Why a tapered blade in broken OPS?

[ramw5p 0]

Hi fellas...have a broken XXX ops, i read on here how to replace blade etc, my questins is as reads. Can i not just use an old wooden blade and work at it with a saw till it is angled right and fits? Why would this not work? I dont have any idea why no one does that, and i have never tried, so i ask. TIA

[mrusse01 0]

Yeah, some guys will shave down a regular tendon sized wood blade to allow it to fit in a tapered shaft.

Seems like a bit of a pain in the ass to me, but it is pretty tricky to find tapered wood blades in my experience.

[Hockey84 0]

Can you turn the stick around and try the other end

I have seen that work a bunch of times

[mrusse01 0]

Can you turn the stick around and try the other end

I have seen that work a bunch of times

Screws up the taper of the stick obviously, as well as the kick point.

[BigDipper 0]

I've done it plenty of time's for kids that I coach. I've never had a problem and most of the dad's were more than grateful for saving them a few dollars. My explanation is this. OPS are manufactured to have kick of majority of the flex down low. Not at the other end so that is why I always said put the blade in the bottom. A butt end plug wont overly affect it that much. And for a kid? they sure as hell wont notice the difference. Anyway, works for me. If you handy enough in modifying the blade.

[habsfan87 0]

Im not sure if you mean work at the shaft with a saw or the blade but you can most definitely use a standard blade if you cut the shaft higher or turn it around. That being said as stated by bigdipper, the tapered blade feels more like the one piece with a lower kick point and will/should perform better. If you mean shave down the blade I've done this before as well just take a standard blade and shave it down to tapered size.

[vitaminZ 0]

because OPS are for the most part built off the same dimensions as a tapered shaft and blade