BLADE SEALER ?

Yeah, I'm a "pro player" wannabe,

can you tell me the best way to SEAL a blade?

In "my day" I could loop loops with the "pros", kinda....
 
              

Some people say that some types of wood do not need to be sealed. However, rather than taking a risk on expensive blades, I seal all my blades (lightly) with wood varnish. I never tried clear lacquer spray paint, so far I tried Polyurethane, wood varnish and hairspray. I think hairspray is too light and I am afraid it does not give sufficient bonding strength, so I do not use it anymore, but it could be just something in my mind. From what I read in this forum everybody seems to be happy also with hairspray.

But first . . .

DO NOT USE HAIRSPRAY. I tried it on a dozen blades. Yes, it will help, but it's way too light and comes off too easily . . . and usually unevenly. Why use a homestyle remedy anyway? Do you live so far from civilization that you can't get to a hardware store? Sorry for the sarcassm, but what I thought was a convenient way to seal my blades no longer makes sense to me. *If Hairspray works for you then it works for you. My disclaimer . . . it didn't work for me in the long-run and believe me . . . I wanted it to work!

One time I put several painstaking coats of hairspray on an expensive 5-ply wood blade and It looked very pretty, but somehow a drop of water landed on it. I quickly blotted it off, but it made a hole through all those lovely layers of hairspray. I tried spot-filling. NO LUCK. I had to remove all the hairspray with rubbing alcohol and start over. YIKES!!!! Luckily, the stuff comes off easily.

VARATHANE DIAMOND INTERIOR WOOD FINISH-SATIN (not gloss)-#2002-61.

*Prepare blade first. If you have to lightly sand, do it carefully with a fine guage sponge sanding block. Do not round off blade edges. Use rubbing alcohol to clean. Let dry (a few minutes). Now you're ready . . .

1. Stir Can well without shaking (causes air bubbles).
2. Dip the corner (twisted or folded up a little) of clean, dry cotton cloth* and quickly rub the sealer into the blade and with a technique that covers evenly. I go in circles starting at the center of the face of the blade and work my way to the outter edges, then wipe along the side edge (perimeter) of the blade where the edge tape will go, then quickly return to the face of the blade to wipe off any spill over from the edge sealing with some light vertical strokes from handle out over top of blade. You might want to stroke a nice even level line across the top of the handle where the bottom edge of the rubber will go; however, I think it looks better and strenthens the blade to seal the wings/shoulder. Some prefer to use a sponge or china bristle brush when applying, but that leaves a heavy coat and/or streaks of sealant. THAT IS NO GOOD. The trick is to rub the sealant INTO the blade, then gently wipe off the excess with the cloth. Some use a good quality paper towel. Basically, use whatever is clean and doesn't leave link or fuzz stuck in the wet sealant.
3. Wait two hours, then polish with a clean dry cloth.
4. Repeat.
5. Repeat a third or forth time ONLY if the blade is like bare porous wood (I have over sealed and made a mess. My blade looked like an over protected night table . . . hard as a rock). Luckily, I managed to fix this by sanding with a fine gauge wet sanding sponge and it took hours to repair my disaster. But only do this if you mess up, which you shouldn't.
6. Wait 24-hours.
7. Affix your rubbers! I use glue sheets and NEVER get splinters when removing!!!!!!

*Use a cotton cloth that will not leave lint of fall apart and get stuck to your wet sealer. I use an old pair of 100% cotton boxer shorts. :-).

I don't remember who turned me on to this Sealer, but it was on this site. My hats off to him/her. I added the boxer shorts.

20070624_194331_Varathane.gif

Oh, how silly of me to leave this out! I added to my suggestion above.

YES, I especially seal the side where the edge tape goes. That area is the easiest to splinter or cut/slice when trimming the rubber you just glued on. If you seal the side well it is MUCH easier to cut around the edge with a Xacto Knife or scizzor. But, after sealing the side you need to use a good edge tape that sticks well. Many of the cheap Chinese Christmas ribbon junk barely hold onto bare wood . . . no way it will affix to a sealed edge. You can fix this problem by using a drop of Super Glue on the ends and maybe a drop here and there along the way. When removing later you'll be okay because you sealed it! I recommend the Yasaka 9mm Mark V edge tape. It's cheap, looks good (red+black, not purple) cloth-based, and sticks well!!! The YinHe 9mm red+black stuff looks even better, but will need the Super Glue. It's plasticy and doesn't stick. I'm not sure about the Butterfly, Donic, and other . . .

All the best!!!!

:-).

that seems like too much work i just keep a can of hairspray in my bag the cheapest can of arosal hair spray and spray quik layer on each time i glue and rub it in with my hand it works just fine

no offense taken everyone has their own method on alot of things

Tiehwen, how do you apply the Joola?

ok thanks alot, I think I got the idea.

             

Well, I threw my glasses out. I look much better in the mirror without them.