Sanding your blade

[Sen02ne]

Hello everyone, I would like an opinion on something I am seeing more and more.
I often see new players in the club sanding their blade before gluing their rubber on it.
My dad has been playing the same blade for 30 years and has never sanded his blade.

Could it be that if you sand your blade that it won't last as long?
Is sanding your blade good for the it?
And what advantages/disadvantages can it have?

 

[Lazer]

First seal it with a thin layer of varnish, then rough it up ever so slightly with a sandpaper.
The advantage with this is that it protects from moisture and that the top layer rips when removing the rubber.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

I hear some people recommending you sand the blade surface lightly to remove glue residue post rubber removal, but the same thing can be achieved without an abrading process like sanding- keep scraps of rubber, or old rubbers, or just rub it with your hand if the surface is smooth enough. You just need friction to rub off the bits of glue should they remain, in order to make the surface clean

 

[turbozed]

Best way Ive found to remove old glue from the blade is to take the balled up glue that you removed from the sponge of the rubber and use it like an eraser. Might even be worth it to keep the ball of glue in a bag for later when you want to remove glue from a rubber later on.

 

[JJ Ng]

All very good suggestions.

I have been peeling rubbers off my 5-ply and 7-ply wood and apparently for each model, the rubbers peel off differently and the residual amount of glue left behind the blade also varies! I am kind of surprised because I never sealed my blade.

For the blade, I agree there are many different ways to peel the old glue off. I just use my hand to press hard against the blade's surface and roll those residual glue into balls, and they come right off. The new water based glue is pretty easy to get off the blade's surface. By contrast, the old PVC glue was a bit more difficult (from the speed glue era) and I had to sand the surface a bit to get glue off. With new glue, I don't see any reason to sand the surface.

To take the glue off the peeled off rubber, that's a totally different story. My club coach can do it. I cannot. I just apply a layer of booster and another layer of glue and stick it onto the next blade. After doing it two times, the surface gets all bumpy and it is time to throw away the rubber by then.

 

[D3nnis]

First seal it with a thin layer of varnish, then rough it up ever so slightly with a sandpaper.
The advantage with this is that it protects from moisture and that the top layer rips when removing the rubber.

Cheers
L-zr

Never heard of using varnish on a blade. Is this only done with a new blade or can i also do it with my blade that is a few years old? Just curious since i started to change the rubbers myself and trying to do this the best way possible so my blade ages as little as possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lazer]

Never heard of using varnish on a blade. Is this only done with a new blade or can i also do it with my blade that is a few years old? Just curious since i started to change the rubbers myself and trying to do this the best way possible so my blade ages as little as possible.

Thanks in advance!

Don't worry about aging, thats only looks as long as You keep it away from moisture. Yes You can do it with any blade new or old, but it does not make much sense to do it over an already treated blade.

Make sure the blade is void from rubber (and other) residue.,
Then one thin layer of varnish, make sure all parts are covered (blade only not handle)
Let dry completely ~12 hrs or so.
Then take a sand paper and rough it up lightly so that the glue can attach easier.

When You remove the rubber it is important to do it against the grain (from side to side). Not bottom up or top down. The wood is strongest in that direction. And the longer the rubber stays on the bigger the chance is for rips.

But even if You get rips it's no disaster, most of them are fixable. Small ones just cover with several layers of varnish.
Bigger ones cover with paper drenched in varnish. and real big ones cut a piece of wood veneer and glue it on there and then varnish. After treatment use sand paper to get an even level. Be careful not to sand too much.

Note that most types of clear lacquers can be used instead of varnish. I just do other wood work so I happen to have old fashioned varnish always available.

BTW, I just varnished a new blade last night. Now the handle is getting a linseed oil treatment. Something I do to protect it from sweat and most of the time it looks nicer and sets it apart. That procedure is far from necessary.

Cheers
L-zr

 

[WingTT]

As you have guessed, the folks sanding their blades to prep it for regluing are doing it wrong but it will work for a little while until the sanding starts removing enough wood. You remove left over glue by using something called a rubber cement eraser. It is basically a block of latex.

 

[Gtsnake]

Never heard of using varnish on a blade. Is this only done with a new blade or can i also do it with my blade that is a few years old? Just curious since i started to change the rubbers myself and trying to do this the best way possible so my blade ages as little as possible.

Thanks in advance!

It doesn't have to be exactly "varnish". It can be any type of sealer for wood. I just use polyurethane from Home Depot. My wood never splinters when I change rubber and helps to eliminate stains on the handle from your sweat.

 

[disaster3]

im not an expert but would like to hear your suggestion. When I got my Q968 Nat it was not so smooth but I put 2 thin layers of TT lacquer Joola. Today I removed used rubbers and would like to prepare blade for new. I take sand paper #320 and sanded down a bit and the surface is really smooth.
And the question is should I:
1. Seal a thin layer of lacquer and then glue and rubber?
2. Seal a thin layer of lacquer sand it down a bit then glue and rubber?
3. Because I sanded down and this is smooth, just put the glue and rubber w/o lacquering?

Would appreciate you help as I’m not an expert and would not like to damage my precious blade 😀

 

[Lazer]

Seal it again since you may have taken the first layer of. After it has dried, rough it up ever so slightly so that the glue has something to grip. After this you don’t need to do this again…

But a sealed blade is no absolute guarantee against ripping, but it definitely reduces the possibility…

Cheers
L-zr