Tapered shaft and blade question

[stick9 905]

I haven't seen this type of info posted yet. Sorry if it already has. Anyway, I have some tech type question regarding tapered shafts and blades.

1 - Is the hosel opening in the shaft a standard dimension across all manufacturers?

2 - Same as question #1 but in regards to the blade hosel.

3 - How much does the bond between shaft and blade affect the performance of the stick?

4 - Would a composite blade fit better then a wood blade because it's easier to control the hosel dimensions with composite?

These things came up when I put a CCM tapered wood blade into a Vapor XXX-lite shaft. It didn't fit well and came out very easily. I got me thinking about possible differences between the two brands.

[swede 52]

I haven't seen this type of info posted yet. Sorry if it already has. Anyway, I have some tech type question regarding tapered shafts and blades.

1 - Is the hosel opening in the shaft a standard dimension across all manufacturers?

2 - Same as question #1 but in regards to the blade hosel.

3 - How much does the bond between shaft and blade affect the performance of the stick?

4 - Would a composite blade fit better then a wood blade because it's easier to control the hosel dimensions with composite?

These things came up when I put a CCM tapered wood blade into a Vapor XXX-lite shaft. It didn't fit well and came out very easily. I got me thinking about possible differences between the two brands.

1, Yes. The hosel opening in the shaft is a standard dimension. However, the intermediate sticks can be different. Easton int sticks only accept easton int blades, while other brands int sticks accept either JR or SR blades.

2, up.

3, Since most OPS really are 2-pieced tapered shaft/blade combos fused together there shouldn't be any difference. But some may say different..

4, i havent noticed any difference in fit.

[Jarick 5]

I can't speak to tapered, but I found my Easton ST hosel to fit VERY well in most every shaft I tried. About a half dozen wood blades fit a little loose to varying degrees. Although the ST almost got stuck in an RBK shaft because the fit was too tight.

[DamnLocust 0]

1. it's close enough that most any blade from manufacturer x will fit in a shaft from manufacturer y.

2. hosel length will vary, but tenon widths are generally standard. One issue that I've seen on more than one occasion is that RBK blades (6k for sure, im not sure about the new 7k sickick blades yet) have rounded edges and will sometimes have a loose fit. I had to use some tape on the tenon of my 6k blade in the 6k shaft it came preinstalled in. My friend had similar issues with a 6k in a synthesis.

3.Loose blades (wobbly) are more an issue of discomfort, but if loose enough, it could cause some damage to the shaft, especially if the blade tenon pulls out of the shaft.

4. varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but they're all pretty close.

Best bet to fix your issue is to add some tape to the tenon of the blade Usually one strip will do: up one side, across the top, down the other side. This way, it won't just slide down when inserting the blade into the shaft. I usually add some more glue on top of the tape as well.

[stick9 905]

Great info, thanks.

I just reinstalled the blade. I added some tape (across the top like DamnLocust mentioned) to it to make up for the slop and used a better grade of hot glue. Seemed to fit really snug, but not to the point where I had to force it in.

[TheBert 0]

I have a blade where I find that it's fine when it's off the ice. But once I hit the ice and it gets cold, the glue contracts or something and the blade goes loose.

Is the fix to simply put more tape on? I already have one layer.

[jjalb29 0]

personal experience, just did it last week:

I had 2 broken vapor XX OPS and I cut them where I had a RBK 6k tapered blade and an Easton SII in each. Then I bought 2 Vapor XX tapered blades and split both shafts. Now the Vapor XX blade is in a XXX-lite tapered shaft and fit in, but had to use a little tape for extra snugness