What sealant do you use?

[John_]

A friend uses the andro free seal on his Timo boll spirit and I liked how it felt, it didn't harden the blade at all. And now that I glued on some new rubbers for him, I found that the surface is maintained really well, his old rubbers came off easily, but not to the point where they hadn't stuck, and the new rubbers stuck on well.

At the same time an old timer I know uses varnish for fences... And as you can probably guess his blades are all hard as rocks.

I found a guy that sells donic sealant, the donic seal formula. Is it as good as andro's?

 

[SrSTT]

Old guy here- I use a very thin coat of varnish also, same as I did when I was a youngster. I honestly cant tell that it makes any difference in playing feel. But I do prefer a stiffer blade.

For me, it seems that the makeup + age of the sponge, then which glue is used have more effect on the ease of swapping rubbers.

 

[turbozed]

Liquid wipe-on polyurethane works well for me and doesn't change the hardness at all. I use it on my limba blades but don't use it on my koto ones.

 

[John_]

Old guy here- I use a very thin coat of varnish also, same as I did when I was a youngster. I honestly cant tell that it makes any difference in playing feel. But I do prefer a stiffer blade.

For me, it seems that the makeup + age of the sponge, then which glue is used have more effect on the ease of swapping rubbers.

True, it's just that a thicker sealent will make rubbers not stick easily, I just didn't see that happening with the one from andro.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

True, it's just that a thicker sealent will make rubbers not stick easily, I just didn't see that happening with the one from andro.

problem with rubbers not sticking - get sand paper and rough up the area, to allow pores.
pores will allow glue to go in and provide a better bond

 

[Lazer]

Any varnish First a thin layer with a brush, let dry for at least 25 hrs. Then rough it up with a sandpaper. The layer is so thin it doesn’t make much difference…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[impluse101]

Liquid wipe-on polyurethane works well for me and doesn't change the hardness at all. I use it on my limba blades but don't use it on my koto ones.

Koto top ply should use a different sealant?

 

[Ultravisitor]

I use osmo hartwachsöl on my blades. I can't feel a difference. I think it looks better than varnish, and it's easier to touch it up if I hit the blade on the edge of the table

 

[jfolsen]

If you are nervous about using polyurethane or varnish you can get water based sanding sealer.

 

[turbozed]

Koto top ply should use a different sealant?

No but koto is hard enough where it very rarely splinters. You can use wipe on poly on koto as well.

 

[John_]

No but koto is hard enough where it very rarely splinters. You can use wipe on poly on koto as well.

I've had koto spinter. It was quite the shock, but yeah, it's not nearly as bad as limba.

 

[turbozed]

I've had koto spinter. It was quite the shock, but yeah, it's not nearly as bad as limba.

Which blade was it and what glue did you use? You might be the first report I've seen of it happening.

 

[John_]

Which blade was it and what glue did you use? You might be the first report I've seen of it happening.

Viscaria, free chack, both sides and quite significantly as well. Ended up like my clipper and that's not a compliment.

 

[netdriver]

dhs protective coating, i used it on my Yasaka Atletico Spin which has a koto outer but since the worksmanship is very rough for a yasaka blade (ig its poor bc its for the china market) ive had small splinters coming out when i reglued my rubber

2 thin layers, sanding in between and after the 2nd layer

i think its alright, theres not really any noticeable difference when i use it with and without sealant

 

[BaRanchik]

I use Joola's sealant. Two very thin coats, wiping off the excess sealant with paper towels after a coat, and letting each coat dry for 24 hours. No splinters at all in all 8 blades I've used it on, and the coats are so thin it makes no noticable difference.

 

[Topspinslinger]

hairspray go brr

 

[impluse101]

No but koto is hard enough where it very rarely splinters. You can use wipe on poly on koto as well.

Oh ok. I use xiom sealant on limba and koto top ply. My clipper still splintered- and thats only after few changes

 

[John_]

hairspray go brr

I have a 10€ China thing/blade/plywood I'm willing to try it on.😂

 

[jfolsen]

I have a 10€ China thing/blade/plywood I'm willing to try it on.😂

Hairspray works, it just has to be reapplied every time.

 

[jfolsen]

So this is the general order of sealants from least likely to affect how the racket plays to most likely:
1. Hairspray (yes, players used to use this back in the speed glue era).
2. Water based sanding sealer, available but not common, probably have to go to someplace like Woodcraft in the US.
3. Wipe-on polyurethane or other wipe-on oil based finishes. They have been thinned at least 50% over the non wipe-on versions.
4. Regular polyurethane, shellac, lacquer, etc.
As to their ability to prevent splintering, just reverse this list. The more it will prevent splintering, the more likely it will change the way the racket feels by making the surface harder.