Rubber alternatives for Return Board?

[Emin]

I am looking for ways to ( re- ) build my return board.
The one I was using has lost grip and can basically not return any spin anymore.
I bought it at around 35 Euros at the time, which was a great deal, but the price has gone up ever since.

I have another one, that is self-made and can stand on its own behind the table.
It holds up really well with 8x 2.50 Euro rubbers.
The process of buying, glueing, adjusting the rubbers is two much effort and I am looking for an alternative.

What kind of materials could be considered.
The material should:

• have grip, so that it can return the spin
• have rebound, so that the ball doesnt fall down
• ideally hold longer
• be easily mountable
• not smell badly
• not be expensive
• ( maybe more)

Right now I am looking at some stuff on Aliexpress:

Leather Craft Red Rubber mute Board Cutting Hole Punching plate Stamping Tool​

Some sort of leather material?

Polyurethane Elastic Rubber Sheet

Carbon?


Neoprene?

Sandpaper?!?!?

Any ideas how I can make it work?
Any experience with this thing?
Anyone anything?

If nothing works, I might just get another 8 rubbers and speed glue them on the board.
Worked last time, but I am looking for an alternative.

Open for anything!

 

[Zwill]

I would just buy the 2pcs bundle of this 4 times:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005519540204.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.5.7452fi0Hfi0HqX&algo_pvid=05e8ac52-d7b5-48c9-9276-368ce8ee2f8f&algo_exp_id=05e8ac52-d7b5-48c9-9276-368ce8ee2f8f-2&pdp_npi=4@dis!HUF!3007.72!2255.79!!!8.08!6.06!@2101fb1717122399753943169eed4d!12000033394642592!sea!HU!119211638!&curPageLogUid=tRThuXPrwIdE&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:

It is made by Razer sooo you know you are buying into the HIGH-END PC market too.

Anyway, this is like a better pre-made rubber that has a thicker sponge than actual pre-made rackets so for your purpose it should be good.

 

[Doum]

I also have a return board. I don't think that rubber only, without sponge, will have enough rebound or the returned ball will have a weak spin. The magic is in the sponge and pimple.

I use Elmer rubber cement, and rubber installation take maybe 30 minutes. They last for more than a year. I use Huieson thunder EX-800 and they are good and cheap on Aliexpress.

I searched for an alternative material but in the end it was not worth it.

 

[Emin]

I currently have the EX-800 on the other board.
They are holding up quite well.
I can get 8 rubbers for 16 Euros.
Together with speed glue for 5 Euros it is a good price.

Ill see what I can do.

With 2 return boards, you can train really well at home and improve a lot on technique, footwork and movement.
Especially looping underspin and combinations.

 

[Emin]

Small update and important note:

Buy only Black rubbers, not red ones!

Almost all red rubbers lost their grip completely while the black ones are still holding well.

My DIY return board is made of a chess board pattern.
Red rubbers next to black rubbers and vise versa.
That means I dont hit the red rubbers more than the black ones.

But the red rubbers are as smooth as an anti and the black ones are still grippy and even slightly tacky.

So for my next purchase:

Only black rubbers for return board!

 

[dheeruchow]

Can anyone suggest a standing portable return board which ships to india . Budget is 100-120 Dollors tops ?

 

[plunder]

It holds up really well with 8x 2.50 Euro rubbers.

which rubber are these? i use ultra spin t88 on rb1. amazing inexpensive rubber for its purpose.

on rb2 i installed a rubber alternative: PVC mat, originally for desktop PC use (keyboard mouse). It works beautifully as anti. naturally it is more challenging to produce a valid rebound from it.

@dheeruchow i took some time, energy, and efforts to build rb1 and rb2. rb2 is installed** on a commercial rolling TV stand, rb1 is installed** on a commercial desktop monitor pole which in turn is loosely mounted on a haircutter's tripod. And yes rb1 is indeed portable.
** : i could easily uninstall the boards since they're held in place with wingscrews in threaded sleeves. The technical challenge was to precision-position and precision-drill the 4 blind holes with less than ±0.75mm tolerance, otherwise the commercial metal plates wouldn't have fit. A local workshop had helped me with the precision-drilling, the rest was upon me.