OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So, I've glued up one racket only before, and it was the one in my sig. I've heard rubbers without sponges can be tricky...and I have a hardbat now. Can I use rubber cement?

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

It all depends on the rubber. Some OX rubbers bubble up with rubber cement. I personally use it since I feel it is the best as far as adhesion, ease of removal later (relatively clean removal versus water based glue), and playing feel.

CHEERS! and enjoy hardbat.

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Valor Champion (Hardbat)
FH/BH: Valor Premier OX
Valor Kuruxu (Regular TT)
FH: Valor Premier - Sponge
BH: Globe 979 LP OX
http://www.valortabletennis.com

Water based will be easier for ox imo. I have only tried rubber cement once with ox LP and it curled up on me and was an absolute mess. Some ox rubbers do have thicker base sheets so they may be easier, but I would stick to Butterfly Free Chack or Tear Mender. Both work great .

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"Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little farther down the road."

Donic Defplay Senso | Yasaka Mark V 2.0 | SL Dornenglanz OX

Donic Defplay Senso | Butterfly Sriver | Testing

Proper clamping (or at least rolling if you use the common quick-set glues) is more important with OX rubbers.

For very flimsy sheets, wrap them pimples-in on a rolling pin or similar (something smooth, and big enough to avoid overlap), and roll them on. Otherwise they may easily buckle and wrinkle while applying.

Sponge rubbers are more forgiving about sloppy glueing practice because ...

1. The sponge surface generally makes a better glue base than "naked" rubber
2. The softness of the sponge helps to even out the pressure, so it's easier to apply pressure to the entire face without using specialised clamping tools.
3. The sponge adds stiffness, so it's easier to handle. Also, with the added stiffness, a small area without proper fixture is less noticeable.

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My blog of failures, etc., also containing equipment list at "resurrection" (referred to in a few of my early posts), and my current lineup
Rating in the middle/low range in the region.
Moderating the LP Attacking subforum in the Technique section.

I agree that rubber cement generally provides better adhesion - especially to the rubber - though generally I find that removing TearMender is easier than removing rubber cement. Though I'm sure that varies depending on the rubber.

As for rubber curl with rubber cement, on thing that you can do is to tape the corners of your rubber down to a hard surface like your counter top before applying the rubber cement. This keeps the rubber in place while it swells and and "bubbles" up. Once dried, the rubber should lay flat again. It's optional if you want to apply glue to the blade at the same time as the rubber or later right before you apply the rubber to the blade. But either way, once the glue on the rubber is dried it is much easier to lay down and get a nice flat glue job. Just be careful not to let the glued sides of the rubber fold against each other.

I think it is easier to get a nice flat glue job with rubber cement than with water based glues. I think this has something to do with the fact that with rubber cement, the rubber is dissolved while with water based glues the rubber is suspended. The drying processes are somewhat different and rubber cement is somewhat malleable when partially dried whereas water based glues are not.

I find the playing feel of TearMender and rubber cement are about the same. Both leave a thin layer of latex rubber between the rubber sheet and blade.

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Jay Turberville
http://www.jayandwanda.com
Hardbat: Nittaku Resist & Dr. Evil

To glue OX with rubber cement in China, they would staple the corners of the rubber to the cardboard it came in, pips down, put the glue on, let it dry and remove the staples. Works good.

Well, what I ended up doing was quite a bit easier than nailing or taping anything. I got this from advice; this isn't my own brilliance. I just put the rubber cement on the rubbers (fun watching them curl up like dickens shows my maturity), let them dry overnight, and put them on the next day by just applying RC to the blade. Worked great! No bubbles!

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

Be careful GAMEr, some rubbers will curl up so much, it will glue to itself and be totally useless.

Wow, that's a lot of curl. Haha I will then!

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

So what rubbers were you talking about?

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Valor Champion (Hardbat)
FH/BH: Valor Premier OX
Valor Kuruxu (Regular TT)
FH: Valor Premier - Sponge
BH: Globe 979 LP OX
http://www.valortabletennis.com

My big EJ days for pips was about 5 years ago. I have the packages from most of the pips I tried but do not remember specifics of each one. I remember Dr Evil reacts to rubber cement alot, and I "think" it was 8512 that was one of the worst. Pogo has a thick base and is pretty easy to glue with rubber cement.

Here is some of the ones I tried but I have no log on how they reacted.
799
563
Screw (reacts to glue)
Dr Evil
Peace Keeper (Dr Evil with thick base sheet) Easy to glue
8512 (I seem to remember this is one that is hard to glue)
979
837 (think this is another hard one to glue)
755 (reacts)
Pogo (easy to glue)
There were more but it's been too long to remember.

Ah. Well, I did with with 802. quite a bit of curl, but not enough to make a problem.

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Happy Holidays 'round the world!

If it is similar to gluing an OX pips then don't apply the glue to the rubber, just the blade. Two layers should do the job. Make sure it is flat and use a roller. Voila

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
Crossover to Takeover!

Maturity? Hah, I don't got an ounce o' that stuff

Maturity is hard to measure...but if you laugh at Failblog, you definitely have some level of immaturity.

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SPW/Solo

We use a 3M double sided adhesive sheet and clamp them for a few hours. Flat, no bubbles, plays great.

http://www.rallytabletennis.com/