Nothing really wrong with rubber cement as a glue. I have read in a few threads here that certain rubbers might not react well if they are glued with a VOC glue. I used to use slightly thinned rubber cement, but now I use mostly Haifu WSB.

capablanca8 wrote: I've heard many complaints about water-based glues.  What's wrong with good old-fashioned rubber cement glues for gluing rubber sheets?  If you air out the racket several days before a tournament, it should be okay for inspection, right?  And then the rubber sheets will be easy to peel off and change when needed.  Don't many equipment dealers use rubber cement glues for the custom rackets they put together?   Please tell me if I am missing something here.

JT,

I'm glad you chimed in.  Much like you, I've always used rubber cement.  But I bought some new Stiga Boost TC and I wanted to try it with WBG.  So I used Tear Mender and so far, it's working well.  I just sealed the blade well with a thin coat of Minwax clear polyurethane.  No problems so far.

 LOL

I only switch to WBG (KLT) from using Elmer RC, and find that the WBG adhere a lot better than the RC.  I usually do not use edge tape, and I find that with RC, the edge (of the rubber) some time detached, if I hit the table with it on push, while the WBG does not give me this problem.  I think the trick is to wait until the glue dried and looked clear before attach.  On the Neo H3 pre-glue, with WBG, I only need to put glue on the blade, with RC I need to put it on the rubber as well, or they don't stick.  The only thing with WBG is, I think, you need to seal your blade, or risk damage it when trying to take the rubber off the blade.

jt99sf wrote: after the initial gluing of a new rubber (2 layers), I never had to re-apply RC to the rubber. When I re-glue (once every 3 weeks) it only applies to the blade.   I've also never had any issues with RC with the rubber not sticking near the edges of the blade. I do ocasionally use edge tape (only if and when I remember). For me the key is to let it dry.

Why do you have to reglue?  Because the rubber is getting loose?  Or you just want to reglue?  If RC cannot keep the rubber to the blade forever (like the old non-water based glue) then I will have to think of buying the non-water based glue like paddlepalace.com has (the Tibhar Individual glue) so I can have the rubber sticks to the blade as long as I want to.

jt99sf wrote: B-MD,   since you're familiar with both processes. from beginning to end, which is your preferred method?   RC vs Tear mender. Drying time, ease of use and cost? any other factors?   can you use Tear mender the same day in the tournament?   tia.

Joola lex latex glue does it all, sticks better than anything else ive tried and peels off your fingers and the blade nice and easy. put a thin layer on and its dry in a minuite or 2!

Edited by foz - 10/07/2010 at 6:21pm

jt99sf wrote: thanks for the reply.   the next question is do you get or can you expect consistant results each time you glue?   before a tourney, I re-glue a week ahead and have that week to re-adjust to the rubber/blade.   if you use the WBG on the same day as the tournament, will the rubber/blade play the same as the last time?

Edited by BeaverMD - 09/24/2010 at 10:04am

What kind of glue is Tibhar Individual Glue?

The problem I have with any of these table tennis glues is price. I currently use the Tibhar regular glue (from Paddle Palace) which is ~$18 for 250ml. Granted, this will last a while. However, go to Walmart and you can pickup Elmer's Rubber Cement at for under $2 for 118ml. And Elmer's RC is basically rubber cement thinned down with some heptane.

I compared the consistency and dry-time with my Tibhar and they are pretty much the same. The Tibhar does have an extra "latexiness". I glued my most recent pair of rubbers with the Elmer's and I pretty much haven't seen any difference. Glue, stick, touch up the parts that didn't stick, place under a bunch of books for an hour.

I have another batch of Elmer's which I added d-limonene and I'm not as satisfied with the speed-effect. I think I'll try regular rubber cement with the d-lim to see if that helps.

So, I'm no where near good enough to play where the would test my rubber for VOC's, nor would I replace my rubbers so much that they would less than a few days old before testing. I think this "regular" glue stuff is perfectly fine for 99% of people.

--Phot0n

So maybe Elmer's is the way to go!

Edited by capablanca8 - 09/22/2010 at 9:40pm

foz wrote: I cant quite way up whats going on here, all this talk about ''effect'' and speed, here in England as far as im aware, anything that changes the playing charicteristics of the rubber is banned, weather your playing national tornies or base standard local league! The 2 leagues i play in do not test for voc glues or boosters but there is a strict confidence amongst all players not to use anything that changes the rubber from the manufacturers set standard in any way. I know i must sound like a jobsworth, but surely its the only way to keep us all on a level playing field? Maybe things are just more relaxed elsewhere!

I don't think that it's more relaxed elsewhere, I just believe that regular VOC glue (not speed-glue) does not change the playing characteristics of the rubber like speed-glue.

I am always about fair game but if I use water-based glue and it doesn't help much to keep the rubber to my blade tightly (like rubber cement glue or the old VOC glue) then it doesn't help me to play at all and I find that the rubber cement glue (which contains VOC) helps me with that issue so I'll use it.  Besides, I will assemble my rubber to my blade at least 1 week before any tournament so I don't think that it matters at all because even with speed-glue, the effect of it only lasts at most a day.  I never boosted so I don't know about that.

FireHorse

Phot0n wrote: The problem I have with any of these table tennis glues is price. I currently use the Tibhar regular glue (from Paddle Palace) which is ~$18 for 250ml. Granted, this will last a while. However, go to Walmart and you can pickup Elmer's Rubber Cement at for under $2 for 118ml. And Elmer's RC is basically rubber cement thinned down with some heptane. I compared the consistency and dry-time with my Tibhar and they are pretty much the same. The Tibhar does have an extra "latexiness". I glued my most recent pair of rubbers with the Elmer's and I pretty much haven't seen any difference. Glue, stick, touch up the parts that didn't stick, place under a bunch of books for an hour. I have another batch of Elmer's which I added d-limonene and I'm not as satisfied with the speed-effect. I think I'll try regular rubber cement with the d-lim to see if that helps. So, I'm no where near good enough to play where the would test my rubber for VOC's, nor would I replace my rubbers so much that they would less than a few days old before testing. I think this "regular" glue stuff is perfectly fine for 99% of people. --Phot0n

So Elmer's RC as it is (without adding anything) is good enough  ?

aeoliah wrote: Phot0n wrote: The problem I have with any of these table tennis glues is price. I currently use the Tibhar regular glue (from Paddle Palace) which is ~$18 for 250ml. Granted, this will last a while. However, go to Walmart and you can pickup Elmer's Rubber Cement at for under $2 for 118ml. And Elmer's RC is basically rubber cement thinned down with some heptane. I compared the consistency and dry-time with my Tibhar and they are pretty much the same. The Tibhar does have an extra "latexiness". I glued my most recent pair of rubbers with the Elmer's and I pretty much haven't seen any difference. Glue, stick, touch up the parts that didn't stick, place under a bunch of books for an hour. I have another batch of Elmer's which I added d-limonene and I'm not as satisfied with the speed-effect. I think I'll try regular rubber cement with the d-lim to see if that helps. So, I'm no where near good enough to play where the would test my rubber for VOC's, nor would I replace my rubbers so much that they would less than a few days old before testing. I think this "regular" glue stuff is perfectly fine for 99% of people. --Phot0n So Elmer's RC as it is (without adding anything) is good enough  ?

I think I can answer this question and the answer is Yes.

I tried it and it works.  But I'm not sure what happens with those new rubbers such as Tenergy, Hexer, etc...  I tried Elmer's RC on Yasaka Pryde and Butterfly Tackifire Drive and have no problem.

FireHorse