How to Create Your Own Ping Pong Paddles

Ping pong is a great household game that can be enjoyed by players of all ages. Creating your own ping pong paddle can be a fulfilling process. This simple design requires only a jigsaw, circular saw, power drill and some wood clamps to create, and will leave you with a paddle you will be proud to say you made yourself.

Instructions

Making a Paddle

1

Draw your paddle outline on the birch wood sheet. The head should be about 5 1/2 inches wide and 6 inches tall, and the handle should be an inch wide and about an inch longer than the width of your fingers from index to pinky.

2

Draw the handle pads on the oak wood twice. The handle pads should be an inch wide and a half inch longer than handle portion drawn on the birch wood. This will cause the pads to extend beyond the handle portion and onto the blade for half an inch once glued.

3

Cut the pads and paddle using the jigsaw.

4

Set the circular saw to a 45-degree cut, and cut across the one-half-inch width of the handle pads, starting from a corner. This will create a taper that starts at the end of the handle, and concludes a half-inch onto the blade once glued.

5

Glue the handle pads flush with the handle portion of the birch wood paddle, with the nontapered edge at the end of the handle and the tapered edge extending onto the blade.

6

Clamp the paddle and leave to sit overnight.

7

Drill a hole 1 1/8 inches from the end of the handle, and 1 5/8 inches from the tapered point of the handle pads, with both holes centered across the 1-inch width of the handle.

8

Cut the dowels to 1 1/4 inches.

9

Apply glue to the dowels and insert them in the drilled holes in your paddle, leaving to sit overnight.

10

Sand the handle to your liking to make the paddle rest comfortably in your hand.