Attaching top sheet to sponge

Hey guys

If you're gluing on pips out it's easy. Personally I just treat it like I'm gluing on 2 sheets of rubber to the same side. I glue on the sponge on the blade first with water based glue, then I glue the topsheet on top of the sponge also with water based glue.

If you are trying to glue inverted onto sponge then it's a bit more complicated and I would recommend using the link that BH posted and following Cole's instructions.

thanks guys was just wondering if there is a better glue then rubber cement!

berndt_mann wrote: If you really want a firm bond between topsheet and sponge, you might try a glue along the lines of Gorilla Glue or maybe Crazy Glue.

Are you sure? Those glues leave behind a really hard residue. Couldn't that residue impact playing characteristics?

berndt_mann wrote: If you really want a firm bond between topsheet and sponge, you might try a glue along the lines of Gorilla Glue or maybe Crazy Glue. This question has got the devious side of me to thinking.  Would it be legal to attach a tacky Chinese topsheet to a relatively soft Japanese sponge or a hi-tension Japanese topsheet to a fairly hard Chinese sponge?

I can tell you what we used in the ASTI factory in the 1990s.  We used a water-based urethane adhesive used in the shoe industry.  The main problem with this approach is we had to use a liquid primer on the sponge and pips.  If we put too much of this on it would hurt the performance of the rubber.  We laid the rubber sheet down with the pips facing up (rolling it onto a smooth surface) and use a fine brush for the primer on its (and one side of the sponge). Then we would put the liquid urethane adhesive on the pips and the sponge using a sponge applicator used to do stains.  We would then place the sponge on top of the pips.  We added a weight over the sandwich.  The adhesive would cure in 24 hours or less. 

Most of the industry had automated gluing equipment that used high VOC rubber cements.  But the last time I saw this equipment was in 2002. 

The reason I was interested in home methods of attaching the sheet is that I found around 50 top sheets of experimental rubber (I did the formulation on in 2002), which never was released.  The sheets appear in surprisingly good condition.  So I was interested in bonding these to some of the modern sponges to see how they perform with the 40+ ball.

I was familiar with the Best Test product but was sorry to see Cole no longer uses it.   My guess would be to go to an automotive product or bike store and ask what is being sold for rubberpatch kits.  This used to be a common product and I see several products on a search.  Typically these products have extra ingredient which post cures the solids, making it have higher elastic properties compared to ordinary rubber cement.  This is very important for high level players and those who tune the sheet. I see that there is a product that is still available that might work "Rema Tip Top 203 Cold Vulcanizing Fluid". 

I hope this info is helpful.