VOC vs water based Glue

I was wondering, does the glue that contains VOCs also provide a perfectly flat glue job? It might be not that important for everyone, but I can't stand it when there are (many) imperfections in the flatness of the glue job. I realize that in a lot of cases it won't affect how it plays, but it's something that would keep my mind occupied. I guess that's just the way I am .

And what about the use of the oldschool glue for tensor rubbers, doesn't it cause significant shrinkage? This only would be a problem if you want to reglue the rubbers?

Is there anything you can say about the shelf life compared to water based glues?

Jirrex said:

I was wondering, does the glue that contains VOCs also provide a perfectly flat glue job? It might be not that important for everyone, but I can't stand it when there are (many) imperfections in the flatness of the glue job. I realize that in a lot of cases it won't affect how it plays, but it's something that would keep my mind occupied. I guess that's just the way I am .

And what about the use of the oldschool glue for tensor rubbers, doesn't it cause significant shrinkage? This only would be a problem if you want to reglue the rubbers?

Is there anything you can say about the shelf life compared to water based glues?

Click to expand...

For me, the light VOC glue provides a perfect flat job whereas the water-based glue requires a bigger hassle to produce that kind of result. It does cause a slight shrinkage once you remove the rubbers. The shelf life of both glues is very long, never had a problem with that.

thomas.pong said:

For me, the light VOC glue provides a perfect flat job whereas the water-based glue requires a bigger hassle to produce that kind of result. It does cause a slight shrinkage once you remove the rubbers. The shelf life of both glues is very long, never had a problem with that.

Click to expand...

That sounds pretty interesting. I thought it might be harder since the glue itself seems pretty thick, which made me think that getting an even layer wasn't that easy. Is it that the layer levels out once the glue has dried?

Jirrex said:

That sounds pretty interesting. I thought it might be harder since the glue itself seems pretty thick, which made me think that getting an even layer wasn't that easy. Is it that the layer levels out once the glue has dried?

Click to expand...

It's actually not too thick, at least the one I use (Wack Sport). I wait 15 minutes to dry and the layer does level out and I get a very straight smooth glue job with it, no lumps or air bubbles. I think it penetrates the sponge more to level out then a lot of it evaporates as I don't get much residue when ungluing on neither the blade or rubbers, yet it sticks really well with just one layer on each, and the rubbers won't lift unless you peel them off (after months, a year, whenever you decide to change them), which for me is easier and a much more gentle process than with water-based glue which leaves a lot of residue.

thomas.pong said:

It's actually not too thick, at least the one I use (Wack Sport). I wait 15 minutes to dry and the layer does level out and I get a very straight smooth glue job with it, no lumps or air bubbles. I think it penetrates the sponge more to level out then a lot of it evaporates as I don't get much residue when ungluing on neither the blade or rubbers, yet it sticks really well with just one layer on each, and the rubbers won't lift unless you peel them off (after months, a year, whenever you decide to change them), which for me is easier and a much more gentle process than with water-based glue which leaves a lot of residue.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I ordered some Falco VOC (non-speed) glue, two friends of mine want a new racket soon and asked if I could build it for them. It seems a good opportunity for an expirement, and I was running out of waterbased glue anyways. I realized that I watched a video from someone who was using Elmer's Rubber Cement, so that's probably the reason that I thought it was kinda thick.

If needed, it's an easy job to remove glue from blade and sponge?

Jirrex said:

Thanks for the information. I ordered some Falco VOC (non-speed) glue, two friends of mine want a new racket soon and asked if I could build it for them. It seems a good opportunity for an expirement, and I was running out of waterbased glue anyways. I realized that I watched a video from someone who was using Elmer's Rubber Cement, so that's probably the reason that I thought it was kinda thick.

If needed, it's an easy job to remove glue from blade and sponge?

Click to expand...

Let us know what you think of it.

The one I've been using removes very easily, much better than water-based.

thomas.pong said:

Let us know what you think of it.

The one I've been using removes very easily, much better than water-based.

Click to expand...

I will let you know for sure, although I don't know exactly when I'll be building the new rackets.

Did you seal your blades when using glue that contains VOCs?
You didn't experience any issues gluing the Tenergy rubbers? I've read some mixed opinions about Tenergy and the oldschool glue.

Jirrex said:

I will let you know for sure, although I don't know exactly when I'll be building the new rackets.

Did you seal your blades when using glue that contains VOCs?
You didn't experience any issues gluing the Tenergy rubbers? I've read some mixed opinions about Tenergy and the oldschool glue.

Click to expand...

No I didn't seal my blades and didn't have any issues gluing or removing the Tenergy or MX-P rubbers with this glue.

Jirrex said:

If needed, it's an easy job to remove glue from blade and sponge?

Click to expand...

Hey Jirrex, i think we spoke about this a while ago, remember?

A few drops of oil should solve this.
[Emoji2]

Suga D said:

Hey Jirrex, i think we spoke about this a while ago, remember?

A few drops of oil should solve this.
[Emoji2]

Click to expand...

Good evening Suga D,

To be honest I couldn't remember it anymore, I thought our glue related conversations were mostly about water based glue. Anyway, thanks for clarifying .

What's your take on this whole 'water based vs VOC based glue' discussion? If I remember correctly, in a thread you once said that the old glue could be even used to 'wet glue', and that it affected the feeling of the racket.

Jirrex said:

Good evening Suga D,

To be honest I couldn't remember it anymore, I thought our glue related conversations were mostly about water based glue. Anyway, thanks for clarifying .

What's your take on this whole 'water based vs VOC based glue' discussion? If I remember correctly, in a thread you once said that the old glue could be even used to 'wet glue', and that it affected the feeling of the racket.

Click to expand...

No worries, it's been quite a while, and yes, it mainly was about wbg.
Well nevertheless, the oil trick works with both glue types.

Tbh, i haven't been using VOC glue for at least 2 or 3 years now, but two of my teammates find using wbg too much of a hassle, so they use the VOC glue instead and let it breath for a day or two.
But afaik they don't use it like in the days of old. And certainly never more than one or two layers.
On the pro side though VOC glue dries much faster than wbg and overall is easier to deal with.
No matter if it's called speedglue or not, the VOC will create a slight boosting effect, so if you use too much of it the chances that the topsheet might tear increase a lot. Most of the times only around the edge, but still.

I think using a rubber that isn't pretuned (or rather prestretched) as much isn't so prone to tear. IMHO VOC glue gives the best results when used with classic rubbers.

I still would agree with Thomas Pong. If you just glue it on and let it stay and don't stretch the rubber while glueing not much should happen. But if you use it like back in the days and wetglue after each match the [new type] rubbers gonna suffer.

Have a splendid evening, mate. Gotta meet a friend now, but I'll be back in a jiffy.