ('black limba' or 'korina') hardwood. Used for making furniture and musical instruments and prized for its workability and excellent colour and finish. The most famous example of its use in guitars is when it was used by Gibson in producing their now highly sought-after Flying V and Explorer guitars in 1957. When finished in a clear coat, 'White Limba' results in an attractive light golden colour.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not rare and expensive due to overharvesting and there is plenty of supply due to efforts in the 1950s to preserve natural supply of the wood. This species is reported to be relatively secure, with little or no threat to its population within its natural growth range, according to the World Conservation Monitoring Center in 1992.

When used for constructing blades, limba and ayous seem similar. They both are soft and have heavy grains. Typically the limba blades are a bit more expensive, so you'll find them more commonly in the Japanese and euro blades and the ayous more in the chinese, although there are exceptions. Limba grains seem a bit tighter and don't shed as badly. As a result it's probably just a touch harder. Both should be sealed before gluing, but ayous MUST be sealed or it WILL strip off with the rubber.

Limba is the classic European topspin wood. Limba wood adds the soft feel and great control needed by today's modern topspin players.

A number of blades pictures that use the Limba wood are shown below: