Stiga Quality Control issue not happy!!!

I have this blade and yes I lost a part of the top ply when changing rubbers and I have read others with this problem. I would say that it's not a QC problem it's just that the top ply of this blade is rly thin and brittle sadly.

I know someone who had a Stiga Infinity VPS and the top ply started delaminating. He sent it back, got another and the same thing happened again.

And sorry but, of course it is a quality control issue. If they have the right amount of glue on the plies before they laminate and they add the right amount of pressure and keep the pressure for the right amount of time, then, no matter how thin the top ply is, that will not happen. I think what is probably happening in production is that there are spots where--for some reason, with this particular blade and the specific gluing process they are using for that top ply--there is not enough glue. And so it delaminates at those spots.

Stiga has been making paper thin top plies on many many blades for many many years. That is one of the secrets to why their blades have such good feeling.

But, there is some quality control issue with the Infinity VPS that has caused many people to have the top ply to delaminate. It may also be a research and development issue where the glue they are using for that particular lamination isn't binding properly. But even if that is the case. That should be uncovered by quality control as well.

But Stiga is notorious for having bad quality control. However, the issue with Infinity VPS is bigger than most of their quality control issues.

My Stiga Contra delaminated in a number of places when I stripped the old Yasaka rubbers off in order to put my Aurus on, in fact a number of chunks of the top ply parted company completely. However the blade is 30+ years old and the old rubbers were put on for me in the days before VOC-based glues were banned, so those rubbers were held on with God-only-knows-what. The issue was solved with Plastic Wood, patience and oodles of sandpaper - clunky, but effective. Now I look at my Joola K7, note that the top ply appears to be the thickness of a cigarette paper (if you don't know what one of those is you didn't mis-spend your youth properly) and wonder precisely what will happen when I have to renew the Rhyzm........

If you seal the top play a blade, changing rubbers is much easier and doesn't damage the top ply. But a blade that delaminates after a few months, without being played and without changing rubbers is a whole different issue.


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Same thing has happened to my son's Infinity. He's only 9 and although he's good for his age he hardly hits like Ovtcharov so it has to be a manufacturing fault. Half the top layer is flapping about. I contacted Stiga but they just told me to go back to where I'd bought it from even though under EU law they are responsible. I've done what they asked though so we'll see what happens next. They say the test of a company is not whether you ever have a problem but by how they respond when you do have a problem. Stiga passed the buck so let's see how well Dandoy do!

My infinity VPS is "fine", but this is really a big issue........not even playing with it and already the problem appeared. Stiga should have asked you to send your blade to their adress, asked your adress, and send you a brand new blade.

Well, I know someone who had the blade replaced because of this problem. And it was with the same blade. And the blade Stiga sent him had the same thing. So, I believe there is a problem with the gluing process for this particular blade. I know a few other people who had the same thing with the Infinity as well. Too many people with the same exact issue for it not to be a problem that Stiga needs to address on a larger scale. Like fixing the manufacturing process of that particular blade.

I have had the same problem with an Infinity.

I have been playing with the Infinity for a while with several different infinity blades without hearing about this problem, sad to hear that you guys have not receive the same quality as me.. Make sure to seal the blade and also be careful when changing rubbers. Not fun to hear that some of you have problems with the blade since it's on of my favorite blades when it comes to how it performs. Good luck getting a new one with better quality.

Don't know too much about the infinity but years ago a few people in my club had stiga blades and I have to say they wernt the best from a quality point of view , splitting on the edges and poor finishes, having said that I had a clippa oversized for a while many years ago and it was fine, it would be interesting to know if stigas gluing technic is any different to other makes? Or maybe it's just the top veneer on this particular blade that the glue has a problem with! Good luck whatever!

I had the same problem on my infinty vps v.

I used to play with the Infinity ever since it first came out. I never had any problem what so ever with the quality.

I don't think this has anything to do with sealing the blade or pulling off old rubbers or putting on new ones. The blades I have seen with this issue had it happen with the first and only rubbers that were put in still on. So no taking off rubber.

I believe Stiga is doing something where they are putting some special material, with the glue, between the plies but that is causing the glue not to bond the wood.

There are too many Infinity blades that this has happened to for it not to be a Research and Development issue. I don't know of other Stiga blades that this particular issue occurs to.


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I've had the same problem with my Rosewood XO, though mine was a bit dented at the points that the layers separated. I even created a thread here a while back with photos of my blade.

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/f...ewood-XO-from-TableTennis11-com-quality-issue

I contacted TT11 with the photos and (to their credit), offered me a full refund.

Good job by TT11.

joskelly said:

Same thing has happened to my son's Infinity. He's only 9 and although he's good for his age he hardly hits like Ovtcharov so it has to be a manufacturing fault. Half the top layer is flapping about. I contacted Stiga but they just told me to go back to where I'd bought it from even though under EU law they are responsible. I've done what they asked though so we'll see what happens next. They say the test of a company is not whether you ever have a problem but by how they respond when you do have a problem. Stiga passed the buck so let's see how well Dandoy do!

Click to expand...

That is a really good photo of really bad quality control issues. Well laminated wood should never delaminate the way that ply has separated from the core.

That has to be a function of the glue, the lamination process, how they pressed the plies while bonding the glue, whether there actually is enough glue in the areas that are delaminating, perhaps something in the glue that is preventing the glue from bonding to the wood. It has to be at least one of those things.

In a good bonding process, the glue should actually sink into the pores and fibers of the wood on both sides so that they actually bond to each other. If it is bonded well, and you used a tool between the two plies to try and pry them apart, you should end up leaving fibers of each ply on the other piece of wood in many places as you try to separate the two plies. This is coming off clean on its own, with no need of help.

I am lucky I have never experienced those bad batches of Stiga blades. So far I owned the Stiga 3000 and a Clipper CR, both solidly built and having really nice touch.