Boosting Friendship RITC 729 experiment.

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I boost without glue so I’ll just press the sheet by a book after it can be reasonably flattened without much force. But this is understandably un experiment so u want it to be natural but it’s gonna take really long.
 
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says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
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I boost without glue so I’ll just press the sheet by a book after it can be reasonably flattened without much force. But this is understandably un experiment so u want it to be natural but it’s gonna take really long.

that’s what this thread is really about!!, a lot of people say let the doming go down before gluing, which I think reduces the tensioning effect on the top sheet, specially if the sheet size returns to pre boosted size.
and it just takes too long!!!! Glue it when domed !!!
 
says Table tennis clown
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Revo glue is very good, you can get it in different viscosities as well.

Yep, I got the medium one and thin it with the appropriate mix of Ammonia.
The manufacturers were very helpful with info.
I am thinning it mainly because medium viscosity is not self-leveling anymore, Maybe an old batch, it was cheap from Tabletennis 11
 
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Not very surprising for me. It’ll take a week at least if you want it to be completely natural. Or maybe never :cool:
 
says toooooo much choice!!
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928530A5-5732-495A-B412-AF3C477A9941.jpg5A71BCAF-9B96-4C7C-AAD0-6E57D6633D93.jpg

curling is now going down.
Size remains the same 167 x 170mm

i’ll see if it flattens some more by Tuesday evening, likely to be glued on Wednesday !!

interesting that even though the doming/curling has reduced the sheet size has remained the same as at max doming.

So has the booster soaked thru the sponge and also softened up the rubber, allowing it to stretch and increase in size ? Which happens a lot slower than the the initial reaction with the booster and sponge?
has any tension in the rubber been lost?? When compared to the sheet glued earlier.

black sheet showing no signs of de-bonding from blade.
4DD548D6-AD3F-4422-A626-3F2AA91E4F8E.jpg 880D6726-3324-498C-B4B7-BDF46E176466.jpg
 
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It happens a lot to me. I always have to trim the rubbers whenever I reboost. The only exception is MX-P, which shrinks like crazy! It’s probably one of reason why the rubber gets mushier and softer and mushier and softer after continuous reboosting.
 
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Red sheet has flattened out and been glued on !!!
AD3FA660-CDB2-4D14-822E-C19DAA35F8D0.jpg925D56C9-6046-4A5D-BFE9-314A6C9388EA.jpg
hopefully the pimple structure can be seen on the Red rubber, can just be made out on the Black sheet.

couple of points to note -
a) slightly less tackiness
b) a) has resulted in a change in bounce test, ball now bounces more due to loss of tackiness.
ball pick up test, ball is held up for far less time, around 50% less.

now these rubbers have not been used , I have experienced the loss of tackiness with other un-boosted and boosted Chinese rubbers, but generally after a period of time, usually a couple of weeks, sometimes less but generally after at least 4 hrs of playing time. No strict rule though.

However I feel that the loss of tackiness maybe down to the booster soaking through the sponge and interacting with the rubber. ?? The rubbers DO NOT feel ‘dead’ but the 1st bounce test with the black rubber was typical of a tacky Chinese rubber, now both Black and Red are bouncier!!
 
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However I feel that the loss of tackiness maybe down to the booster soaking through the sponge and interacting with the rubber. ?? The rubbers DO NOT feel ‘dead’ but the 1st bounce test with the black rubber was typical of a tacky Chinese rubber, now both Black and Red are bouncier!!

More likely because they’ve been in the open air for a couple of days so the tack dries out a bit. This happens to my bats that I leave out for shadow practising.
 
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More likely because they’ve been in the open air for a couple of days so the tack dries out a bit. This happens to my bats that I leave out for shadow practising.

I agree. While I like tacky rubbers, so long as the grip is there, I don't fret too much over it as I've never had a 729 rubber stay nearly as tacky after X period of time as compared to when you first pull off that sticky sheet. I actually think 729 rubbers are not all that tacky.

Now any version of hurricane 3 is a different story. IDK why that's different but I have year plus old versions of that stuff and it's still fairly tacky. Go figure.

I use Falco to boost and sometimes I do it. Sometimes I don't. I don't like how long I have to wait for the dome to gown down enough so the edges don't curl up anymore. That being said, softening these tacky hard rubbers to more tacky and say medium sponge feel is what I prefer. So I do like the difference boosting makes there.
 
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says Table tennis clown
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In the recent competition in China I observed Ma Long kept looking at his rubber , then in the break I saw him deal to the excessive tackiness by gently """tapping""" the rubber surface with the bunched up towel.

I do that now whenever i glue on a new H3 otherwise I can hardly play the darn thing , being a veteran with limited strength. (just another way of saying "old cripple" ;))
 
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Hi,

I used the set up this evening, on the TAMCA blade the rubbers were effortlessly fast !! Good bounce, but not a real catapult feeling.

I even found it pretty easy to chop against topspin, more controlled than the donic Allround Dotec blade with R48 (bh) and RakzaZ (fh) on it!!! ( That I used afterwards.)
The chops with the 729/TAMCA felt crisp and controlled. Back Spin was good / high spin

Top spin fh & bh was good, high spin and speed, good forward kick. Speed is down to the blade really.
would the friendship 729 be as fast as R48 or RakzaZ on the TAMCA, Of course not, but for myself the 729 would be far more playable !!! The 729/TAMCA is faster than the All round Donic Applegren Dotec with the R48 and RazkaZ on it.
What I did notice that when I hit faster the ball started to go long, but this is down to my technique really !!!

Serving - initial serves, 1st 10 or so were in the net!! Due to the quickness of the blade, once I was accustomed to the speed, the serves were very good, high spin levels.

So for a rubber that costs about €10 the performance is very good, the boosting has made it easier to play and combined with a very fast blade it becomes a ‘nasty’ weapon!!!

The difference in gluing times, ie when domed and after doming has gone down, doesn’t seem to have made any difference to how both the sheets actually played or felt, both were used on FH/BH equally.

But for reducing the boosting procedure duration, I would go for gluing when curled/domed [maybe not if over boosted and the sheet is a cylinder!!!)
Get some good strong glue like Revolution no3 or DHS 15 and use a book or piece of ply bigger than the blade with a heavy weight on it to act as a press. This should deal with any curling, some trial and error is involved as well, some blades have very smooth surfaces, and could be factory treated with a sealer which can be difficult for glues to stick to, a light rub down helps to stop this.

Hopefully you’ll have some fun boosting rubbers, next for me, is to try boosting a ESN type rubber with high catapult and see what happens - total mush?? Better speed? Better feel?
 
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The difference in gluing times, ie when domed and after doming has gone down, doesn’t seem to have made any difference to how both the sheets actually played or felt, both were used on FH/BH equally.

But for reducing the boosting procedure duration, I would go for gluing when curled/domed [maybe not if over boosted and the sheet is a cylinder!!!)

Ma Long may say otherwise. But I’m very happy with the conclusion. I usually wait for 24hr and then press the rubber for a few hours before glueing. It’s still much easier when the rubber is relatively flat. It’s all down to convenience.
 
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In the recent competition in China I observed Ma Long kept looking at his rubber , then in the break I saw him deal to the excessive tackiness by gently """tapping""" the rubber surface with the bunched up towel.

I do that now whenever i glue on a new H3 otherwise I can hardly play the darn thing , being a veteran with limited strength. (just another way of saying "old cripple" ;))

He does that for quite some time now. I wouldnt guess he works "against" the tackiness with it but against any form of humidity on the rubber which comes from his breath or his sweat.
Either way, the tackiness helps usually to be able to perform their short game. And i highly doubt that Ma Long has any problem with hitting hard enough. Especially the way they hit, no tackiness in the world would slow down their shot^^
 
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says toooooo much choice!!
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I agree. While I like tacky rubbers, so long as the grip is there, I don't fret too much over it as I've never had a 729 rubber stay nearly as tacky after X period of time as compared to when you first pull off that sticky sheet. I actually think 729 rubbers are not all that tacky.

Now any version of hurricane 3 is a different story. IDK why that's different but I have year plus old versions of that stuff and it's still fairly tacky. Go figure.

I use Falco to boost and sometimes I do it. Sometimes I don't. I don't like how long I have to wait for the dome to gown down enough so the edges don't curl up anymore. That being said, softening these tacky hard rubbers to more tacky and say medium sponge feel is what I prefer. So I do like the difference boosting makes there.


Hi,

not so much any version of H3, H3 National blue sponge, I’ve had 2 sheets, boosted one, didn’t the other. But as far as tackiness is concerned neither had very high tackiness unlike the std sheet of H3 I have, which was very tacky, and 6 months later is still tackier than the Nat version!!
 
says Table tennis clown
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He does that for quite some time now. I wouldnt guess he works "against" the tackiness with it but against any form of humidity on the rubber which comes from his breath or his sweat.
Either way, the tackiness helps usually to be able to perform their short game. And i highly doubt that Ma Long has any problem with hitting hard enough. Especially the way they hit, no tackiness in the world would slow down their shot^^

You might be right my friend.
I have also seen players deliberately roll a handful of of new balls over new H3s, using the residual talcum powder on the balls to get rid of the initial stickiness. I am using the word stickiness deliberately here because I think there is a difference between the initial stickiness and the "nearly everlasting tackiness" of the standard H3
 
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Hi,

not so much any version of H3, H3 National blue sponge, I’ve had 2 sheets, boosted one, didn’t the other. But as far as tackiness is concerned neither had very high tackiness unlike the std sheet of H3 I have, which was very tacky, and 6 months later is still tackier than the Nat version!!

I bet they filter the quality of glue treatment. If it’s perfect it goes to pro/nat. Too much, combine it with sub-par sponge and sell it as commercial. Too little, discard. :cool::cool::cool:

I boosted my 3 month old Rakza Z (50 degree) last week as it’s a little dead. Wow! I found the right combo. It’s now as soft and sensible as Fastarc G1 (47 degree) I used to play with, but with tackiness and low throw. I did the same for old G1, MX-P, MX-S before and they all felt very weird. So if you want to boost ESN, get the very hard (50 or above) version.
 
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