GLUE SHEETS...The Good, the Bad (and the Ugly?)

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I have never used glue sheets. I am terrible at gluing rubbers. It always turns out bad, so I have resorted to asking others to do that for me, but that is not always ideal.
A friend of mine told me that he uses glue sheets and they are very fast and easy to use and the results are always great. This is for normal smooth non pip rubbers.
Besides the cost (which doesn't bother me), are there good reasons for me not to use glue sheets? I am about a 1900 to 2000 USATT level player (I play in a regional league in Europe). I have heard that some people think that a glue sheet alters the playing characteristics of a rubber. If so, in what specific ways (slower? faster? spinnier? etc). Any recommendations for specific brand of glue sheet or does it not matter? I am hoping that glue sheets are a good solution for a bad gluer like me.
Thanks very much for the help.
 
says Table tennis clown
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in their simplest form they are a layer of glue sandwiched between 2 sheets of high gloss paper.
They can be cheap, like the ones from XVT.
If you are sure that you will throw the rubber away when you take it off the blade they work fine.
If you want to re-use the rubber this can be a problem because while it is easy to remove the glue from the blade
there can be a real problem getting it off the sponge.

I never used the expensive sheets but was told that they have a sticky side that goes towards the blade and
a less stickier side towards the sponge, making it easy to get the glue off the sponge.

One has to develop a technique to apply the sheets using a roller to avoid air-bubbles but once mastered
the procedure is quick and the rubbers stick real good.

I am, using glue now and keep some sheets only for doing favors when somebody needs some cheap rubbers
replaced on a cheap blade and i know the rubber will stay on the blade for maybe a year or a lifetime. 😁

As for the alleged dampening effect it might be existing - it might not.
Would it be measurable :"maybe"
 
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I use cheap glue now. It's soft on the blade so doesn't Risk splinters. ButGlue sheets are goodGet the most expensive bty ones you can. The two sides are amazing. Just ensure the blade is hinoki or koto or sealed as they hold quite strong. very easy to use and last a long time.

If you cannot glue they're a god send.
I used to use them for a two year period before I got into EJ and then the re using rubbers was an issue
 
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GD Talon OX use to come with glue sheets so I used them Some antis come with glue sheets too because they are fragile and the glue may ruin them. My Megablock anti came with a glue sheet. I have never had problems removing the rubber from the blade but the glue sheet isn't usable again.

If the glue sheets do anything, they would slightly increase the damping. Like others above, I don't think it is noticeable.

755 OX is difficult to clue because it curls when glue is applied. There are YouTube videos that show two techniques with success. One is gluing the paddle and then attaching the rubber to a wine bottle with tape on two corners and rolling it on. The other method uses wax paper. The blade is glued but wax paper is put over it and then the rubber. The wax paper is then removed slowly making sure the rubber attaches to the blade without bubbles or curling.
 
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says Table tennis clown
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I don't think there would ever be a problem using sheets when mounting AND taking off OX rubbers, the problem though is
definitely existing when sponge is involved.
I can also only talk from experience with the cheap XVT glue sheets.
I stopped using them because I have started to experiment with different rubbers and lost a few because parts of the glue from the sheets
remained on the sponges. If one tries to pick the bits of glue of the sponge often sponge-parts come away with it.
Getting glue off the blades is easy, one can simply wash it off with mineral Turpentine. (if the blade has been sealed originally.)

Thing is: once a rubber and the blade have been prepared with proper water based glue, the procedure to apply the rubbers to the blade
is virtually exactly the same as when using glue-sheets. 😁😁😁
 
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How do you do when you glue?


glue.jpeg

 
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You are adding a piece of plastic between the rubber and the blade for sure. Table tennis is a sport of delicacy and feeling. There is no reason why a good player cannot glue a piece of rubber. Maybe it’s time to believe in yourself and buy a tube of Nittaku Finezip and get on with it.

(I know. I sound like Nittaku is paying me a lot…)
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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I think, one solution would be to get some glue and a cheapo setup like a Yinhe Galaxy 896 blade with 729 rubber and use it to practice gluing.
--
There is no reason for gluing to be anything but simply. You put a layer of glue on the wood. A layer of glue on the sponge and then you apply and cut. A little practice with stuff that won't break the bank will make you more confident doing it with the equipment you want to use.
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Nothing against glue sheets. But if you had the discipline to get up to the level you are at, it had to happen as a result of practice. That means you understand the principle of practice. All getting acceptably decent at gluing takes is a little bit of practice. Not caring too much about the outcome helps as well.
 
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I echo others sentiments as a complete noob to serious TT in general. Went from pre-made to several bat/rubber combinations with relative ease. I got super nervous of course but am confident in my ability to do mechanical detail oriented things.
It is actually very easy to do. Easy and satisfying. Cutting is the hardest part but that is super easy too. You can do it! Get started!

Sent from my BBB100-1 using Tapatalk
 
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Thank you very much for all of the responses...very much appreciated.

I do NOT change rubbers nor blades frequently. Quite the opposite. Therefore, I do not need to glue that often and I am not going to get a lot of practice gluing. I also am not really concerned about re-using rubbers after I have removed them from a blade.

From what I have read from many of the responses, the conclusion is that glue sheets should do the job quite well, as long as I use good quality glue sheets (avoid the cheapies).

There MIGHT be (and there might not be) a slight "dampening effect". It seems that this effect will be so minor that I might not even know that it is there. Besides, what does "dampening" mean? If it means that I might give up a small amount of speed and gain a small amount of control, then I welcome that as I am primarily a two-wing chopper that typically gets 1-3 points per set from attacking.

Do my conclusions make sense overall? Again, thanks to all that have responded and shared their opinions and experiences. Its very nice to know that people on this forum genuinely want to help others.

 
says Table tennis clown
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Thank you very much for all of the responses...very much appreciated.

I do NOT change rubbers nor blades frequently. Quite the opposite. Therefore, I do not need to glue that often and I am not going to get a lot of practice gluing. I also am not really concerned about re-using rubbers after I have removed them from a blade.

From what I have read from many of the responses, the conclusion is that glue sheets should do the job quite well, as long as I use good quality glue sheets (avoid the cheapies).

There MIGHT be (and there might not be) a slight "dampening effect". It seems that this effect will be so minor that I might not even know that it is there. Besides, what does "dampening" mean? If it means that I might give up a small amount of speed and gain a small amount of control, then I welcome that as I am primarily a two-wing chopper that typically gets 1-3 points per set from attacking.

Do my conclusions make sense overall? Again, thanks to all that have responded and shared their opinions and experiences. Its very nice to know that people on this forum genuinely want to help others.


Good on ye !
I have only ever used the cheap xvt glue sheets , it is all in the technique.
If you watch the video again, there is the part where the "expert" is using a roller when he applies the rubber to the blade.
I am using the roller also to apply the glue sheet to the blade.
On one side of the sheet I fold back the protective paper by about 2 cm then carefully offer this gluey part up to the blade
near the handle, making sure to avoid the bubbles
The roller then goes on top of the sheet and is rolled towards the top of the blade while simultaneously pulling away the
reminder of the protective paper away from under the sheet = no bubbles.

all the best to ye

 
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UPDATE: A few weeks ago I purchased some glue sheets and tried gluing the new rubber. In short, it was EASY, QUiCK and I got GREAT results.

DETAILS: I used a glue sheet called STICKFAST by Cornilleou. The reason that I chose this product is that I know someone who used it and said that it worked well. Additionally, I was impatient and wanted to try it out right away and I was able to drive 10 minutes to a local general sporting goods store and get it there (it was literally on the shelf at the store). It comes in a package that looks like the same packaging as a sheet of rubber comes in and is quite inexpensive.....under $5 usd for a pack of 2 sheets (4 Euros). Considering the time that you save, I think its very reasonable.

The glue sheets come with basic instructions and illustrations......so easy...you dont need any practice or special skills and you can be virtually braindead and do it well. One side of the glue sheet is marked as the side that gets applied to the blade and the other side is for the rubber. You apply the sheet to the blade first and it took just a few seconds to achieve a PERFECTLY uniform layer of glue on the blade. There is no need to wait for it to dry to then roll the rubber onto the blade. Then all you need to do is to cut off the excess rubber as you would do normally. Less than 5 minutes after I started, I was ready to start playing.

I have been playing with the newly glued rubber for about 3 weeks and have had no problems at all. The rubber is NOT pealing off the blade at the edges at all. It feels great.

SUMMARY: I am not saying that glue sheets are for everyone, but if you are like me and you glue infrequently, this is an awesome solution that provides excellent results. Its definitely faster than using conventional glue and I didn't notice an odor at all.

I am happy that I experimented with this product and I expect to always use glue sheets in the future.

 
says Table tennis clown
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You are adding a piece of plastic between the rubber and the blade for sure. Table tennis is a sport of delicacy and feeling. There is no reason why a good player cannot glue a piece of rubber. Maybe it’s time to believe in yourself and buy a tube of Nittaku Finezip and get on with it.

(I know. I sound like Nittaku is paying me a lot…)


That is information from an ""Uneducated"" There is no piece of plastic added. What is added is a thin layer of glue, exactly the same as
when one is using normal liquid glue.
The difference being that one has to wait for the liquid glue to dry first

 
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